Monday, 21 April 2008

Passive voice I. General


The passive voice is used when we want to focus attention on the person or thing affected by the action. Normally, the performer of the action, or the agent, comes first and is made the subject of the verb and then we use the active form of the verb. The other person or thing is made the object of the verb. Consider these examples:

'The boss invited her to the party.'
'The construction company in Station Road employs three hundred people.'

However, if you want to focus on the person or thing affected by the action, you make the person or thing the subject of the sentence and use the passive voice:

'She was invited to the party by the boss.'
'Three hundred people are employed by the construction company in Station Road.'

To have a complete review of this topic you can have a look on the following:
General grammar or try the quizzes 1-2-3 for simple passive, quizzes 1-2-3 for continuous passive, quizzes 1-2-3 for perfect passive.


For listening practice see next post.

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