CLASS 7 · LEARNING KNOWLEDGE

Passive in ‹simple present› and ‹simple past› (English)

How it works

In English, the passive voice is used when the person doing the action is unimportant or unknown, or when what happens is to be emphasized rather than who does it. The passive in ‹simple present› is formed with a form of ‹to be› (‹am/is/are›) + ‹past participle›, e.g. ‹The book is read›. In ‹simple past›, one uses ‹was/were› + ‹past participle›, e.g. ‹The book was read›. In the passive, the subject of the sentence is what would be the object in the active voice. The tense of the auxiliary verb depends on the tense that is to be expressed. The person doing the action can be named with ‹by›, but is often omitted.

Note
In ‹simple present›: subject + ‹am/is/are› + ‹past participle› (+ ‹by› + doer). In ‹simple past›: subject + ‹was/were› + ‹past participle› (+ ‹by› + doer). ‹past participle› is the third verb form, e.g. ‹eaten›, ‹built›, ‹written›.

An example

Rewrite the sentence in the passive voice: ‹People make cars in Japan.›

‹Cars are made in Japan.› – The object ‹cars› becomes the subject, ‹are› is the appropriate form of ‹to be› in ‹simple present› for ‹cars›, and ‹made› is the ‹past participle› of ‹make›.

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Own explanation and own practice exercises by AmyMath. Subject reference framework: English. The topic assignment may vary by federal state.