22 November 2011 / by Radmila Gurkova
Passive Voice
The passive voice is used when focusing on the person or thing affected by an action.
The Passive is formed: Passive Subject + To Be + Past Particple
Example: The house was built in 1989.
- It is often used in business
- Where the object of the action is more important than those who perform the action
- e.g. ''We have produced over 20 different MODELS in the past two years''
- Changes to: ''Over 20 different MODELS have been produced in the past two years''
- ''She will have to be taught'' becomes ''Someone will have to teach her''
- ''Why aren't the exercises being finished on time?'' becomes ''Why aren't you finishing the exercises on time?''