PASSIVE VOICE - English Grammar step-by-step

Summary

In this informative video, Arnel from Arnel's Everyday English explains the concept of passive voice, contrasting it with active voice through examples. He details the grammatical structure involving 'BE' and past participles, and outlines scenarios to use passive voice: emphasizing actions over actors, unknown or unimportant actors, obvious actors, and inanimate subjects. Arnel also offers a study tip for recognizing passive voice in media and provides a method to transform active sentences into passive. He clarifies that intransitive verbs cannot be passive and encourages viewers to visit his website for more resources.

Takeaways

• 📚 The passive voice is the opposite of the active voice, where the focus is on the action rather than the doer of the action.
• 🔍 To form the passive voice, you need 'BE' plus a past participle, which varies depending on the tense of the sentence.
• 🤔 The passive voice is used when the action is more important than the person who performs it, the doer is unknown or unimportant, or the doer is obvious.
• 🏛 Examples given include sentences where the passive voice emphasizes the action, such as '1 million pounds were donated to the children's hospital'.
• 👀 The passive voice can also be used when the object of the action cannot perform the action itself, like '100 chocolate cakes were sold on Sunday'.
• 👮‍♂️ An agent (the doer of the action) can be added in the passive voice using 'by' plus the person, but this information is optional.
• 📰 A study tip is to highlight passive forms in newspapers and consider why the passive voice is used, aligning with the reasons mentioned.
• 🛠️ Transforming an active sentence to passive involves changing the structure to 'BE' plus past participle, and optionally adding the agent.
• 🚫 Some tenses, like present perfect continuous and past perfect continuous, do not have a natural passive form and should not be forced.
• 🚷 Intransitive verbs, which do not take an object, cannot be made into the passive voice.
• 🔗 For a comprehensive list of passive formations and examples, viewers are directed to the instructor's website for more resources.

Q & A

What is the passive voice?

The passive voice is a grammatical structure where the subject of the sentence is the receiver of the action rather than the doer. For example, in 'Chocolate is loved by everybody,' 'Chocolate' is the receiver of the action 'love,' making it passive voice.

How is the passive voice formed grammatically?

The passive voice is formed using a form of the verb 'to be' (BE) plus the past participle of the main verb. For instance, 'My house is being painted' uses 'is' (a form of BE) and 'painted' (past participle of 'paint').

Why might we choose to use the passive voice instead of the active voice?

We use the passive voice when the action is more important than the person who performs it, when the doer is unknown or unimportant, when the doer is obvious, or when the object of the sentence cannot perform the action itself.

Can you provide an example of when the passive voice emphasizes the action over the doer?

Yes, '1 million pounds were donated to the children's hospital' emphasizes the action of donating a large sum of money rather than who did the donating.

What is an example of using the passive voice when the doer is not known or not important?

The sentence 'This beautiful bridge was built in 1732' uses the passive voice because the identity of the person who built the bridge is either unknown or not significant in the context of the sentence.

How can the passive voice be used when the doer is obvious?

In the sentence 'Bill was arrested last night,' the passive voice is used because it's obvious that only the police have the authority to arrest someone, making the doer of the action clear.

Can you explain how to transform an active sentence into a passive one?

To transform an active sentence into passive, you change the object of the active sentence into the subject of the passive sentence and use the appropriate form of BE plus the past participle of the verb. For example, 'Apple sells thousands of iPhones every day' becomes 'Thousands of iPhones are sold every day by Apple.'

Is it possible to use a passive voice construction with every verb?

No, intransitive verbs, which do not take an object, cannot be used in the passive voice. For example, you cannot say '*A late was arrived by me' because 'arrived' is intransitive and does not require an object.

What is the role of the agent in a passive sentence?

The agent in a passive sentence is the doer of the action and is optional. It is introduced by the preposition 'by'. For example, in 'A man was saved by the lifeguard,' 'the lifeguard' is the agent.

Why might some tenses not have a natural passive form?

Some tenses, such as the present perfect continuous and past perfect continuous, do not have a natural passive form because they describe ongoing actions that are not typically focused on the receiver of the action.

How can one practice recognizing and using the passive voice?

One can practice by highlighting passive voice constructions in newspapers or using subtitles in films to identify passive sentences and understand why they are used. This helps in becoming more confident in recognizing and using the passive voice.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to the Passive Voice

Arnel from Arnel's Everyday English introduces the concept of the passive voice, contrasting it with the active voice, and providing examples to illustrate the difference. The lesson plan includes an explanation of the passive voice, its grammatical structure, and guidance on when to use it. Arnel also discusses an important study tip: transforming active sentences into passive ones, and notes that some sentences cannot be converted due to their structure.

05:08

🔍 Understanding the Passive Voice Structure and Usage

This paragraph delves deeper into the grammatical structure of the passive voice, emphasizing the necessity of using a form of the verb 'to be' plus a past participle. Examples are given to differentiate between passive and non-passive sentences. The reasons for using the passive voice are explored, including when the action is more important than the doer, when the doer is unknown or unimportant, when the doer is obvious, and when the object cannot perform the action itself. The paragraph also explains how to include an optional agent in a passive sentence using 'by' plus the person or entity performing the action.

