Active vs. Passive

Melania Djimin

201812500266

Active vs. Passive

English is an International language that is used in Indonesia as a foreign language. It means that we used English not for daily speaking. When we are learning a foreign language it means learning about sound, grammar, lexical and cultural systems. Thus, in learning language, which covers the skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Grammars lessons should be given the greatest attention. Good grammar is needed to make a correct form of a sentence. By mastering grammar, the students will know how to make meaningful utterances using the right pattern and rules. 
One of the pattern the students should know about is passive voice and active voice. Passive voice means that a subject is a recipient of a verb’s action. Then, active voice means that a sentence has a subject that acts upon its verb. In English grammar, verbs have 5 properties [voice, mood, tense, person, and number]. Now we are concerned with voice.  
  



 

  
 
 
Active: (a) Mary helped the boy.
                    S       V         O
Passive: (b) The boy was helped by Mary.
                        S             V          
  
 
In the passive, the object of an active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb: the boy in (a) becomes the subject of the passive verb in (b). 
 
Notice that the subject of an active verb follows by in a passive sentence. The noun that follows by is called the “agent.” In (b) : Mary is the agent.
 
Sentences (a) and (b) have the same meaning.   
 
 

  
Passive: 
          be + past participle 
(c) He is helped by her.
    He was helped by her.
    He will be helped by her.
  
 
 
Form of the passive: be + past participle
 
 

  
 
Active:  (d) An accident happened.
Passive: (e) [none] 
  
 
Only transitive verbs (verbs that can be followed by an object) are used in the passive. It is not possible to use intransitive verbs [such as happen, sleep, come, seem, die] in the passive. 
 


 
S à Subject
V à Verb
O à Object
 
The examples of the passive [P] and active [A] sentences are :
1.     [A] Kate prepared the salad.
2.     [P] The rice was prepared by Jamal.
3.     [A] Shirley was preparing the dessert.
4.     [A] Andy has prepared the tea. 
5.     [P] New species of insects are discovered by scientists every year.
6.     [P] Our papers will be collected by the teacher next week.
7.     [A] Dinosaurs existed millions of years ago.
8.     [P] Anna’s car was stopped by the police.
9.     [A] Mr. Brown painted our house.
10. [A] Hiroki came to our apartment for dinner last night.
 

 

  
Tense Forms of the Passive
 
 

  
 
  
Active
  
Passive
 
 

  
(a) Simple Present
(b) Present Progressive
(c) Present Perfect*
(d) Simple Past
(e) Past Progressive
(f) Past Perfect*
(g) Simple Future
(h) Be Going To
(i) Future Perfect*
  
Mary helps the boy. 
Mary is helping the boy.
Mary has helped the boy.
Mary helped the boy.
Mary was helping the boy.
Mary had helped the boy.
Mary will help the boy.
Mary is going to help the boy.
Mary will have helped the boy.
  
  
The boy is helped by Mary.
The boy is being helped by Mary.  
The boy has been helped by Mary. 
The boy was helped by Mary.
The boy was being helped by Mary.
The boy had been helped by Mary.
The boy will be helped by Mary.
The boy is going to be helped by Mary.
The boy will have been helped by Mary.
 
 

  
 
(j) Was the boy helped by Mary?
(k) Has the boy been helped by Mary?
  

  
 
In the question form of passive verbs, an auxiliary verb
  precedes the subject. 
 
  
  
 
 
 

  
  
  
  

 
 
*The progressive forms of the present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect are rarely used in the passive.   

 Part I. 
The active to passive : 
1.     Shakespeare wrote that play.  
è That play was written by Shakespeare. 
2.     Waitresses and waiters serve customers. 
è Customers are served by waitresses and waiters. 
3.     The teacher is going to explain the lesson.
è The lesson is going to be explained by the teacher.
4.     Two horses were pulling the farmer’s wagon.
è The farmer’s wagon was being pulled by two horses
5.     Toshi will invite Yoko to the party.
è Yoko will be invited to the party by Toshi.
6.     Alex is preparing that report.
è That report is being prepared by Alex.
7.     Kathy had returned the book to the library. 
è The book had been returned to the library by Kathy.
8.     Miriam has designed several public buildings.
è Several public buildings have been designed by Miriam.
9.     His tricks won’t fool me.
è I won’t be fooled by his tricks.
10.      I didn’t write that note. Did Jim write it?
è That note wasn’t written by me. Was it written by Jim?
11.      Does Prof. Shapiro teach that course? No, he doesn’t teach it.
è Is that course taught by Prof. Shapiro? No, it isn’t taught by him.
12.      Mrs. Andrews hasn’t signed those papers yet. Has Mr. Andrews signed them   
   yet?   
è Those papers haven’t been signed by Mrs. Andrews yet. Have they 
       been signed by Mr. Andrews yet?
 
Part II. 
The passive to active : 
1.     The speech was given by Anwar. 
è Anwar gave the speech.
2.     Our assignments are going to be corrected by the teaching assistant.
è The teaching assistant is going to correct our assignments.
3.     Was the electric light bulb invented by Thomas Edison?
è Did Thomas Edison invent the electric light bulb?
4.     The speed limit on Highway 5 isn’t obeyed by most drivers.
è Most drivers don’t obey the speed limit on Highway 5.
5.     Have you been informed of the rent increase by the building manager?  
è Has the building manager informed you of the rent increase?
 
 
 
References : 
Book : Azar, Betty and Stacy A. Hagen. 2009. Understanding and Using English Grammar, Fourth Edition. New York: Pearson Education. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Happy Learning All J