PASSIVE VOICE

1) HOW TO CHANGE A SENTENCE FROM ACTIVE TO PASSIVE.

Example sentence (active voice):

The dog bit the man.

The dog bit the man.

STEP 1 (The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence)

Find the object of the verb. (the man)

Make the object the subject of the new sentence. THE MAN

The dog bit the man.

STEP 2 Decide which tense the verb is in. "Simple past"
Put the verb "to be" of this tense. The man WAS
(Look to see if the subject is singular or plural)

STEP 3 [The finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)]

Write the participle of the verb after the verb "to be" (BIT, BITE, BITTEN)

The man was BITTEN ...

STEP 4

Decide if you want to include the agent in the sentence.

The man was bitten BY THE DOG

(Passive voice)
Affirmative
The house was built
in 1899.
These houses were
built in 1899.

The man was bitten by the dog.

Negative
The house wasn't built
in 1899.
These houses weren't
built in 1899.

Interrogative
Was the house built
in 1899?
Were These houses
built in 1899?

Negative Interrogative
Wasn't the house built in
1899?
Weren't these houses built
in 1899?

2) TIPOS DE PASIVA
En ingls existen 2 tipos de pasiva:
la pasiva de objeto directo
la pasiva de objeto indirecto
a) Pasiva de objeto directo
El objeto directo de la oracin activa pasa a ser el sujeto de la oracin pasiva:
Voz activa:
Sujeto

Verbo

C.Directo

AGENTE

VOZ ACTIVA

PACIENTE

Luis

buys

a book

Sujeto

Verbo

Complemento

PACIENTE

VOZ PASIVA

AGENTE

A book

is bought

by Luis

Voz pasiva:

b) Pasiva de objeto indirecto.

Este tipo de pasiva no existe en espaol. Es usada cuando se quiere destacar el
complemento indirecto en lugar del complemento directo.
Voz activa
Sujeto

Verbo

C. Directo

C. Indirecto

AGENTE

VOZ ACTIVA

offer

a job

to Tom

Yo

le ofrezco

Un trabajo

a Tom

Sujeto

Verbo

C. Directo

C. Indirecto

PACIENTE

VOZ PASIVA

Tom

is offered

a job

by me

Voz Pasiva

Verbos con doble objeto

Los verbos que tienen objeto directo e indirecto construyen la pasiva normalmente con
el objeto indirecto.

Los ejemplos tpicos de verbos con 2 objetos son:

ASK

GIVE

OFER

ORDER

PAY

SELL

SEND

SHOW

TELL

VERBO

PREGUNTAR

DAR

OFRECER

PEDIR

PAGAR

VENDER

ENVIAR

MOSTRAR

DECIR

SIGNIF

PASSIVE VOICE WITH TWO OBJECTS

-

Jennifer gave me a birthday present

En este caso, para reescribir este tipo de oraciones con dos objetos debemos colocar
uno de ellos como sujeto mientras que el otro permanecer en su lugar de objeto. Cul
de ellos ser el elegido para ser sujeto? eso depender de lo que queramos enfatizar:
-

VOZ ACTIVA:
o My boss offered me an important promotion.

VOZ PASIVA:
o An important promotion was offered to me. (by my boss)
o I was offered an important promotion. (by my boss)

Es preciso remarcar que en el ejemplo superior hemos colocado el complemento

agente entre parntesis ya que por lo general no se coloca debido a que su utilizacin
resulta poco elegante.
http://www.aprenderinglesfacil.es/2010/04/passive-voice-with-two-objects-voz.html

IMPERSONAL PASSIVE VOICE

La voz pasiva denominada impersonal, se caracteriza por utilizar verbos relacionados con
la

percepcin

(Verbos

Intransitivos)

como

por

ejemplo: say (decir), think

(pensar), suppose (suponer), know (saber/conocer), expect (esperar),

consider (considerar), entre otros.
La Voz Pasiva Impersonal es un tipo de construccin es utilizado con gran
frecuencia por los medios de comunicacin, sobre todo en la redaccin de noticias.

