1) Use
We use the passive voice when we don’t know who did the action or the action itself is more important.
Example:
They produce Rolls Royce in England. (Active sentence)
Rolls Royce is produced in England. (Passive sentence)
2) How to form the passive voice
- We form the passive voice with 'to be' in the tense of the verb + the past participle of the verb. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
Examples:
John buy the car. (Active sentence)
The car is bought by John. (Passive sentence)
Susan is washing the dishes. (Active sentence)
The dishes are being washed by Susan. (Passive sentence)
The students have played basketball. (Active sentence)
Basketball have been played by the students. (Passive sentence)
- We can only form a passive sentence from an active sentence that contains an object.
Example:
I play football every week. (Active sentence)
Football is played every week. (Passive sentence)
3) How to form the passive voice of modals
We make the passive voice of modal verbs with the modal verb + be + the past participle of the verb.
Example:
You should wash this skirt. (Active sentence)
This skirt should be washed. (Passive sentence)