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How do you change a sentence from active to passive?

Charlotte Hughes | 2023-06-09 01:46:38 | page views:1549
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Emma Harris

Studied at Yale University, Lives in New Haven, CT
Hello there! As a language expert with a keen interest in the subtleties of English grammar, I'm here to help you understand the process of converting sentences from active to passive voice. The active voice is when the subject of the sentence performs the action, while in the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is acted upon by the action. This shift can be useful for emphasizing different parts of a sentence or for stylistic reasons.

**Step 1: Identify the Subject, Verb, and Object in the Active Sentence**

The first step in changing an active sentence to passive is to clearly identify the subject, verb, and object. The subject is the one who is doing the action, the verb is the action itself, and the object is the one receiving the action.

For example, in the sentence "The cat chased the mouse," "The cat" is the subject, "chased" is the verb, and "the mouse" is the object.

**Step 2: Move the Object to the Subject Position**

In the passive voice, the object of the active sentence becomes the subject. So, you'll want to restructure the sentence to put "the mouse" at the beginning.

**Step 3: Use the Correct Form of "Be"**

The verb in a passive sentence is formed using a form of the verb "be" (am, is, are, was, were, etc.) followed by the past participle of the main verb. The form of "be" you use depends on the tense of the original sentence and the subject's person and number.

In our example, since "chased" is a past tense verb and "the mouse" is a singular noun, we would use "was" as the form of "be."

**Step 4: Add the Past Participle of the Main Verb**

The past participle of the main verb is added after the form of "be." For regular verbs, this is typically formed by adding -ed to the base form of the verb. For irregular verbs, the past participle form varies.

The past participle of "chase" is "chased," so we add this after "was."

**Step 5: Include the Original Subject as the Agent with "By"**

Finally, to complete the passive sentence, you include the original subject as the agent of the action, preceded by the word "by."

Putting it all together, the passive version of "The cat chased the mouse" is "The mouse was chased by the cat."

Additional Considerations

- Omitting the Agent: Sometimes, the agent (the original subject performing the action) can be omitted if it's clear from the context or if it's not important. For example, "The window was broken" implies that someone or something broke the window, but it doesn't specify who or what.
- Passive Voice in Different Tenses: The process of converting to passive voice can be applied to any tense. You just need to use the correct form of "be" for the tense you're working with.
- Emphasis and Style: The passive voice is often used to shift the emphasis of a sentence. It can also be used when the doer of the action is unknown, unimportant, or when the focus is on the action itself rather than who is performing it.

Now, let's move on to the translation of the explanation into Chinese.


2024-05-13 02:11:27

Lucas Allen

Works at the International Monetary Fund, Lives in Washington, D.C., USA.
If you want to change an active-voice sentence to passive voice, consider carefully who or what is performing the action expressed in the verb, and then make that agent the object of a by the...phrase. Make what is acted upon the subject of the sentence, and change the verb to a form of be + past participle.Feb 14, 2018
2023-06-10 01:46:38

Avery Martinez

QuesHub.com delivers expert answers and knowledge to you.
If you want to change an active-voice sentence to passive voice, consider carefully who or what is performing the action expressed in the verb, and then make that agent the object of a by the...phrase. Make what is acted upon the subject of the sentence, and change the verb to a form of be + past participle.Feb 14, 2018
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