Passive Voice__________________________________________

Voice is the grammatical category of the verb which shows the relations between the subject and the action expressed by the verb.

The PV shows that the subject of the sentence is doer (or the agent) of the action denoted by the verb In the sentence.

The PV Is formed by the means of noun or pronoun plus auxiliary verb to be plus PII. Only transitive verbs can be used In passive.

Forms (10) Indefinite Continuous Perfect

Present I am invited I am being invited I have been Invited

Past I was invited I was being invited I had been Invited

Future I shall be invited - I shall have been invited

Fut in the P I should be invited - I should have been invited

The PV can be used with the modal verbs as well (must, can, could, may, might, should, ought to, to have, to be).

Usage

1) When the person who carries the action is unknown, unimportant or obvious from the context. Coffee beans are grown In Brazil.

2) When the action is more important than the person who carries it out, as in news headlines, articles, formal notices. The new hospital will be opened on May 14.

3) When we refer to an unpleasant event and we do not to say who or what to blame. A lot of mistakes have been made.

Sometimes when we want to point out the person who carries the action we use preposition by before the agent. It was made by me.

We should remember that with the verbs which take two objects such as bring, tell, send, show, teach, promise, buy, write, allow, pay, lend, owe, feed, pass we can make two different passive sentences:

• She was given some sweets.

• Some sweets were given to her.

If the verb in the sentence is used with the preposition we keep it in passive voice. He was looked at.

In the Complex object construction with the verb make in active we use the infinitive without to but in passive we use to. He was made to do it. The same with the verbs: help, send and hear.

The passive construction is used in Complex Subject construction as well. He is said to be the teacher.

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The Forbidden City is situated in the centre of Beijing. It was built as the Imperial Palace for the emperors of China. It was named the Forbidden City because no common or foreign person was allowed to go inside without special permission.

We form the passive with the verb to be and the past participle of the main verb.

The present perfect continuous, the future continuous, the past perfect continuous and the future perfect continuous are not normally used in the passive.

We can use the verb to get instead of the verb to be in everyday speech when we talk about things that happen by accident or unexpectedly.

Four people got hurt in the car crash. (= Four people were hurt...)

♦ when the person who carries out the action is unknown, unimportant or obvious from the context.

a) My flat was broken into last week. (We do not know who broke into the flat.)

b) Coffee beans are grown in Brazil. (It is not important to know who grows the coffee.)

c) My car was serviced yesterday. (It is obvious that a mechanic serviced it.)

♦ when the action itself is more important than the person who carries it out, as in news headlines, newspaper articles, formal notices, instructions, advertisements, processes, etc.

a) The new hospital will be opened by the Queen on May 15th. (formal notice)

b) Then, the milk is taken to a factory where it is pasteurised, (process)

♦ when we refer to an unpleasant event and we do not want to say who or what is to blame.

A lot of mistakes have been made, (instead of You have made a lot of mistakes)