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Sentences can be active or passive. We usually use the active in written and
spoken language. The difference is that in an active sentence the subject
performs the action and in a passive sentence the subject receives the action.
Study the following information to learn how to form a passive sentence, how to
put an active into a passive sentence and how to form the tenses in the passive
voice.
bats
Passive: Insects are eaten b
.
Subject Verb by Agent
Subject of the active sentence → Agent of the passive sentence
Object of the active sentence → Subject of the passive sentence
When you want to use the passive form you have to transform the active
form into a sentence in which the subject becomes a complement. It is
possible with transitive verbs only.
The verb in the passive form is used with the auxiliary verb To be and the
past participle.
Amy buys ( active form in present simple )------> A car is bought ( passive
form in present simple)
5. We had to give the books back .>>> The books had to be given back.
9. I suppose they have sold the house .>>> I suppose the house has been
sold.
10. They brought their children up in France .>>> Their children were
brought up in France.
11. They take him for a Frenchman .>>> He is taken for a Frenchman.
12. He will do his exercises later .>>> His exercises will be done later.
Passive Voice 3:
PASSIVE VOICE WITH TWO OBJECTS:
Passive voice also known as passive sentences with two objects are active
sentences that contains a direct and indirect object.
When there are two objects in an active sentence, there are two possible active
sentences and two possible passive sentences.
Sentence 1: The professor gave the students the books.
Sentence 2: The professor gave the books to the students.
There are two objects in each of the following sentences:
Normally the indirect object is a person, were the direct object are things.
Object 1 = indirect object → the students
Object 2 = direct object → the books
When rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that
one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object.
Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the
focus on.
Subject Verb Object 1 Object 2
Active: Rita wrote a letter to me.
Passive: A letter was written to me by Rita.
Passive: I was written a letter by Rita.
Note: As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very
elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.
The jury sent the rule to all participants.
1 : The rule to all participants by the jury.
2 : All participants the rule by the jury.
2 : The public was recalled -or- were recalled the stakes by the jury.
Some verbs such as: ask, give, offer, teach, tell, lend, promise, sell, throw, can
have two objects.
An indirect object is very often a person, a direct object a thing. When a direct
object is followed by an indirect one, we put to in front of the indirect object.
Active sentence 1
Active sentence 2
Each of the objects (flower/Susan) in the active sentences can become subject in
the passive sentence.
Passive sentence 1
Passive sentence 2