What is the passive voice?
"Voice" is a grammatical category that applies to verbs. Voice in English expresses the relationship of the subject to the action.
1. Active Voice
Passive voice means that the subject does the action.
In general, the active voice makes your writing stronger, more direct, and, you guessed it, more active. The subject is something, or it does the action of the verb in the sentence.
2. Passive Voice
Passive voice means that a subject is a recipient of a verb’s action.
You may have learned that the passive voice is weak and incorrect, but it isn’t that simple. When used correctly and in moderation, the passive voice is fine. In English grammar, verbs have five properties: voice, mood, tense, person, and number; here, we are concerned with voice. The two grammatical voices are active and passive.
Infinitive form:
infinitive of 'to be' + past participle: (to) be cleaned
This form is used after modal verbs and other verbs normally followed by an infinitive, e.g.
- You have to be tested on your English grammar
- John might be promoted next year.
- She wants to be invited to the party.
Gerund or -ing form:
being + past participle: being cleaned
This form is used after prepositions and verbs normally followed by a gerund
Examples
- Most film stars hate being interviewed.
- I remember being taught to drive.
- The children are excited about being taken to the zoo.
NOTE: Sometimes the passive is formed using the verb to get instead of the verb to be:
- He got arrested for dangerous driving.
- They're getting married later this year.
- I'm not sure how the window got broken.