10:08

🛠️ Transforming Active to Passive and Recognizing Intransitive Verbs

Arnel provides a step-by-step guide on how to change an active sentence into a passive one, using the sentence 'Apple sells thousands of iPhones every day' as an example. He explains the importance of recognizing the passive structure in various tenses and cautions against trying to form the passive in tenses that do not naturally support it. The paragraph concludes with a crucial point about intransitive verbs, which cannot be used in the passive voice, and offers resources for further learning on the website.

Keywords

💡Passive Voice

The passive voice is a grammatical structure where the subject of the sentence is the recipient of the action rather than the doer. It is the opposite of the active voice. In the video, the passive voice is defined through examples like 'Chocolate is loved by everybody' compared to the active 'Everybody loves chocolate.' It is a central theme of the video, as the speaker discusses its structure, usage, and transformation from the active voice.

💡Active Voice

The active voice is a grammatical structure where the subject of the sentence performs the action. It is contrasted with the passive voice in the video, with examples provided to illustrate the difference, such as 'The lifeguard saved a man' in the active voice versus 'A man was saved by the lifeguard' in the passive voice. The concept is essential for understanding when to use the passive voice.

💡Grammatical Structure

The grammatical structure refers to the arrangement of words and phrases that form a sentence in accordance with the rules of grammar. In the context of the video, the speaker explains that forming the passive voice requires 'BE' plus a past participle, which is a key structural component in creating passive sentences.

💡Past Participle

A past participle is a verb form typically used to express a completed action and often appears in perfect tenses or as part of the passive voice. In the video, past participles are highlighted as necessary for forming passive sentences, with examples like 'eaten' from 'eat' and 'played' from 'play'.

💡BE Verbs

BE verbs are auxiliary verbs used in various tenses and voices in English. In the video, different forms of BE verbs (am, is, are, was, were, been, being) are discussed as they are essential for constructing the passive voice, with each form corresponding to different tenses.

💡Intransitive Verb

An intransitive verb is a verb that does not take a direct object, as it expresses a complete action by itself. The video explains that intransitive verbs cannot be used in the passive voice, using 'arrived' as an example, which does not require an object and thus cannot be passivized.

💡Transitive Verb

A transitive verb is a verb that requires a direct object to complete its meaning. In the script, the use of 'bought' in 'I bought a coffee' is given as an example of a transitive verb, which can take an object 'a coffee' and can be used in the passive voice as 'A coffee was bought'.

💡Agent

In the passive voice, the agent is the doer of the action, which is often introduced by the preposition 'by'. The video script mentions that the agent is optional and provides examples like '1 million pounds were donated to the Children Hospital by the Prime Minister', where 'by the Prime Minister' indicates the agent of the action.

💡Tense

Tense in grammar refers to the time reference of a verb. The video script discusses various tenses and their corresponding passive structures, emphasizing that some tenses, like present perfect continuous and past perfect continuous, do not have a natural passive form.

💡Study Tip

A study tip is a piece of advice given to enhance learning. In the video, the speaker provides a study tip to highlight passive forms in newspapers and to question why the passive is used in each case, which helps in understanding and using the passive voice with confidence.

💡Transformation

Transformation in the context of the video refers to the process of changing an active sentence into a passive one. The script provides a clear example and explanation of how to transform 'Apple sells thousands of iPhones every day' into 'Thousands of iPhones are sold every day' by using the appropriate BE verb and past participle.

Highlights

The passive voice is the opposite of the active voice, with examples provided for comparison.

The grammatical structure of the passive voice includes BE plus a past participle.

Different forms of BE are used depending on the tense, such as AM/ARE/IS for the present and WAS/WERE for the past.

The passive voice emphasizes the action rather than the doer when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or obvious.

An example illustrates the use of passive when the doer's identity is not important, such as a large donation to a hospital.

The passive voice is used when the doer is obvious, like the police arresting someone.

An object cannot perform an action by itself, necessitating the use of passive voice, as in the sale of chocolate cakes.

The agent in a passive sentence is optional and can be formed using 'BY' plus the person.

Study tip: Highlight passive forms in newspapers and consider why they are used.

Active sentences can be transformed into passive by using BE plus past participle and optionally adding the agent.

Tenses have their own passive structures, and some tenses do not have a natural passive form.

Intransitive verbs, which do not have an object, cannot be made into the passive voice.

A list of all passive formations and examples is available on the instructor's website.

The lesson plan includes understanding the passive voice, its structure, when to use it, and how to transform active sentences into passive.

The importance of recognizing the passive voice in various contexts to understand its usage and apply it confidently.

A humorous approach to the lesson's conclusion, encouraging engagement and a positive learning experience.

Transcripts

What is the passive voice? When do we use the passive voice? And how can I easily

change the active voice, to the passive voice? I'm Arnel from Arnel's

Everyday English, and today I'm going to answer these three questions step by

step. Today's lesson plan is: What is the passive voice? The grammatical structure.

