Brief explanation of the passive voice.

1. THE PASSIVE
USE:
•You can often say things in two ways, in the active or the passive.
•In the active sentence, the focus is more on the person.
e.g. Josephine Cochrane invented the dishwasher in 1886.
•In the passive sentence, the focus is more on the thing or action.
e.g. The dishwasher was invented by Josephine Cochrane in 1886.
•You can also use the passive when it is not known or not
important the person who does or did the action.
e.g. The mirror was broken last week (we do not know who broke it).
•The passive is often used in English where other languages use an
impersonal subject.

2. THE PASSIVE
FORM:
•PRESENT PASSIVE: am / is / are + the past participle
•PAST PASSIVE: was / were + past participle
•Use by + agent to say who did the action.
e.g. Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.
Example 1 - Present Passive:
People use more than 55 million nappies every day.
S V O
More than 55 million nappies are used by people every day.
S V A

3. THE PASSIVE
Example 2 - Past Passive:
Marion Donovan invented disposable nappies.
S V O
Disposable nappies were invented by Marion Donovan.
S V A