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Using Passive Forms
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In this post we’ll take a look at using passive forms in English and why we use them.
Why do we use the passive form?
The passive form is used in English when we think about the action and not the subject who does something.
Let take a look at a very simple example of a sentence to show this.
My mother made a lovely cake for us.
- The sentence has a subject – my mother
- It has a verb – made
- It has an object – a lovely cake
In this sentence it’s clear who performed the action of making a cake.
When we use a passive construction we are more interested in what happened and and not who did it. To create a passive sentence we change the form so that the object of the active sentence now becomes the subject of the passive sentence. Our passive form is
Object + passive verb form + Subject
The cake was made by my mother
We don’t always include the doer(also called the agent) but when we do it follows by in the sentence.
How we create the passive forms
As we have seen in the passive construction, the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence, and the agent is placed after the verb using “by.”
Structure of the Passive Form
The passive is formed by using the correct form of the verb “to be” + the past participle of the verb.
Examples:
- Active: The chef cooks the meal.
- Passive: The meal is cooked (by the chef).
- Active: They will finish the project.
- Passive: The project will be finished (by them).*
We can use the passive in all simple tense forms. We can also use it in continuous forms but only in two forms, the present and past continuous forms.
To create a continuous form we need to use being as in our example.
- Active: They are/were building the house.
- Passive: The house is/was being built (by them).
More about why we use the passive
The main reason as we have seen is to talk about what happened and not who did it. There are a number of other reasons why we decide to use the passive form.
When the agent is unknown or not important:
Example: The documents were stolen.
In this example it’s clear that the agent or doer unknown or unimportant
To sound more formal or impersonal:
Example: Phones must not be used in class.
Using the passive can make information much clearer and it is extremely common in formal writing. However, it’s important not use it too much as it can be difficult to read and understand.
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