Look at these examples to see how the passive voice is used.
The interview was recorded yesterday.
Cleaner sources of energy must be developed.
An electrical fault is believed to have caused the power cut.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Grammar explanation
We can use the passive voice to change the focus of the sentence.
Aliya Monier directed the film.
(focus on Aliya Monier)The film was directed by Aliya Monier.
(focus on The film)
We often use the passive:
- so that we can start a sentence with the most important or most logical information
- when we prefer not to mention who or what does the action (for example, it's not known, it's obvious or we don't want to say)
- in more formal or scientific writing.
Be + past participle
The most common way to form the passive is subject + be + past participle.
The new smoke alarm was installed yesterday.
The 'doer' of the action is called the agent. Most of the time, the agent is not mentioned, but if important, the agent can be mentioned using the preposition by.
The new smoke alarm was installed yesterday by the company director herself.
We can also use the passive voice with modal verbs such as can, must and should, by using modal + be + past participle.
A podcast can be made with minimal resources.
The accident must be reported to the police.
New laws should be created to regulate electric scooters.
The passive with get
In informal English, get is sometimes used instead of be to form the passive.
My bicycle got stolen last night.
(= My bicycle was stolen last night.)
The impersonal passive
The impersonal passive is used with reporting verbs such as allege, believe, claim, consider, estimate, expect, know, report, say, think, understand, etc. It reports what an unspecified group of people say or believe.
The impersonal passive has two forms:
it + be + past participle + (that) + subject + verb:
It is estimated that millions of people visit the site every year.
It is believed that the walls date from the third century BCE.
It is reported that mosquitoes transmit the disease.
someone/something + be + past participle + infinitive:
Millions of people are estimated to visit the site every year.
The walls are believed to date from the third century BCE.
Mosquitoes are reported to transmit the disease.
Note that the infinitive can be simple (as above), perfect (for a past action) or continuous (for an action in progress).
Millions are estimated to visit the site this year. (simple infinitive)
The walls are believed to have been built in the third century BCE. (perfect infinitive)
Mosquitoes are reported to be transmitting the disease. (continuous infinitive)
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hello team,
"It is quite difficult for a single salary to support the whole family these days."
In the sentence above, I wanna know if we can use "non-person noun" after "for" and it is a meaningful sentence.
Normally, I have seen many sentences with "nouns referring to person" after "for" for that sentence pattern as in these examples.
It is important for "everyone" to exercise regularly.
Please kindly explain. Thank you in advance.
Best regards
Bo Bo
Hello Bo Bo Kyaw,
You're correct that we generally use this construction with people or with anthropomorphised machines (in other words, machines we describe as if they were people with their own habits, such as cars, phones and computers). However, we do occasionally use this construction with inanimate objects, especially when it is something that can produce a result or have a consequence. Finance, as in your example, is one area we see this. For example:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello team,
I am learning the correct sentence order. What I have learned is that the correct sentence order is "Subject + Verb + Object + Manner + Place + Time + Reason/Purpose."
But I think this sentence is slighty different from what I have known.
"He is trying to leave for Mandalay by train tonight."
Shouldn't it be" He is trying to leave by train for Mandalay tonight." to follow the correct order?
Please kindly explain.
Thanks in advance,
Best regards,
Bo Bo
Hello Bo Bo Kyaw,
The order you have learned is a good starting point, but remember that word order can be quite flexible in English and we often use changes in word order to emphasise certain parts of the sentence. This generally happens with adverbs and adverbial phrases and in your sentence you have three adverbials: for Mandalay, by train and tonight.
You can read more about the position of adverbials here:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/adverbs-and-adverb-phrases-position
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello sir,
Could you please kindly confirm if both sentences I mentioned are correct?
Or
Which one is correct?
I have read the explanation. But I still find it difficult to confirm which sentence is the correct one
Thanks sir,
Bo Bo
Hello again Bo Bo,
Both sentences are correct and I don't think there is any particular difference in meaning.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Guys, I'm kind of confused by question 5 of Grammar Test 1. Why should it be 'is thought to have been' instead of 'is thought to be'?
The only reason I could think of is that the thing 'curling was invented' happened in the past and before the event 'people think'. So is it indicating the order of these two events here? Hoping someone could answer my question, thanks a lot for your kindness!
Hello ShayZ,
The original sentence uses a past form (was invented) so the answer reflects this, as you say. Inventing is an action which takes place and ends, so to have been invented is appropriate to show this. If the verb described an action or state which was still true (as opposed to a completed action) then to be would fit.
For example:
The sport of curling is thought to have been invented in Scotland. [a completed action]
The sport of curling is thought to come from Scotland. [a fact still true]
The sport of curling is thought to have been most popular around 100 years ago. [a past state no longer true]
The sport of curling is thought to be increasing in popularity all the time. [an ongoing change/action]
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Since it happened in the past, and people just say in the present, the correct grammar is "It is thought to have been...." If the sentence is "is thought to be," then curling was invented in the present. The important thing is whether the object happens in the past, present, or future.
I hope it works for u:))
Hello team,
May I know the difference between "be willing to" and "want to"?
I looked "willing" up in the dictionary. It seems to have the same meaning as "want to". But I think there must be a subtle difference. So I came here to get the clarification.
Could you kindly give the example sentences either?
Thanks a lot in advance, team.
Best regards,
Bo Bo