ACTIVE & PASSIVE

VOICE
3ª SÉRIE - EM
Active Voice...How does it work?
Let’s look at this sentence:

• I drank two cups of coffee.

This is an active sentence and it has the subject first (the person or thing that does the
action), followed by the verb, and finally the object (the person or thing that the action
happens to).

So, in this example, the subject is 'I', the verb is 'drank' and the object is 'two cups of
coffee'.
Passive Voice...How does it work?

BUT…. we don't always need to make sentences this way. We might want to put the
object first, or perhaps we don't want to say who did something.

This can happen for lots of reasons. In this case, we can use a passive:

Two cups of coffee were drunk.

PS: we can add 'by me' if we want, but it isn't necessary.

More examples...
 IMPORTANT!

We use the passive to focus attention on

the person or thing that is affected by the
action of the verb.
● when the identity of the person/thing
doing the action (=the agent) is unknown
or unimportant:
My office was broken into last night.
Tonight’s football match has been
cancelled.
● When it is obvious who/what the agent is:
He was arrested and charged with
murder. (Only the police can arrest
and charge people.)
The following structure can be used with
certain verbs to give generalized opinions or
facts. We use it with REPORTING VERBS.
Bill Gates is known to be one of the
world’s richest people.
It is believed to be caused by gas leaks.
With past reference, the perfect infinitive
is used.
Jenkins is said to have had financial
problems.
(People say that Jenkins had financial
problems.)
She was thought to have fled the
country.
(The police thought she had fled the
country.)
 Common Reporting Verbs
admit consider explain say

advise decide feel show

agree declare find suggest

allow demand imagine suppose

announce discover insist think

ask estimate know understand

claim expect propose warn

Give it a try:

People expect that the Prime Minister

will announce his resignation later
today.
People expect that the Prime Minister will announce his resignation
later today.

The Prime Minister is expected to

announce his resignation later today.
 They understand that the 22-year-old
striker is considering a move to a Spanish
club.
They understand that the 22-year-old striker is considering a
move to a Spanish club.

The 22-year-old striker is understood to

be considering a move to a Spanish club.
There’s a rumor going round that the
band have sacked their lead guitarist.
There’s a rumor going round that the band have sacked
their lead guitarist.

The band are rumored to have sacked

their lead guitarist.
The band is rumored to have sacked its
lead guitarist.
The police alleged that he had been
selling stolen goods.
The police alleged that he had been selling stolen goods.

He was alleged to have been selling

stolen goods.
 One report says that she was paid
over £2 million for her part in the film.
One report says that she was paid over £2 million for
her part in the film.

She is reported to have been paid

over £2 million for her part in the
film.
Extra on passive voice:
● https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive
● https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar
/verbs/active-and-passive-voice
● http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/passiv.htm
● https://youtu.be/nkAyggAM1q4