When to use the passive voice. Plus an important study tip: Transforming from

the active to the passive. Some sentences cannot be transformed into the passive.

I'll tell you why. So, there's going to be a lot of information in this lesson. Get

ready to take notes! Let's begin. What is the passive voice? The passive

voice is the opposite of the active voice. Active: Everybody loves chocolate.

Passive: Chocolate is loved by everybody. Active: The lifeguard saved a man. Passive:

A man was saved by the lifeguard. Active: Decorators are painting my house. Passive:

My house is being painted. Okay, here are three examples of the passive. Now let's

look at this grammar in more detail. Step two: The grammatical structure. When you

form the passive you need BE plus a past participle. Here are the forms of BE.

There's a lot. AM/ARE/IS in the present, WAS/WERE in the past. You can use BEEN with

perfect tenses, and BEING in continuous tenses. You need a form of this plus that

past participle which is verb number three: EAT/ATE/EATEN, eaten is my past

participle. PLAY/PLAYED/PLAYED, played is my past participle.

The three sentences from earlier they all have BE and that past participle. So,

let's compare two sentences:

This bottle of ketchup has already BEEN opened.

I have BEEN tired for weeks.

Which sentence is passive?

Right! The first one. Why? Because I have the BE and the past participle. In the

second sentence, I have BE, Which is great. But I don't have a past participle, tired

is an adjective, so that sentence isn't a passive.

So, always remember the passive has... BE and past participle.

Step number three: Why do we use the passive?

When the action is more important or interesting than the person who does the

action. 1 million pounds were donated to the

children's hospital. Wow! 1 million pounds, that's a lot of money. This is very

interesting. Who donated the money? It's not important, I'm interested in the

information here.

Active, the Prime Minister donated 1 million pounds to the children's

hospital. Here, wow it's the prime minister. In the active sentence, it's

really important, who does the action. But in the passive, that's not important.

Number 2: The person who does the action is not known, or not important.

This beautiful bridge was built in 1732. Who built the bridge? It's not important.

Or, I don't know. Active: John Taylor Thomas built this

bridge in 1732. Imagine John Taylor Thomas is a famous

architect. Then, that information is important. In the passive, not important,

and in the active, important. Number 3: The person doing the action

is obvious. Bill was arrested last night. Who arrested Bill? It's obvious. The

police arrested Bill! Only the police can arrest someone.

Active: The police arrested bill last night. You could definitely say that, it's

just a different emphasis.

Number 4: The object cannot do the action itself.

100 chocolate cakes were sold on Sunday. Can a cake sell itself? Of course not, it

needs to be the passive. If you want to say who does the action,

you can use an agent. We form the agent using BY plus person. The agent is

optional.

1 million pounds were donated to the Children Hospital by the Prime Minister.

By the Prime Minister is optional information.

This beautiful bridge was built in 1732.

By John Taylor Thomas, that's optional information.

100 chocolate cakes were sold on Sunday by Jones's bakery. Again, optional

information. Important study tip!

In a newspaper, I want you to highlight any form of the passive you see. I want

you to ask yourself: Why is the passive being used? Is it reason one, two, three or

four? You can also do this when you're watching a film. Use the subtitles to

help you. Once you understand why the passive is being used, you can start

using it confidently.

Step number 4: Transforming an active sentence to a passive sentence. Active:

Apple sells thousands of iPhones every day. How can I change this to the passive?

Remember you need BE plus past participle.

Thousands of iPhones are sold every day. Do I want the agent? By Apple is

reason number three, it's obvious. Only Apple sells iPhones. Apple sells

thousands of iPhones every day. Thousands of iPhones are sold every day by Apple.

Each tense has its own passive structure. You need a list:

Here I have a list of the tenses, and you can see that BE and the past participle.

The tenses is in red present perfect continuous, past perfect continuous, do

not have a natural passive form. Don't try to form the passive using the

red tenses. Now I don't want you to think oh there are so many structures for me

to memorize. Step one, you recognize the passive step two,

you understand the passive, and step three you use the passive. Whichever step

you're on is fine.

Oh, how are you feeling? I hope you're feeling... like this and not like this... I

have one more important piece of information to tell you about the

passive. Intransitive verbs cannot be made into the passive. What is an

intransitive verb? An intransitive verb does not have an object.

I bought a coffee. Buy is a transitive verb, it needs an object. In this case,

coffee.

I arrived late. Here, arrived is an intransitive verb. It doesn't need an

object. I arrived is fine there's no object needed, its intransitive.

So, send is number one if i want to make it the passive.

A coffee was bought. Perfect. Sentence number two,

it's not possible. Intransitive verbs, no passive. Fantastic, well done! If you want

a list of all the passive formations plus examples, you can go to my website.

I'll leave the link in the description for you. There you have it, if you want

more videos don't forget to SUBSCRIBE! And I'll see you very soon for another

lesson!