Our broken dishwasher is finally being fixed.
Passive Use
In grammar, the person or thing that does the action is called the agent of the verb:
The man is playing the guitar.
- verb = play
- agent = The man
Birds fly in the sky.
- verb = fly
- agent = Birds
Those shoes cost a lot of money.
- verb = cost
- agent = Those shoes
In grammar, when we put the agent in the position of the subject of the sentence, this is called the Active Voice.
The Passive Voice is used when changing the focus of the sentence from the agent to the object of the verb. To do this, we put the object in the position of the subject of the sentence:
We use passive when the agent is unknown, not important, clear, or "people in general." Often the agent is not stated:
My lunch is stolen every day.
- unknown agent: I don't know who steals my lunch.
The road is being repaired.
- unimportant agent: road repair people
The thief was arrested.
- clear agent: the police
Paint can be bought at the hardware store.
- agent: all people in general who want paint
Present Passive
| Present Simple Passive (be + past participle) | Present Continuous Passive (be + being + past participle) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Active | Many people love Jack. | Active | He is using the stove. |
| Passive | Jack is loved (by many people). | Passive | The stove is being used (by him). |
| Active | They don't need money to get in the club. | Active | She is making dinner for us. |
| Passive | Money isn't needed (by them). | Passive | Dinner is being made for us (by her). |
| Active | Pasta companies make pasta in Italy. | Active | Are they signing a lease? |
| Passive | Pasta is made in Italy. | Passive | Is a lease being signed (by them)? |
| Active | Do people always read the newspaper? | Active | They aren't talking about the landlord. |
| Passive | Is the newspaper always read? | Passive | The landlord isn't being talked about (by them). |
| Active | You hug me every day. | Active | I am watching the children. |
| Passive | I am hugged every day (by you). | Passive | The children are being watched (by me). |
| Active | The police protect us. | Active | They aren't painting the living room. |
| Passive | We are protected by the police. | Passive | The living room isn't being painted (by them). |
Exercise
Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.