Fix the mistake: Passive Voice

The Passive Voice ① Basic Form — be + Past Participle

A sentence in which the person or thing affected by an action is made the subject, as in “〜 is done,” is called the passive voice. It is the opposite of the active voice in that the subject is the receiver of the action.

Basic Rule

The form of the passive voice is be + past participle (past participle). “by + the doer” shows “by whom or what.”
When the active sentence (an ordinary sentence) “Tom broke the window.（Tom broke the window）” is changed into the passive voice, it becomes “The window was broken by Tom.（The window was broken by Tom）.” The object of the active voice becomes the subject of the passive voice, and the subject of the active voice is placed after “by + subject.”
For regular verbs, the past participle has the same -ed form as the past tense (played, lived, watched). Irregular verbs have different forms (broken, taken, seen, given, etc.), which must be memorized.

Example Sentences
English is spoken in many countries.（English is spoken in many countries）
This letter was written by my mother.（This letter was written by my mother）
The window was broken by Tom.（The window was broken by Tom）
These books are read by many children.（These books are read by many children）

Points to Note

① Irregular past participles (must be memorized): take → taken / write → written / break → broken / see → seen / give → given / make → made / do → done / eat → eaten / find → found / build → built / send → sent。
② The form of the be verb is determined by the subject and tense: is/are (present), was/were (past), will be (future), have/has been (present perfect). “The book is read.（The book is read）” and “The book was read.（The book was read）” have different tenses.
③ Only transitive verbs (verbs that take an object) can be used in the passive voice. Intransitive verbs (happen, occur, arrive, sleep, etc.) cannot be used in the passive voice. “× The accident was happened.” → “○ The accident happened.”
④ “by” is often omitted when it is unknown or unimportant who performed the action. “English is spoken in this country.” does not need “by.”

Key Points
  • Passive voice: be + past participle
  • Object of the active voice → subject of the passive voice
  • The doer is shown by by 〜 (it may be omitted)
  • Memorize irregular past participles
  • Intransitive verbs cannot be used in the passive voice

Practice

  1. Rewrite the following active sentence in the passive voice: Tom uses this computer every day.
  2. Write “This picture was painted by a famous painter” in English (use paint).
  3. Correct the error: The accident was happened yesterday.

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