Passive voice

Passive voice - 1

The form
The Passive Voice is formed by: Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle.
Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in the passive voice, note the following:

The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.

The finite form of the verb is changed (a finite form of to be + Past Participle).

The subject of the active sentence is preceeded by the preposition 'by' (or is dropped).

Note the differences between Dutch and English:

Dutch

English

o.t.t.

Het boek wordt gelezen

present simple

The book is read

o.v.t.

Het boek werd gelezen

past simple

The book was read

v.t.t.

Het boek is gelezen

present perfect

The book has been read

v.v.t.

Het boek was gelezen

past perfect

The book had been read

Passive voice - 2

The use
Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action.
It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.
In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen.
I do not know, however, who did it.

Sometimes a statement in the passive voice is more polite than the active voice, as the following example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.
In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).

The examples

Tense

Subject

Verbs

(prepositional) Object

Simple Present

Active:

Rita

writes

a letter

Passive:

A letter

is written

by Rita

Simple Past

Active:

Rita

wrote

a letter

Passive:

A letter

was written

by Rita

Present Perfect

Active:

Rita

has written

a letter

Passive:

A letter

has been written

by Rita

Future

Active:

Rita

will write

a letter

Passive:

A letter

will be written

by Rita

Auxiliary verbs

Active:

Rita

can write

a letter

Passive:

A letter

can be written

by Rita

Het arrangement Passive voice is gemaakt met Wikiwijs van Kennisnet. Wikiwijs is hét onderwijsplatform waar je leermiddelen zoekt, maakt en deelt.

Auteur: VO-content
Laatst gewijzigd: 2016-11-30 14:19:57
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