Passive Voice 1

Active voice:
We use an active verb to say what the subject does. In the active voice, the object receives the
action of the verb.
Usiamo un verbo attivo per dire cosa fa il soggetto. Nella voce attiva, l’oggetto riceve l’azione del
verbo:

The dog bit the boy. My grandfather built this house in 1960.
Subj + verb + obj. Subj + verb + obj.

Passive voice:
We use a passive verb to say what happens to the subject. In the passive voice, the subject receives
the action of the verb.
Usiamo un verbo attivo per dire cosa succede al soggetto. Nella voce passiva, il soggetto riceve
l’azione del verbo:

The boy was bitten by the dog. This house was built by my grandfather in 1960.
Subj + verb + agent compl. Subj + verb + agent compl.

Who was the boy bitten by? Who was the house built by?

The structure of the passive voice

Active voice:

Subj + verb + obj.

Passive voice:

Subj + verb + agent compl.

In the passive voice, the agent is left out when it’s represented either by an indefinite pronoun or by
something no relevant to the sentence.
Nella frase passiva si preferisce tralasciare il complemento agente se espresso da un pronome
indefinito o da qualcosa che non riveste particolare importanza:

Somebody stole Dave’s mobile. Dave’s mobile was stolen.

*Remember:
In the passive voice, it is always present the verb to be and the past participle of the main verb
you are using.
Nella voce passiva, è sempre presente il verbo essere e il participio passato del verbo principale
che stai usando:
The bathroom was being cleaned by me.
The project will have been finished by next month.
 Use of the Passive Voice
We use the passive when:

• We use the passive voice when the receiver of the action is more important in our
communication than the one who did it (the actor of the verb).
Quando vogliamo dare maggiore importanza a chi riceve l’azione piuttosto che a chi la fa.
The president was assassinated this morning.

• We can use the passive when we don't know who did the action.
• Quando non si sa di preciso chi ha compiuto l’azione:
My wallet has been stolen.
The bank was robbed yesterday.

• We use the passive when we don't need to say who did the action.
Quando non è necessario dire chi ha compiuto l’azione.
The bill was signed into law at noon.
• We can use the passive to avoid saying who did the action.
Quando vogliamo evitare di dire chi ha compiuto l’azione.
The employees were laid off just before the holidays.

• The passive voice is especially helpful in scientific or technical writing or lab reports, where
the actor is not really important but the process or principle being described is of ultimate
importance.
La voce passiva è particolarmente utile in scritti scientifici o tecnici o in relazioni di lab,
dove non è importante l’attore ma il processo descritto.
Twenty cc of acid is poured into the beaker.

• To translate the Italian impersonal form “si” (si dice, si vende…).

Per tradurre la forma impersonale italiana introdotta da “si” (si dice, si
vende…):
English is spoken here.
Mobile phones are sold there.

Active and passive tenses chart

Active Passive
Simple Present Simple Present
The movie fascinates me. I am fascinated by the movie.
Simple Past Simple Past
The movie bored me. I was bored by the movie.
Present Continuous Present Continuous
I am helping Liz. Liz is being helped by me.
Past Continuous Past Continuous
I was cleaning the bathroom. The bathroom was being cleaned by me.
Present Perfect Present Perfect
I have mailed the gift. The gift has been mailed by me.
Past Perfect Past Perfect
Almodóbar had directed the movie. The movie had been directed by Almodóbar .
Future Perfect Future Perfect
Steve will have finished the project next month. The project will have been finished by next
month.
Future with WILL Future with WILL
I will mail the gift. The gift will be mailed by me.
Future with GOING TO Future with GOING TO
I am going to make the cake. The cake is going to be made by me.
Simple Conditional Simple Conditional
I would wash the car The car would be washed by me.
Conditional Perfect Conditional Perfect
He would have sent the parcel The parcel would have been sent by him.
Future continuous Future continuous
Louis will be receiving his uncle. His uncle will be being received by Louis.
Conditional Continuous Conditional Continuous
Mary would be washing her niece. Her niece would be being washed by Mary.

Warning! Some verbs cannot be used in the passive form.

Intransitive Verbs
Intransitive verbs (verbs which do not take objects) cannot be used to form passive sentences.
I verbi intransitivi (verbi che non possono avere un complemento oggetto) non hanno la forma
passiva.
Some examples of common intransitive verbs: come, die, go, happen, itch, occur, rain, rise, walk
John came to the meeting.
The cat died in the street.
We went to the zoo.

*Interactive Exercises
http://www.englisch-
hilfen.de/en/exercises/active_passive/passive_sentences1.htm
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive/exercises?06
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/reading/exercises/dog
qz.htm

*Please note:
Listen carefully to the following videos in youtube, they are speaking about the Passive Voice.
Ascoltate attentamente i seguenti video di youtube, essi parlano della voce passiva.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xTreaklNr8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLcqw0xNpmI