A diferencia de la Voz Pasiva Personal, donde el objeto directo de la oracin activa pasa
a ocupar el lugar de sujeto en la oracin pasiva -para lo cual es necesario un verbo
transitivo-, en la Voz Pasiva Impersonal, al utilizar verbos intransitivos como accin
principal, no existe objeto que pueda cumplir esa funcin y es necesario seguir la
siguiente estructura:
SUJETO + VERBO TO BE + PAST PARTICIPLE

It is said

Se dice

It is known

Se sabe

It is supposed

Se supone

It is considered

Se considera

It is reported

Se informa

It is thought

Se piensa

It is decided

Se decide

People believe that the strike will continue for a week.

o It is believed that the strike will continue for a week.

The police reported that there was a bomb on the plane.

o It was reported that there was a bomb on the plane.

Tambin es preciso mencionar que en muchas ocasiones una tercera

construccin es posible colocando el sujeto de la oracin subordinada al comienzo de la
oracin; el verbo de percepcin en voz pasiva y el resto de la frase se aade utilizando el
infinitivo del verbo precedido por la partcula TO, teniendo en cuenta que algunos
verbos auxiliares y THAT no se colocan:

He says that the Governor had inaugurated the bridge the last year.
-

It is said that the Governor had inaugurated the bridge the last year.

The Governor is said to have inaugurated the bridge the last year.

Everyone think that the ship will arrive tomorrow morning.

-

It is said that the ship will arrive tomorrow morning.

The ship is said to arrive tomorrow morning.

TABLE OF TENSES IN ENGLISH WITH ACTIVE AND PASSIVE

ACTIVE

TENSE

PASSIVE

SIMPLE
Present

He takes

It is taken

Past

He took

I was taken

Present Perfect

He has taken

He has been taken

Present Perfect

He has taken

It has been taken

Past perfect

He had taken

It had been taken

Future

He will take

It will be taken

Future perfect

He will have taken

It will have been taken

Conditional

He would take

It would be taken

Past Conditional

He would have taken

It would have been taken

Modal verbs

He may, might, could,

It may, might, could,

can (etc,) take

can (etc,) be taken

TENSE

ACTIVE

PASSIVE

CONTINUOUS
Present

He is taking

It is being taken

Past

He was taking

It was being taken

Present perfect

He has been taking

Past perfect

He had been taking

Future

He will be taking

Future perfect

He will have been taking

Conditional

He would be taking

Past conditional

He would have been taking

ACTIVE

TENSE

PASSIVE

OTHERS
Infinitive

(to) take

(to) be taken

Perfect infinitive

(to) have taken

(to) have been taken

Gerund

taking

being taken

Imperative

Take!

be taken!

LA PASIVA CON LOS VERBOS MODALES

La estructura es:
SUJETO + VERBO MODAL + be + PARTICIPIO
CAN
The file cannot be saved
El fichero no puede ser guardado
You could be eaten by a lion
T pudiste ser comido por un len
MAY
A car may be stolen
Un coche puede ser robado
The accident might be caused by poor visibility
El accidente pudo ser causado por la poca visibilidad
MUST
Respect must be earned
El respeto debe ser ganado
UNKNOWN OR UNIMPORTANT SUBJECT
If the subject in the active sentence is unknown or unimportant or
obvious (e.g. Somebody, Someone, People), BY + OBJECT is omitted from
the sentence in the Passive Voice.
Examples:
-

We make butter from cows milk. (active)

Butter is made from cows milk. (passive)

When the subject of the active sentence is UNKNOWN OR

UNIMPORTANT and is one of the following words: people, one,
someone/somebody, they, he, etc., the agent is often omitted in the passive
sentence.
-

People watch TV all over the world

TV is watched all over the world (by people).

