Passive voice.

When we want to focus the attention on the person or object that receives an
action but not in the person who performed this action, we use the

passive voice.
Examples:
1. During my days at the boarding school, dinner was served at 6.
2. I’m marveled that St. Patrick’s cathedral was built in 1191.
3. Sometimes people don’t realize that they are being watched.

The passive voice is used in formal writing such as articles, books,

science journals etc.

Examples:
1. The brain matter was expanded after 8 hours of meditation.
2. One of the major changes is that the streets are now paved.
3. The movie was so badly reviewed, that I will not go see it.

The person or object performing the action can be included in the

passive voice using the preposition by.

Examples:

Julia Estrello
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 1. “The science of mind” was written by Dr. Ernest Holmes and is the book that
changed everything.
2. The show “Stranger Things” makes me think a lot of “ET” that was directed
by Spielberg.

Structure of the passive voice

We can use the passive voice in any tense with the following structure:

Verb to be conjugated + verb in past participle

Tense Verb to be Verb in past Example

participle
Simple present is booked My calendar is
always completely
booked.
Simple past were cleaned The offices were
cleaned in just a
few hours.
Simple future Will be Picked up The kids will be
picked up.
Present Is being arranged The meeting is
Continuous being arranged as
we speak.
Past Continuous Was being handed The flyers of the
concert were
being handed on
the streets.
Future continuous - - -
Present perfect Has been overlooked Her hard work has
been overlooked
for years, so she
quit.
Past perfect Had been sent The boxes had
been sent when I
called.
Future perfect Will have been noticed Her talent will
have been noticed
by then.

Julia Estrello
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https://www.facebook.com/speakitnow/?fref=ts