The Passive Voice

Take a look at these examples. Find the verbs.

• A lot of paper is made from wood. (fact)
• Portuguese is spoken in Brasil. (fact)
• Her key was stolen yesterday. (finished action in the past)

They are all in the passive voice because it's more important what is done than who does it.

Now, compare these two sentences:

• The mechanic repaired the car yesterday. 
• The car was repaired yesterday (by the mechanic).

The first sentence is active, because the person doing the action is more important than the action itself (S+V+O). The second sentence is passive because the action is more important than the doer, or agent. As you can see, the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.

We also need TO BE (am, is, are in the present and was, were in the past) and the past participle of the main verb to make a passive sentence!

Now, it's your turn to do some practice.