Transcript
“Voice” is linked to the verb because it is considered one of the features that define it, together with “tense”, “person”, “aspect” or “mood”.
VERB
tense
person
voice
mood
KINDS OF VOICE
ACTIVE
PASSIVE
Active Voice
• It is the most common, unmarked voice.
ActiveVoice
Subject Verb Object
>
The choir sings love songs.
Passive Voice
• Passive verb phrases are less common and used for special discourse functions.
PassiveVoice
Subject Verb Object
>
Love songs
are sung by the choir.
Compare…The choir sings love songs.
Love songs are sung by the choir.
Normal Passives follow the three general steps to form passive sentences:
• PASSIVE SUBJECTOBJECT
•BE+PARTICIPLEVERB
• AGENT COMPLEMENTSUBJECT
Object --- Passive Subject
To transform an active sentence into a passive one, it is commonly believed that the main verb in active should be transitive, i.e., there should be a Direct Object in the sentence. However, the English language proves that a passive sentence can also be created from the Indirect Object in the active sentence.
Therefore, this leads us to say that to form a passive sentence we need to have an Object in the active counterpart.
Verb --- Be + Participle• ACTIVEteach / teaches
Is teachingTaught
Was teachingHave / has taught
Had taughtWill teachTo teach
• PASSIVEAm/is/are taught
Is being taughtWas/were taught
Was were being taughtHave/has been taught
Had been taughtWill be taughtTo be taught
Subject --- Agent Complement
• When is the agent complement not necessary?
when the active subject is an indefinite pronoun or a generic noun. (i.e., some-, any-, no-&
“people”) This is called the impersonal passive.
PRACTICE EXERCISES
Construct active and passive sentences for the
following:
Thank You!
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