Passive voice is a form of voice in English grammar used to indicate that the subject is the recipient or affected of an action. In the passive voice, the performer of the action is usually not emphasized or known. The passive voice is formed by the corresponding form of the be verb and the past participle and is used to emphasize the subject of the action or when we don't know or care about the performer of the action. In this article, I will go into detail about the definition, composition, usage, and some examples of passive voice.
1.Definitions:
Passive voice is a form of voice used to indicate that the subject is the recipient or affected of the action. In the passive voice, the performer of the action is usually not emphasized or known. The passive voice is formed by the corresponding form of the be verb and the past participle to help the reader better understand the meaning of the sentence.
2.Composition:
The composition of passive voice mainly includes the following elements:
Corresponding form of the verb be: Depending on the tense, the form of the verb be changes accordingly. For example, am is are in the present tense, was were in the past tense, will be be in the future tense, etc.
Past participle: The past participle form of a verb is used to indicate that the action has been completed or is in progress. Most of the past participle forms of verbs are followed by -ed after the verb form, but there are also some irregular verbs that require special memory.
by phrase (optional): In some cases, we can use the by phrase to clearly indicate who performs the action. The by phrase is usually placed at the end of a passive-voice sentence.
3.Usage:
The passive voice can be used in the following ways:
Emphasizing the Subject of the Action: When we want to emphasize the subject of the action, the passive voice can be used. This allows the focus to be on the object receiving the action, rather than on the person or thing performing the action.
Don't know or don't care about the performer of the action: Sometimes we don't know or care who the performer of the action is, and this can be expressed in the passive voice.
Avoid blaming or mentioning the performer of the action: Sometimes we may not want to blame or mention the performer of the action directly, and the passive voice can be used to avoid direct mentions.
4.More examples:
Here are some examples about passive voice:
the book was written by him.(He wrote the book.) ）
the house is being built.(The house is being built.) ）
the cake has been eaten.(The cake has been eaten.) ）
the letter will be sent tomorrow.(The letter will be sent tomorrow.) ）
Note: The predicate verb of the passive voice is made up of different forms of the be verb and the past participle, and it is important to note that the performer of the action usually uses the preposition by in the sentence.
Through the above introduction, we have learned about the definition, composition, usage, and some examples of passive voice. The passive voice is used to indicate that the subject is the recipient or affected of the action, and the performer of the action is usually not emphasized or known.