Somebody/someone cleans this room every morning

This room is cleaned every morning (by someone/somebody).

When the subject of the active sentence is "No one", "nobody" or
"none", the sentence in the passive form is negative

Nobody has watered the garden.

The garden hasnt been watered.

The use of Prepositions

Rare are those among our students who notice the preposition in a sentence when
putting it in the passive form. As I have mentioned this common mistake before, I'll only
manage to show, through examples, how things should be mended in cases as such:

As you can see, all the prepositions are given a place in the passive sentences. Imagine
those passive sentences void of prepositions! Their true meaning will be completely lost,
I'm afraid!

PASSIVE: TYPICAL MISTAKES

We dont form passive structures with intransitive verbs:
She died.
Not: She was died.

We dont form passive structures with verbs that describe states:

Those shoes dont suit the dress.

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Not: The dress isnt suited by those shoes.

We use the past form of be + born to talk about someones birth:

She was born at home.

Not: She is born at home.

WHEN TO USE PASSIVE VOICE

Use passive voice in three situations:
1. When you dont know who did something. (UNKNOWN SUBJECT)
For example: My handbag was stolen.
2. When the action is more important than who did it. (UNIMPORTANT SUBJECT)
For example: John was just promoted at work.
3. When you want to avoid blaming someone. (POLITE - Cuando se quiere evitar
culpar a alguien.)
For example: The outstanding payment hasnt yet been paid

PASSIVE EXERCISE
Passive 1 (PRESENT SIMPLE)
Make these active present simple sentences passive. You don't need to repeat 'somebody'.
Somebody cleans the office every day.
- The office is cleaned every day.
Somebody sends emails.
- Emails are sent.
Somebody cuts the grass.
- The grass is cut.
Somebody prefers chocolate
- Chocolate is preferred
Somebody often steals cars
- Cars are often stolen
Somebody speaks English here
- English is spoken here
Somebody loves the London parks
- The London parks are loved.
Somebody wants staff
- Staff is wanted
Somebody writes articles
- Articles are written
Somebody loves Julie.
Somebody sells vegetables in the market
- Vegetables are sold in the market

Somebody reads a lot of books.

- A lot of books are read
Somebody cooks dinner every day.
- Dinner is cooked every day
Nobody cleans the office every day.
- The office isnt cleaned every day.
Somebody delivers milk in the mornings
- Milk is delivered in the mornings
Nobody can answer your question.
- Your question cannot be answered.
Somebody buys flowers for the flat
- Flowers are bought for the flat.
Somebody washes the cars every week
- The cars are washed every week.
Somebody writes a report every Friday.
- A report is written every Friday
Somebody fixes the roads
- The roads are fixed
Somebody builds new houses every year
- New houses are built every year

Passive 2 (PAST SIMPLE)

Make the passive form with the past simple. You don't need to repeat 'somebody'.
Somebody lost the letter
- The letter was lost
Somebody found the key
- The key was found
Somebody made mistakes
- Mistakes were made
Somebody loved that woman
- That woman was loved
Somebody cleaned the rooms
- The rooms were cleaned

Somebody fixed the computer

- The computer was fixed
Somebody built that house
- That house was built
Somebody wrote War and Peace
- War and Peace was written
Somebody painted The Mona Lisa
- The Mona Lisa was painted
Somebody stole my wallet
- My wallet was stolen

Passive 3 (PRESENT PERFECT)

Make these present perfect sentences passive. You don't need to repeat 'somebody'.
Somebody has watered the plants
- The plants have been watered
Somebody has taken the money
- The money has been taken
Somebody has bought the presents
- The presents have been bought
Somebody has finished the report
- The report has been finished
Somebody has killed the President
- The President has been killed

Somebody has repaired the road

- The road has been repaired
Somebody has elected that man
- That man has been elected
Somebody has learned lessons
- Lessons have been learned
Somebody has fired John
- John has been fired
Somebody has ordered new books
- New books have been ordered

