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.
The Passive Voice
The passive voice is used when we want to focus on the action or the recipient of the action, rather than who or what performs it. This is common in formal and academic English.
Formation
Passive = Subject + Be (conjugated) + Past Participle (+ by + agent)
Active vs Passive
| Active (focus on doer) | Passive (focus on action) |
|---|---|
| Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. | Hamlet was written by Shakespeare. |
| The chef cooks the meal. | The meal is cooked by the chef. |
| Someone stole my phone. | My phone was stolen. |
Passive Voice in Different Tenses
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | cleans | is cleaned |
| Past Simple | cleaned | was cleaned |
| Future Simple | will clean | will be cleaned |
| Present Perfect | has cleaned | has been cleaned |
When to Use the Passive Voice
- The agent is unknown: “My bike was stolen.” (We don’t know who did it.)
- The agent is obvious: “He was arrested.” (By the police, obviously.)
- The action is more important: “The new hospital will be opened next month.”
- Formal writing: Scientific and academic texts often use passive.
Example paragraph: “English is spoken all over the world. It is taught in schools in many countries. The language was influenced by Latin and French.”
Exercises
- Change to passive: “The students write the essays.”
- Change to active: “The window was broken by the child.”
- Rewrite: “They will build a new school next year.” (passive)