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The voice is the form of the verb that shows whether the subject of a sentence
performs the action (= the active voice) or is affected by it (= the passive voice).
So far we have spoken of the active voice where we focus the action of the verb on
the subject. But when we want to give more importance to the action and not to
who has done it, we use the passive voice.
Examples:
- In the sentence "James hit the ball", the verb "hit" is in the active voice. In other
words, the "hit" form shows that the subject (James) did the action. The sentence
"James hit the ball" is an active sentence.
- In the sentence "The ball was hit by James", the verb "was hit" is in the passive
voice. In other words, the "was hit" form shows that the subject (The ball) was
affected by the action. The sentence "The ball was hit by James" is a passive
sentence.
Grammatical Rules
The passive voice is formed with the auxiliary verb "to be" and the past participle of
the verb.
Examples:
The speech is written for the president. (El discurso est escrito para el
presidente.)
The house was built in 1975. (La casa fue construida en 1975.)
My wallet has been stolen. (Ha sido robada mi cartera.)
The room will be cleaned while we are out. (Se limpiar la habitacin mientras
estemos fuera.)