INGLES

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have "active forms" and "passive forms." You must learn to recognize the difference to successfully speak English.

ACTIVE VOICE

In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active.

Example:

PASSIVE VOICE

In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the action.

Example:

PASSIVE FORM

The passive voice in English is composed of two elements :

1. The appropriate form of the verb 'to be'

2. The past participle of the verb in question

ACTIVE / PASSIVE OVERVIEW

Examples:

FUNCTION:

The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action, e.g.

• The passive is used ...:
  We are interested in the passive, not who uses it.
• The house was built in 1654:
  We are interested in the house, not the builder.
• The road is being repaired:
  We are interested in the road, not the people repairing it.

In other words, the most important thing or person becomes the subject of the sentence.

1. Sometimes we use the passive voice because we don't know or cannot express who or what performed the action:

• I noticed that a window had been left open
• Every year people are killed on our roads.

2. If we want to say who or what performs the action, we use the preposition by:

• "A Hard Day's Night" was written by the Beatles
• ET was directed by Spielberg

3. The passive voice is often used in formal or scientific texts:

• A great deal of meaning is conveyed by a few well-chosen words.
• Our planet is wrapped in a mass of gases.
• Waste materials are disposed of in a variety of ways.

QUESTION: Complete the text with the right passive voice tense:

BOBSLEDDING IS A FAST AND DANGEROUS WINTER SPORT

It ____________________ in 1888.                                                   

The first competition ____________________ in 1898.

Four years later, in 1902, a special track or "bobrun" was created in St Moritz, Switzerland.

Today, bobsleds _____________________ of steel and they can go very fast - over 140 km an hour.

To start the ride, the bobsled _______________________ down the bobrun. The team members then jump on.

The bobrun _____________________ with sharp bends and high walls. The bobsled is steered with a rope or a wheel.

Today, international competitions are controlled by the International Bobsled Federation. Bobsledding ____________________ to the Olympic Games in 1924.