English grammar What is the passive voice of a verb

Mondo Education Updated on 2024-02-14

In English grammar, the passive voice of a verb is a sentence structure that expresses an action or state, in which the recipient of the action becomes the subject of the sentence and the performer of the action becomes the object or elmission of the sentence. The passive voice is often used to emphasize the recipient of the action or to be unaware of the person performing the action. The formation and use of the passive voice of verbs are described in detail below.

1.Composition of the passive voice:

a.The passive voice consists of auxiliary verbs"be"Plus the past participle formation of the verb. Auxiliary verbs"be"The form needs to vary according to the tense, person, and number of the sentence.

b.The past participle form of a verb is usually the third person singular form of the verb plus"-ed"or irregular variations.

c.Auxiliary verbs"be"and the past participle of the verb can be added with appropriate tense, modal, person, and number conjugations.

d.If you need to say that you want to be complete, you can use auxiliary verbs"h**e"Add the past participle form of the verb.

2.How to use the passive voice:

a.Emphasis on the recipient of the action:

Active voice: they built the house(They built the house.) )

Passive voice: The house was built by them(The house was built by them.) )

b.I don't know who performs the action:

Active voice: someone stole my wallet(Someone stole my wallet.) )

Passive voice: My wallet was stolen(My wallet was stolen.) )

c.Emphasize the process or result of the action:

Active voice: he wrote the book(He wrote the book.) )

Passive voice: The book was written by him(The book was written by him.) )

It is important to note that some verbs do not often use the passive voice, or their passive voice has a different meaning than the active voice. Also, the passive voice is often used in declarative sentences and not in interrogative or negative sentences.

Mastering the passive voice of verbs can help you accurately convey the relationship between the performer and receiver of the action in your expression. The use of the passive voice can make sentences more flexible while also helping to express emphasis and describe the results of the action.

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