Passive Voice

When we use an active verb, we say what the subject does:

My grandfather was a builder. He built this house in 1935.

It's a big company. It employs two hundred people.

When we use a passive verb, we say what happens to the subject: This house is quite old. It was built in 1935. Two hundred people are employed by the company.

When we use the passive, who or what causes the action is often unknown or unimportant:

A lot of money was stolen in the robbery, (somebody stole it, but we don't know who)

Is this room cleaned every day? (does somebody clean it? - it's not important who)

If we want to say who does or what causes the action, we use by ... This house was built by my grandfather.

Two hundred people are employed by the company.

The passive is be (is/was etc.) + past participle (done/cleaned/seen etc.): (be) done (be) cleaned (be) damaged (be) built (be) seen etc.

For irregular past participles (done/seen/known etc.), Study the active and passive forms of the present simple and past simple:

Present simple

active: clean(s) / see(s) etc.

passive: am/is/are + cleaned/seen etc.

Somebodv cleans this room every day.

This room is cleaned every day.

Many accidents are caused by careless driving. D I'm not often invited to parties. How is this word pronounced?

Past simple

active: cleaned/saw etc.

passive: was/were + cleaned/seen etc.

Somebody cleaned this room yesterday. This room was cleaned yesterday.

We were woken up by a loud noise during the night.

'Did you go to the party?' 'No, I wasn't invited.'

How much money was stolen in the robber

Passive (be done / been done / being done)

Study the following active and passive forms:

Infinitive

active: (to) do/clean/see etc. Somebody will clean the room later.

passive: (to) be + done/cleaned/seen etc. The room will be cleaned later.

The situation is serious. Something must be done before it's too late.

A mystery is something that can't be explained.

The music was very loud and could be heard from a long way away.

A new supermarket is going to be built next year. D Please go away. I want to be left alone.

Perfect infinitive

active: (to) have + done/cleaned/seen etc. Somebody should have cleaned the room

passive: (to) have been + done/cleaned/seen etc. The room should have been cleaned.

I haven't received the letter yet. It might have been sent to the wrong address.

If you hadn't left the car unlocked, it wouldn't have been stolen.

There were some problems at first, but they seem to have been solved.

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