Passive 4 (FUTURE SIMPLE)

Change these future simple sentences into the passive. You don't need to repeat
'somebody'.
Somebody will clean the windows
-

Somebody will help you

-

The windows will be cleaned

Somebody will meet you at the airport

-

Somebody will steal that bicycle

-

You will be met at the airport

Somebody will process your application

-

Your order will be taken

Somebody will write a new book

-

Your glasses will be found

Somebody will bring food

That bicycle will be stolen

Somebody will take your order

Your application will be processed

Somebody will find your glasses

You will be helped

A new book will be written

Somebody will build a stadium

Food will be brought

A stadium will be built

VOZ PASIVA CON DOS OBJETOS (Passive Voice with two Objects)

1. The policeman did not allow us to enter the museum at night.

-

To enter the museum at night was not allowed to us.

We were not allowed to enter the museum at night.

2. The old lady told us an incredible story.

-

An incredible story was told to us.

We were told an incredible story.

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3. A beggar asked me for a meal and a glass of water.

-

A meal and a glass of water were asked to me.

I was asked for a meal and a glass of water.

4. Charles always lends me his books.

-

Books are always lent to me.

I am always lent books.

5. We will forbide John to go to the party with Mike.

-

To go to the party with Mike will be forbidden to John.

John will be forbidden to go to the party with Mike.

6. Sally is offering you an interesting job.

-

An interesting job is being offered to you.

You are being offered an interesting job.

7. The doctors gave the children artificial respiration.

-

Artificial respiration was given to the children.

The children were given artificial respiration.

8. I have offered my brother a large sum of money.

-

A large sum of money has been offered to my brother.

My brother has been offered a large sum of money.

http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/passive-exercise-1.html
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/passive-exercise-2.html
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/passive-exercise-3.html
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/passive-exercise-4.html
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=7084#a
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=4947
http://www.englishexercises.org/buscador/buscar.asp?nivel=any&age=0&tipo=any&co
ntents=passive#thetop
http://www.aprenderinglesfacil.es/2010/05/exercises-voz-pasiva-con-dos-objetosiv.html

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PASIVAS DIRECTA E INDIRECTA.

Las oraciones pasivas, como en castellano, se utilizan para recalcar el objeto del verbo,
bien por no ser importante el sujeto o por ser desconocido.
Cmo transformar una oracin activa en pasiva? Hay dos formas:
LA "PASIVA DIRECTA":
-

Activa: Sujeto + Verbo activo + O.D. + TO + O.I.

Pasiva: Sujeto + Verbo pasivo + TO + O.I. [+ by + Complemento agente]

El sujeto de la oracin activa pasa a ser el complemento agente de la pasiva, el cual se

suprime cuando se trate de un pronombre y siempre que se sobreentienda.
El objeto directo de la activa pasa a ser el sujeto de la pasiva.
El verbo activo pasa a forma pasiva, colocando el verbo BE en el tiempo en que estaba
el verbo de la oracin activa seguido por su participio.
El objeto indirecto (precedido por TO), no vara.
-

The postman brought your letter to me yesterday.

Your letter was brought to me [by the postman] yesterday.

Suprimimos el complemento agente por sobreentenderse o por no tener importancia.

Y LA "PASIVA INDIRECTA":
-

Activa: Sujeto + Verbo activo + O.I. + O.D.

Pasiva: Sujeto + Verbo pasivo + O.D. (+ by + Complemento agente).

Esta es la forma ms comn en ingls, aunque nos resulte extraa, porque en castellano
no existen las oraciones pasivas con objeto directo.
El sujeto y el verbo sufren los mismos cambios que en el caso anterior.
El objeto indirecto de la activa pasa a ser el sujeto de la pasiva.
El objeto directo no vara.
-

The postman brought me your letter yesterday.

I was brought your letter [by the postman] yesterday.

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