Active and Passive Voice - English Grammar

Overview

• Instructor: Mike from Shaw English
• Goal: To teach the transition from active to passive voice, including different tenses, with examples and homework.

Key Concepts

Active Voice

• Structure: Subject + Verb + Object (SVO)
  • Example: "The boy opened the door."
  • Subject: The boy (doer)
  • Verb: Opened (action)
  • Object: The door (receiver)

Passive Voice

• Structure: Object + Form of 'to be' + Past Participle + (by + Subject) (O + to be + V3 + (by + S) )
  • Example: "The door was opened by the boy."
  • Object: The door (receiver)
  • Verb: Was opened (to be + past participle)
  • Subject: By the boy (doer)

Transforming Active to Passive

1. Identify parts of the sentence (Subject, Verb, Object).
2. Swap the doer and receiver's positions.
3. Adjust the verb to include a form of 'to be' and the past participle.
4. Optionally include the doer using 'by'.

Examples

• Active: "The woman helped the man."

• Passive: "The man was helped by the woman."

• Active: "The cat bit the girl."

• Passive: "The girl was bitten by the cat."

Recognizing Active and Passive Voice

Criteria for Active Voice

• Subject performing the action
• Example: "The bat hit the ball."

Criteria for Passive Voice

• Object of the action leading the sentence
• Forms of 'to be' used with past participle
• Example: "The food was cooked by the man."

Reasons to Use Passive Voice

1. Emphasize Receiver - "The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo DaVinci."
2. Unknown Doer - "My cell phone was stolen."
3. The Doer is Not Important - "The house was built in 1955."
4. Avoid Blame - "Mistakes were made."
5. General Statements - "English is spoken in many countries."
6. Academic Writing - Focus on topic, not the writer - "Three people were interviewed."

Active and Passive Voice with Different Tenses

Present Simple

• Active: "The teacher helps the student."
• Passive: "The student is helped by the teacher."

Present Continuous

• Active: "The teacher is helping the student."
• Passive: "The student is being helped by the teacher."

Present Perfect

• Active: "The teacher has helped the student."
• Passive: "The student has been helped by the teacher."

Past Simple

• Active: "The teacher helped the student."
• Passive: "The student was helped by the teacher."

Past Continuous

• Active: "The teacher was helping the student."
• Passive: "The student was being helped by the teacher."

Past Perfect

• Active: "The teacher had helped the student."
• Passive: "The student had been helped by the teacher."

Future Simple

• Active: "The teacher will help the student."
• Passive: "The student will be helped by the teacher."

Future Continuous

• Active: "The teacher will be helping the student."
• Passive: "The student will be being helped by the teacher." (rarely used)

Future Perfect

• Active: "The teacher will have helped the student."
• Passive: "The student will have been helped by the teacher."

Practice and Homework

• Homework Assignment: Change the sentence "Mike taught the passive voice." to passive voice and comment.
• Quiz: Available via link in the description.

Conclusion

• Review: Key points reviewed, practice through examples and quiz.
• Subscribe & Like: Encouraged for more lessons.
• Next Steps: Complete homework and quiz.