Passive Voice

There are two voices in English, the active and the passive. The active tells us what the subject does, for example: The secretary wrote a letter. The passive tell us what is done to the subject, for example: The letter was written by the secretary.

Definition of passive voice:
A passive construction occurs when you make the object of an action into the subject of a sentence. That is, whoever or whatever is performing the action is not grammatical subject of the sentence.
The generic structure:
• Active: S + V active + O
• Passive: O + to be + V3 + by + S

Active to passive voice
----Simple Present----
Noun + is/am/are + V3
Active: she is write a letter.
Passive: A letter is written by her.

----Present continuous----
Noun + is/am/are + being + V3
Active: I am buying a motorcycle.
Passive: A motorcycle is being bought by me.



----Simple Past----
Noun + was/were + V3
Active: The police released the hostages.
Passive: The hostages were released by the police.

----Past Continuous ----
Noun + was/were + being +V3
Active: The officer was investigating the case.
Passive: The case was being investigated by the officer.

----Simple Future----
Noun + shall/will + be +V3
Active: The judges will issue a verdict against the accused.
Passive: A verdict against the accused will be issued by the judges.

----Past Future----
Noun + should/would + be +V3
Active: The investigator would hand in the file.
Passive: The file would be handed in by the investigator.

----Simple Present Perfect----
Noun + has/have + been + V3
Active: A local resident has uncovered an ancient boat.
Passive: An ancient boat has been uncovered by a local resident.

----Past Perfect----
Noun + had + been + V3
Active: We had found your watch.
Passive: Your watch had been found by us.

----Simple Future Perfect----
Noun + shall/will + have + been + V3
Active: The witness shall have shown the evidence.
Passive: The evidence will have been shown by the witness.

----Past Future Perfect----
Noun + should/would + have + been + V3
Active: The major should have been invited by the president.
Passive: The president should have been invited by the major.

----Modals----
Noun + must/shall/will/have to/has to + be + V3
Active: Sugiarto must report his attendance to the police once a week.
Passive: His attendance must be reported by Sugiarto to the police once a week.


If you want to change an active sentence which has two objects into its passive forms, there are two ways:
=Make its indirect object into the subject of the passive sentence.
=Make its direct object into the subject of the passive sentence
Use of passive
Passive voice is use when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.
Example: My bike was stolen.
In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I don’t know, however, who did it.
Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite then active voice, as the following example shows: A mistake was made.
In this case, the focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I don’t blame anyone.

When we rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:
• The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
• The finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle).
• The subject of the active sentence becomes by Agent in the passive sentence (or is dropped).
• Only active sentence containing object which can be changed into passive form.
• The two forms should have the same tenses.

How about the negative and interrogative?
Take a look at the followings:
• People don’t use bikes anymore.
• Bikes are not used anymore.
• Did the students play the cards in the class yesterday?
• Were the cards played in the class yesterday?