What is Passive Voice? Definition and Example Sentences
Table of Contents
Passive Voice
The roof of the verb, which is one of the most common mistakes in English, is a grammar subject consisting of two sub-titles, the passive voice, and the active voice. In the sentences containing the active voice, it is known whom the subject acting as the predicate is, while in the passive voice it is not known who the subject is, you cannot reach the information of whom the subject is based on the verb. In addition, inactive voice sentences the action is affected by the subject, while in passive voice sentences the subject is affected by the action. Let’s reinforce the subject by examining the examples we have given below together:
- I accidentally broke my mom’s favorite vase. (The person who broke the vase can be understood when the question “who?” is asked to the verb.)
- My mom’s favorite vase was accidentally broken by me. (Here, when you ask the verb “who?” you will not get an answer. This sentence is a passive voice sentence.)
Important Rules You Should Know About Passive Voice
Contrary to active voice sentences, the important thing in passive voice sentences is not the person who did the action, but whether the action took place or not. For this reason, in many passive voice sentences, the person doing the action is not explained in the sentence.
- Wine spilled on my favorite sweater.
If you are going to make a passive sentence and you are going to express who is doing the action in this sentence, you should use the “by” pattern. In this case, the example we saw in the first rule turns into the following sentence.
- It was spilled wine on my favorite sweater by my sister.
If more than one object is used in an active voice sentence, that is, the object that is secondary to the verb is made the subject of the sentence.
- My sister gave me a very nice sweater.
- I was given a very nice sweater as a gift.
If any negative active voice sentence contains words like any, anybody, and anything, the active voice sentence is converted to passive voice, while the “any” part of the words turn into “no”.
- You haven’t bought me any birthday cake in a long time.
- I haven’t received no birthday cake for a long time.
If an active voice sentence begins with the words Nobody or No one, there are two ways these sentences can be made passive. Let’s examine the following active voice sentence and two passive voice sentences carefully:
- No one can lift me.
- I cannot be lifted (by anybody).
- I can be lifted by nobody.
Active voice questions that start with Who and ask the person who acted can also be arranged in two different ways. Examine the examples of this rule carefully as well:
- Who stole my wallet last night?
- Whom was my wallet stolen last night?
- By whom was my wallet stolen last night?
The first sentence you see in the passive voice examples is a type of sentence that is often used in spoken language. The second sentence you see is more formal.
