Page 102 - New Grammar with a Smile 7

Now, read the same sentences with a change in the word order.

y A film was watched by them.
y A pool was built by the men.
y Five sandwiches were eaten by the boy.
In these sentences, the subject is acted upon by the verb. The subject is no longer
active, it is passive.

When the subject is being acted upon in a sentence, the sentence is said to be in
the passive voice.

In sentences in the active voice, the doer of the action is the subject of the sentence
and the receiver of the action is the object. For example,

y Birds build nests.
y The teacher taught the students.
To make sentences in the passive voice, we make some changes.

1. Move the object of the sentence in the active voice to the subject position.
For example,

y Nests are built by birds.
y The students are taught by the teacher.
2. Use the appropriate be verb according to the tense of the active voice.
For example,

y Nests are built by birds.
y The students are taught by the teacher.
3. Use the perfect participle of the main verb. For example,

y Nests are built by birds.
y The students are taught by the teacher.

Remember
Since the object of a verb in the active voice becomes the subject of
the passive voice, only transitive verbs can be used in the passive voice,
because an intransitive verb has no object.

4. When the verb is changed from the active to the passive voice, the object of the
transitive verb in the active voice becomes the subject of the verb in the passive
voice and the subject is placed at the end with the preposition by.

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