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Summary
Understanding active and passive voice allows you to write more varied sentences. In this summary, you will learn how to use the active and passive voice and how to turn an active sentence into a passive one.
Active voice is just another way of saying that a sentence is in the normal word order.
The boy brushes the dog.
In a passive sentence, the object comes first. This might be for a range of reasons, like for emphasis or if you don't want to say or simply don't know, who the doer (subject) of the verb is!
To understand how to change this word order, follow these simple steps:
(1) Start by labelling the subject (S), verb (V) and object (O) of the sentence.
| The boy | brushes | the dog. |
| S | V | O |
(2) Since it's passive, put the object first. Swap the order of the subject and object.
 | ||
| The dog | | the boy. |
(3) All that is left now is the verb. However, you cannot just write the verb in the same form - look what sentence this creates!
The dog brushes the boy.
Now the meaning of the sentence has changed – oops! Remember, you still want to say that the dog is receiving the brushing. You need to change the verb 'brushes' to the passive voice to keep this meaning.
To change a verb into the passive voice you need:
the verb to be (in the correct tense) | + the past participle |
is | brushed |
(4) One last step! Now that the subject is at the end of the sentence, you need the magic word "by" to show who is responsible.
The dog is brushed by the boy.
Tip: If you'd like, you can even leave out the subject altogether. This can be useful if you don't know who/what the subject is.
The dog is brushed.
Verbs
Subject and object
FAQs
Question: How to form the passive?
Answer: Take the verb "TO BE" in the tense you need, plus the past participle.
Question: What is the passive voice?
Answer: In a passive sentence, the object comes first. This might be for a range of reasons, like for emphasis or if you don't want to say or simply don't know, who the doer (subject) of the verb is!
Question: What is the active voice?
Answer: The active voice is when a sentence is in the normal word order, where you start with the subject, next you write the verb, and then you might have an object.
Theory
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