passive voice

 

The form


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

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

 

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.
Fact: my bike was stolen.
I do not know, however, who did it.

Sometimes  the passive voice is more polite than the active voice:

Example:

A mistake was made.
The fact is that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone

Click on the links to do the exercises by making passive sentences.