Passive voice part 1, English for Palestine

Passive Voice
 Regarding the object, we have two types of verbs:
(
 1) Intransitive verb: a verb that doesn’t take an object

Ex:- Many people came to Palestine.

 2) Transitive verb: a verb that takes an object.

Ex:- Two men robbed the bank.

Active voice and Passive voice
 The difference between the active and the passive lies in the
rule of formation of sentences:

 Active voice rule: Sub + Verb + Obj
Ex:- Ali plays football.

 Passive voice rule: Obj + Helping verb + verb ( P.P )+ by agent
Ex:- Football is played by Ali

Passive Voice:
 Passive voice concentrates on the object, not the subject
while active voice concentrates on the subject, not the object.

 The categories of Passive Voice:
1) Simple Passive voice.
2) Continuous Passive voice.
3) Perfect Passive voice.

How to change into passive:
 1) Determine the object and put it the place of subject.

 2) Use the singular or plural helping verb depending on the
object.

 3) Change the verb into Past Participle ( P.P )

1) Simple Passive voice
A) Present simple passive voice:-
The rule:- Obj + ( is / are ) + verb ( P.P )

ex:- The boy plays football everyday.
Football is played everyday by the boy.

ex:- We build houses in Jericho.
Houses are built in Jericho by us.

B) Past simple Passive voice:-
The rule:- Obj + ( was / were ) + verb ( P.P )

ex:- The boys hit the cat yesterday.
The cat was hit yesterday.

ex:- Ali broke two windows last night.
Two windows were broken last night.

Q) Change the following active sentences into Passive voice:

1) My Father buys a new car every two years.

2) Two students brought a new projector for the school.

3) A group of terrorists attacked the customers at the bank.

4) Most of the students write wonderful novels.


1) My Father buys a new car every two years.
- A new car is bought every two years by my father.
2) Two students brought a new projector for the school.
- A new projector for the school was brought by two students.
3) A group of terrorists attacked the customers at the bank.
- The customers at the bank were attacked by a group of terrorists.
4) Most of the students write wonderful novels.
- Wonderful novels are written by most of the students.

2) Continuous Passive voice
A) Present continuous Passive voice:-
The rule:- Obj + ( is / are ) + being + verb ( P.P )

ex:- Ali is writing a paper.
A paper is being written by Ali.

ex:- They are making cookies.
Cookies are being made by them.

B) Past continuous Passive voice:-
The rule:- Obj + ( was / were ) + being + verb ( P.P )

ex:- They were watching a movie.
A movie was being watched by them.

ex:- Sam was buying some sandwiches.
Some sandwiches were being bought by Sam.


1) The boys were driving the car.

2) My kid is learning English.

3) The Farmer is raising five cows.

4) Some boys were building five robots.


1) The boys were driving the car.
- The car was being driven by the boys.
2) My kid is learning English.
- English is being learnt by my kid.
3) The Farmer is raising five cows.
- Five cows are being raised by the farmer.
4) Some boys were building five robots.
- Five robots were being built by some boys.

3) Perfect Passive Voice
A)Present Perfect simple passive voice:
The rule:- Obj + ( has / have ) + been + verb ( P.P )

ex:- Sam has found the key
The key has been found by Sam.

ex:- the company has produced ten new cars.
Ten new cars have been produced by the company.

B) Past Perfect simple passive voice:
The rule:- Obj + ( had ) + been + verb ( P.P )

ex:- They had broken the window.
The window had been broken by them.

ex:- Sameer had bought some books.
Some books had been bought by Sameer.


1) Israel had bombed some places in Gaza.

2) This school has served many students.

3) The dog had bitten the child.

4)The factory has brought a new machine.


1) Israel had bombed some places in Gaza.
- Some places in Gaza had been bombed by Israel.
2) This school has served many students.
- Many students have been served by this school.
3) The dog had bitten the child.
- The child had been bitten by the dog.
4)The factory has brought a new machine.
- A new machine has been brought by the factory.

Passive voice with modal verbs
The rule: Obj + modal verb + be + verb ( P.P )

ex:- Sally can fix the microwave.
The microwave can be fixed by Sally.

ex:- Bob can operate the bulldozer.
The bulldozer can be operated by Bob.


1) Tony will visit the Statue of Liberty.

2) John can solve the problem.

3) Mike may hold a meeting for the team member.

4) The terrorist group shall release the innocent man


1) Tony will visit the Statue of Liberty.
- The Statue of Liberty will be visited by Tony.
2) John can solve the problem.
- The problem can be solved by John.
3) Mike may hold a meeting for the team member.
- A meeting for the team member may be held by Mike.
4) The terrorist group shall release the innocent man
- The innocent man shall be released by the terrorist group.

Passive voice part 1, English for Palestine

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked (20)

Similar to Passive voice part 1, English for Palestine (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Passive voice part 1, English for Palestine