Passive Present Progressive
Active sentences in the present continuous tense have the following structure:
Subject + is/are/am + -ing form+ object
Passive sentences in the present continuous tense have the following structure:
Object of the active sentence + is/are/am + being + past participle + by + subject of the active sentence.
Examples➜
Active: I am reading a story.
Passive: A story is being read by me.
When the verb is followed by a preposition
Read the sentence given below:
My mother is talking to a stranger.
Here the noun a stranger is the object of the preposition to, and not the verb talking. But this sentence can be changed into the passive:
Passive: A stranger is being talked to by my mother.
Active: The children are laughing at the old beggar.
Passive Past Progressive
Active sentences in the Past continuous tense have the following structure:
Subject + was/were + -ing form+ object
Passive sentences in the past continuous tense have the following structure:
Object of the active sentence + was/were + being + past participle + by + subject of the active sentence.
Examples➜
Active : The boy was throwing the stone.
Passive: The stone was being thrown by the boy.
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Passive Sentence with Two Objects
A verb can have two possible passive voices when it takes two objects: a direct object and an indirect object. Normally, it is the indirect object (the object that appears first in an active sentence) which becomes the subject of the passive sentence. We can however also use the direct object as the subject.
Examples➜
Active: The salesman showed him (indirect object) a new computer (direct object).
Active: The salesman showed a new computer to him.
Passive: He was shown a new computer.
Passive: A new computer was shown to him.
Passive voice with reporting verbs
t is known that there is a passive reporting structure. This structure is made in 2 forms:
1) A passive reporting structure can take this form:
It + passive reporting verb + that-clause
For example:
- It is known that the sky is blue
- It is known that the criminal escaped
- It is thought that chocolate is delicious
2) reporting structure can also take this form:
Subject + passive reporting verb + to-infinitive
For example:
- The sky is known to be blue
- The criminal is known to have escaped
- Chocolate is thought to be delicious
Examples of reporting verbs used in the passive voice
|
allege assume believe claim consider declare |
discover estimate expect feel find intend |
know observe presume prove report reveal |
say see show suppose think understand |
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