Unit 4.1
Passive Voice of Verbs
Verbs
The passive form expresses the idea of something or someone receiving an action or experiencing a particular event or effect. {See Passive Structure, B1 level}
By using the tenses of the auxiliary verb to be and the past participle of the main verb we can form passive forms.
We can use the passive structure in every tense:
| TENSE | SUBJECT | AUXILIARY SINGULAR | AUXILIARY PLURAL | PAST PARTICIPLE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | The book/ books | is | are | written |
| Present Perfect | The book/ books | has been | have been | written |
| Past Simple | The book/ books | was | were | written |
| Past Perfect | The book/ books | had been | had been | written |
| Future Simple | The book/ books | will be | will be | written |
| Future Perfect | The book/ books | will have been | will have been | written |
| Present Progressive | The book/ books | is being | are being | written |
| Past Progressive | The book/ books | was being | were being | written |
- She must wear helmet in the construction area. > Helmets must be worn in the construction area.
- We completed the project on time. > The project was completed on time.
- We use the passive verb forms in the same way as the active verb forms;
- We use it when we want to give importance to the object that undergoes the action.
The passive form expresses the idea of something or someone receiving an action or experiencing a particular event or effect.
We form the passive forms with the auxiliary verb to be and the past participle of the main verb.
You can see the difference between active and passive forms below:
| ACTIVE FORM | PASSIVE FORM |
|---|---|
| We completed the project on time. We: Subject | The project was completed on time. The project: Subject Was completed: Passive verb |
| She must wear the helmet in the construction area. She: Subject | Helmets must be worn in the construction area. Helmets: Subject Be worn: Passive verb |