Passive Voice (Past Simple)

Learning Outcomes: The student will learn more about the passive voice (past simple tense) and how it's structure differs from that of the active voice.

Note: Functions of the passive voice: The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action. In other words, the most important thing or person becomes the subject of the sentence.

Main Difference – Active vs Passive Voice A sentence is considered to be in active voice if the subject is performing the action. A sentence is considered to be in passive if the action is performed on the subject.

Examples of changing sentences in the passive voice to active voice: Active: He wrote a letter. Passive: A letter was written by him. Active: They knew it. Passive: It was known to them. Active: She sang a song. Passive: A song was sung by her. Active: He loved his friends very much. Passive: His friends were loved very much by him.

Lesson Summary: A passive voice construction is a grammatical voice construction that is found in many languages. In a clause with passive voice, the grammatical subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb – that is, the person or thing that undergoes the action or has its state changed. Enjoy working through these notes and activities!