Use and Form Basic Rules

Remember: We use the Passive voice when what happens is

more important than who does it.

The object of the active sentence becomes the

subject of the passive voice.

We form the Passive voice with the auxiliary

Childrens day
is celebrated
on June 1st.
YeahLots of
trees were
planted
yesterday.

verb Be (always in the same tense as the verb

in the active voice) and the Past Participle of
the main verb, followed by a by-phrase, the
agent, when we know who or what performed
the action.
Subject

Object

Verb

Street traders sell black-market products.

Black-market products are sold by street traders.
Subject

Match the forms of the Active verbs with

their corresponding Passive forms.

Verb

Agent

Rewrite each sentence in the Passive:

1. I forget (singular, S. Past)

a) were forgotten

2.discover (Plural, S. Past)

b) were left

3. make (singular, S. Present)

c) was forgotten

4. build (Plural, S. Present)

d) was left

The Azores are visited by thousands of people.

5. forget (Plural, S. Past)

e) are built

3. Someone stole my purse from my locker.

6. leave (Plural, S. Past)

f) is sent

7. produce (Plural, S.Present)

g) were discovered

8. leave (singular, S. Past)

h) was built

9. build (singular, S. S. Past)

i) is made

5. Millions of teenagers read her books.

10. send (singular, S. Present)

j) are produced

Her books are read by millions of teenagers.

Read the following piece of news.

Cross out the wrong verb forms.
Doctor George Tiller, 67, was at the morning
services this Sunday when he was shot/ shot,
police said. The gunman was fired/fired one shot
at Tiller and was threatened/ threatened two
other people who tried to stop him. The suspect
was taken/ took into custody in a Kansas City
suburb 3 hours after the shooting. Outside Tillers
clinic, flowers were placed/ placed along a fence,
and Kansas Coalition for Life was left/ left a sign
saying members were prayed/ prayed for his
change of heart "not his murder. A man yelled that
Tillers hands were covered/covered with blood.

1. They built 3 new schools last year.

Three new schools were built last year.
2. Thousands of people visit the Azores.

My purse was stolen from my locker.

4. The monkey painted that picture.
That picture was painted by the monkey.

Write an active sentence and a passive

sentence from these prompts.
1. The little boy / the wallet/ yesterday/ find.
a) The little boy found the wallet yesterday.
b) The wallet was found yesterday by the little boy
2. Teachers/ students/ good manners/ teach.
a) Teachers teach their students good manners
b) Good manners are taught to the students.
3. Somebody/ the students bikes/ steal
a) Somebody stole the students bikes.
b)The students bikes were stolen.
THANK YU!