Why do we use passive?
Sometimes we use the passive voice because we don't know or do not want to express who performed the action.
Active Voice: Sameer wrote a letter. (Subject) + (verb) + (object). Passive Voice: A letter was written by Sameer. (Object) + (auxiliary verb) + (past participle) + (by subject).
In academic writing, passive voice is used to describe a process, the results of study, or similar material which is objective in nature. But active voice is used to describe actions.
Using active voice often improves clarity, while passive voice can help avoid unnecessary repetition. Active voice can help ensure clarity by making it clear to the reader who is taking action in the sentence.
- The actor is unknown: ...
- The actor is irrelevant: ...
- You want to be vague about who is responsible: ...
- You are talking about a general truth: ...
- You want to emphasize the person or thing acted on. ...
- You are writing in a scientific genre that traditionally relies on passive voice.
Passive Voice – When the action expressed by the verb is received by the subject, it is passive voice. Passive voice is used when the doer of the action is not known and the focus of the sentence is on the action and not the subject.
Passive Behavior involves saying nothing in a response, keeping feelings to yourself, hiding feelings from others, and perhaps even hiding your feelings from yourself.
In a sentence using passive voice, the subject is acted upon; he or she receives the action expressed by the verb. The agent performing the action may appear in a "by the..." phrase or may be omitted. The dog is acting upon the sentence subject (the boy), meaning it uses the passive voice.
...
Answers:
- was painted.
- will be completed/is going to be completed.
- are being drawn up.
- are manufactured.
- have been taught.
- was written.
- is cut.
- will be painted.
Passive sentences are composed by using a form of to be followed by the past participle form of a verb. They also require a preposition. The stove was turned on by the sous-chef. The passive voice emphasizes the result of the action rather than who or what performed the action.
How do you make a passive?
How to make the Passive in English. We make the passive by putting the verb 'to be' into whatever tense we need and then adding the past participle. For regular verbs, we make the past participle by adding 'ed' to the infinitive.
The passive voice has a subtler tone than the active voice has. Sometimes your writing needs this tone, like when you want your reader to focus on the action being described or the action's target rather than on who or what is performing the action.

The passive is used, essentially, in three situations: To put more emphasis on the word that would be the object of an active sentence. To write an impersonal sentence. To simplify the structure of a complex sentence.
- Any form of the word "to be." The words "am," "is," "are," "was," "were," "be," "being," and "been" come before the verb in passive voice form.
- The "-en" form of the verb. ...
- A "by" phrase.
In the present simple, the passive is: am / is / are + past participle (3rd form of the verb). Remember! The past participle always stays the same. Only the form of be changes. The subject and verb must always agree in number.
1. PASSIVE COMMUNICATION is a style in which individuals have developed a pattern of avoiding expressing their opinions or feelings, protecting their rights, and identifying and meeting their needs. As a result, passive individuals do not respond overtly to hurtful or anger-inducing situations.
Passive behaviour
Passive people concentrate on relationship issues when making decisions; “I'll feel really bad if I ask them to stop doing that.”, “Will I feel silly…”; “They won't like me if I do that.”; “I'll feel guilty about turning them down.”.
The passive form of a verb is being used when the grammatical subject is the person or thing that experiences the effect of an action, rather than the person or thing that causes the effect: 'He was released from prison' is a passive sentence. In the sentence "He was hit by the ball," "was hit" is in the passive voice.
How we make the passive. We make the passive using the verb be + past participle. We start the sentence with the object.
- Move the active sentence's direct object into the sentence's subject slot.
- Place the active sentence's subject into a phrase beginning with the preposition by.
- Add a form of the auxiliary verb be to the main verb and change the main verb's form.
How do you answer active and passive voice?
Directions: Rewrite the active voice sentences as passive voice sentences. Active: Julie answered the question. Passive: The question was answered by Julie.
- form of “to be” + past participle = passive voice.
- Not every sentence that contains a form of “have” or “be” is passive! ...
- Lab reports.
- Writing about scientific topics.
- To emphasize an object. ...
- To de-emphasize an unknown subject/actor.
A verb is in the passive voice when the subject of the sentence is acted on by the verb. For example, in “The ball was thrown by the pitcher,” the ball (the subject) receives the action of the verb, and was thrown is in the passive voice.
not acting to influence or change a situation; allowing other people to be in control: He's very passive in the relationship.
How to make the Passive in English. We make the passive by putting the verb 'to be' into whatever tense we need and then adding the past participle. For regular verbs, we make the past participle by adding 'ed' to the infinitive. So play becomes played.