English – Passive Voice: Formation and Uses – 3rd Year Literary Stream – BAC

Passive Voice: Formation and Uses

Formation:

Subject + be (conjugated) + past participle (V3) + (by agent)

Active to Passive transformation:

Present Simple: Active: “The chef cooks the meal.” → Passive: “The meal is cooked by the chef.”
Past Simple: Active: “Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.” → Passive: “Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.”
Present Perfect: Active: “They have finished the project.” → Passive: “The project has been finished.”
Future Simple: Active: “The company will launch a new product.” → Passive: “A new product will be launched.”
Modal verbs: Active: “Students must respect the rules.” → Passive: “The rules must be respected.”

When to use the passive voice:

1. When the agent is unknown: “My car was stolen last night.”
2. When the agent is obvious: “He was arrested.” (by the police)
3. To emphasize the action/object rather than the doer.
4. In formal and scientific writing.

Exercice BAC 2021 – Literary Stream:

Rewrite in the passive voice:
“The government has built new schools in rural areas.”
→ New schools have been built in rural areas.
“Students will present their projects tomorrow.”
→ The projects will be presented tomorrow.
“The ancient Egyptians built the pyramids.”
→ The pyramids were built by the ancient Egyptians.

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