PASSIVE VOICE

 

The passive voice is a grammatical construction (specifically, a "voice"). The noun or noun phrase that would be the object of an active sentence (such as Our troops defeated the enemy) appears as the subject of a sentence with passive voice (e.g. The enemy was defeated by our troops). The subject of a sentence or clause featuring the passive voice typically denotes the recipient of the action (the patient) rather than the performer (the agent). The passive voice in English is formed periphrastically: the usual form uses the auxiliary verb be (or get) together with the past participle of the main verb.

For example, Caesar was stabbed by Brutus uses the passive voice. The subject denotes the person (Caesar) affected by the action of the verb. The agent is expressed here with the phrase by Brutus, but this can be omitted. The equivalent sentence in active voice is Brutus stabbed Caesar, in which the subject denotes the doer, or agent, Brutus. A sentence featuring the passive voice is sometimes called a passive sentence, and a verb phrase in passive voice is sometimes called a passive verb.

Construction of the Passive Voice

The structure of the passive voice is very simple:

subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle)

The main verb is always in its past participle form.

Look at these examples:

subject	auxiliary verb (to be)		main verb (past participle)
Water	is		drunk	by everyone.
100 people	are		employed	by this company.
I	am		paid	in euro.
We	are	not	paid	in dollars.
Are	they		paid	in yen?

Use of the Passive Voice

We use the passive when:

• we want to make the active object more important
• we do not know the active subject

	subject	verb	object
give importance to active object (President Kennedy)	President Kennedy	was killed	by Lee Harvey Oswald.
active subject unknown	My wallet	has been stolen.	?

Note that we always use by to introduce the passive object (Fish are eaten by cats).

Look at this sentence:

• He was killed with a gun.

Normally we use by to introduce the passive object. But the gun is not the active subject. The gun did not kill him. He was killed by somebody with a gun. In the active voice, it would be: Somebody killed him with a gun. The gun is the instrument. Somebody is the "agent" or "doer".

Conjugation for the Passive Voice

We can form the passive in any tense. In fact, conjugation of verbs in the passive tense is rather easy, as the main verb is always in past participle form and the auxiliary verb is always be. To form the required tense, we conjugate the auxiliary verb. So, for example:

• present simple: It is made
• present continuous: It is being made
• present perfect: It has been made

Here are some examples with most of the possible tenses:

infinitive		to be washed
simple	present	It is washed.
	past	It was washed.
	future	It will be washed.
	conditional	It would be washed.
continuous	present	It is being washed.
	past	It was being washed.
	future	It will be being washed.
	conditional	It would be being washed.
perfect simple	present	It has been washed.
	past	It had been washed.
	future	It will have been washed.
	conditional	It would have been washed.
perfect continuous	present	It has been being washed.
	past	It had been being washed.
	future	It will have been being washed.
	conditional	It would have been being washed.

EXAMPLES OF PASSIVE VOICE

1. Jika active voice dalam simple present tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah is, am atau are.

Active : He meets them everyday.
Passive : They are met by him everyday.

2. Jika active voice dalam simple past tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah was atau were

Active  : He met them yesterday
Passive : They were met by him yesterday

3. Jika active voice dalam present perfect tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah been yang diletakkan setelah auxiliary has atau have, sehingga menjadi ‘has been’ atau ‘have been

Active  : He has met them
Passive : They have been met by him.

4. Jika active voice dalam past perfect tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah been yang diletakkan setelah auxiliary had, sehingga menjadi had been

Active  : He had met them before I came.
Passive : They had been met by him before I came.

5. Jika active voice dalam simple future tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah be

Active : He will meet them tomorrow.
Passive : They will be met by him tomorrow.

6. Jika active voice dalam future perfect tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah been yang diletakkan setelah auxiliary will have, sehingga menjadi ‘will have been’
Active : He will have met them before I get there tomorrow.

Passive : They will have been met by him before I get there tomorrow.

7. Jika active voice dalam past future perfect tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah been yang diletakkan setelah auxiliary would have, sehingga menjadi ‘would have been’.

Active : He would have met them.
Passive : They would have been met by him.

8. Jika active voice dalam present continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah (is, am atau are) + being.

Active : He is meeting them now.
Passive : They are being met by him now.

9. Jika active voice dalam past continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah (was atau were) + being.

Active : He was meeting them.
Passive : They were being met by him.

10. Jika active voice dalam perfect continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah (has/have) been + being.

Active : He has been meeting them.
Passive : They have been being met by him.

11. Jika active voice dalam past perfect continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah had been + being.

Active : He had been meeting them.
Passive : They had been being met by him.

12. Jika active voice dalam future continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah will be + being.

Active : He will be meeting them.
Passive : They will be being met by him..

13. Jika active voice dalam past future continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah would be + being.

Active : He would be meeting them.
 Passive : They would be being met by him.

14. Jika active voice dalam future perfect continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah will have been + being.

Active : He will have been meeting them.
Passive : They will have been being met by him.

15. Jika active voice dalam past future perfect continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah would have been + being.

Active : He would be meeting them.
Passive : They would be being met by him.