![]() ![]() If so, what is at the front of the sentence? Is it the person or thing that does the action? Or is it the person or thing that has the action done to it? In a passive sentence, the object of the action will be in the subject position at the front of the sentence. Need more help deciding whether a sentence is passive? Ask yourself whether there is an action going on in the sentence. The moral of the story: don't assume that any time you see a form of "have" and a form of "to be" together, you are looking at a passive sentence. For example, the sentence "John is a good student" is not passive "is" is simply describing John's state of being. And forms of "be" are not always passive, either – "be" can be the main verb of a sentence that describes a state of being, rather than an action. It's a modal verb, like "must", "can", or "may" – these verbs tell how necessary it is to do something (compare "I have to study" versus "I may study"). For example, in the sentence "John has to study all afternoon", "has" is not part of a past-tense verb. ![]() Not every sentence that contains a form of "have" or "be" is passive! Forms of the word "have" can do several different things in English. The metropolis has been scorched by the dragon's fiery breath.When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage. Here's a sure-fire formula for identifying the passive voice:įorm of "to be" + past participle = passive voice Some exceptions to the "–ed" rule are words like "paid" (not "payed") and "driven" (not "drived"). (The past participle is a form of the verb that typically, but not always, ends in "–ed". Look for a form of "to be" ( is, are, am, was, were, has been, have been, had been, will be, will have been, being) followed by a past participle. Once you know what to look for, passive constructions are easy to spot. We use active verbs to represent that "doing", whether it be crossing roads, proposing ideas, making arguments, or invading houses (more on that shortly). The more familiar phrasing (why did the chicken cross the road?) puts the actor in the subject position, the position of doing something – the chicken (the actor/doer) crosses the road (the object). Instead, the road is the grammatical subject. Who is doing the action in this sentence? The chicken is the one doing the action in this sentence, but the chicken is not in the spot where you would expect the grammatical subject to be. Take a look at this passive rephrasing of a familiar joke: That is, whoever or whatever is performing the action is not the grammatical subject of the sentence. \)Ī passive construction occurs when you make the object of an action into the subject of a sentence. ![]()
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