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A.USE
The passive voice is much more frequently used in English than in Spanish. In the passive
form the focus is moved from the subject to the direct object of active sentences.
ACTIVE:Jim watched American Pie.
Subj.
PASSIVE:
D.O.
With the passive form, we emphasize the film and not the person who watched it (Jim)
The passive is associated with an impersonal, formal style. It is often used in notices:
English (is) spoken.
B.FORM
B.1. The passive of an active tense is formed by putting the verb to be into the same tense as
the active verb and adding the past participle of the active verb.
ACTIVE:
PASSIVE:
ACTIVE:
PASSIVE:
ACTIVE VOICE
PASSIVE VOICE
Simple Present
keeps
is kept
Present Continuous
is keeping
is being kept
Simple Past
kept
was kept
Past continuous
was keeping
Present Perfect
has kept
Future
will keep
will be kept
Conditional
would keep
would be kept
Infinitive
to keep
to be kept
B.2. The subject of the active tense becomes the agent of the passive sentence and it is
preceded by the preposition BY.
ACTIVE:
PASSIVE:
D.O.
Agent
PASSIVE1:
I.O.
PASSIVE1:
The subject is always it and the verb of the main / introductory clause is passive.
PASSIVE 2:
infinitive
The subject in the subordinate clause in the active voice becomes the subject in the passive
voice. The passive verb is the introductory verb and the verb in the subordinate clause
becomes an infinitive.
Other verbs which can be found in this passive structures are: agree, assume, believe, claim,
consider, expect, feel, find, hope, know, presume, report, say, think, understand, etc.