مدونة التربية و التعليم في الجزائر – دروس، فروض، نتائج امتحانات مدونة التربية والتعليم في الجزائر | تحضير الدروس، فروض واختبارات، نتائج البكالوريا وBEM، مسابقات التوظيف، والتوجيه المدرسي للطلاب وأولياء الأمور.
Grammar: The Passive Voice (All Tenses)
1. Formation of the Passive Voice
The passive voice is formed with the verb to be + past participle. The subject of the passive sentence receives the action, while the agent (the doer) is introduced by “by” or omitted.
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | Someone cleans the room. | The room is cleaned. |
| Present Continuous | Someone is cleaning the room. | The room is being cleaned. |
| Past Simple | Someone cleaned the room. | The room was cleaned. |
| Past Continuous | Someone was cleaning the room. | The room was being cleaned. |
| Present Perfect | Someone has cleaned the room. | The room has been cleaned. |
| Past Perfect | Someone had cleaned the room. | The room had been cleaned. |
| Future Simple | Someone will clean the room. | The room will be cleaned. |
| Modal + Verb | Someone must clean the room. | The room must be cleaned. |
2. When to use the Passive Voice
- When the agent is unknown : My car was stolen last night. (we don’t know who)
- When the agent is obvious : He was arrested. (by the police – obvious)
- When we want to emphasize the recipient : The President was welcomed by the crowd.
- In scientific and academic writing : The experiment was conducted under controlled conditions.
3. Exercises
Exercise 1: Transform these sentences from active to passive.
- Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. → Hamlet ______
- The chef is preparing dinner. → Dinner ______
- Someone has stolen my wallet. → My wallet ______
- The students will finish the project. → The project ______
Exercise 2: Choose the correct form (active or passive).
- The window (broke / was broken) by the strong wind.
- I (have invited / have been invited) to the party.
- They (built / were built) this bridge in 1990.
4. Answers
Exercise 1: was written by Shakespeare. / is being prepared by the chef. / has been stolen. / will be finished by the students.
Exercise 2: was broken, have been invited, built
Check also Reported Speech and Relative Clauses.