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Transforming Sentences from Active to Passive Voice in English

Nesta lição, vamos aprender a transformar Frases de Voz Ativa para Voz Passiva em Inglês. Foi feita para o nível B2 ou C1.

Focus on the Action or Result

The passive voice is useful when the outcome of the action is more important than the doer of the action. For example, in a scientific report, the focus is generally on the experiment and the results, not on who conducted them.

How to Transform

To convert a sentence from active to passive voice in English, you can follow this simplified method:

  1. Invert the subject with the object. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.

  2. Maintain the tense of the verb. The tense used in the active sentence should be preserved in the passive sentence.

  3. Add the verb "be" in the same tense as the active sentence. This helps form the passive construction.

  4. Convert the main verb to its past participle form. This is necessary to construct the passive voice.

  5. Introduce the original subject as an agent using "by" (e.g., "by me"). This last step is optional.


Example:

Simple Past

Active: "The chef cooked the meal."

Passive: "The meal was cooked by the chef."


Simple Present

Active: "The chef cooks the meal."

Passive: "The meal is cooked by the chef."


Simple Future

Active: "The chef will cook the meal."

Passive: "The meal will be cooked by the chef."


Past Continuous

Active: "The chef was cooking the meal."

Passive: "The meal was being cooked by the chef."


Present Continuous

Active: "The chef is cooking the meal."

Passive: "The meal is being cooked by the chef."


Future Continuous

Active: "The chef will be cooking the meal."

Passive: "The meal will be being cooked by the chef." (Note: This form is grammatically correct but rarely used because it sounds awkward.)


Past Perfect

Active: "The chef had cooked the meal."

Passive: "The meal had been cooked by the chef."


Present Perfect

Active: "The chef has cooked the meal."

Passive: "The meal has been cooked by the chef."


Future Perfect

Active: "The chef will have cooked the meal."

Passive: "The meal will have been cooked by the chef."


Importance and Usage of Passive Voice:

  • Obscure or Unknown Agent: In many cases, the agent (the doer of the action) is unknown or irrelevant. Examples include sentences like "Mistakes were made," where the agent is not mentioned.

  • Formal Style: The passive voice is often used in formal or academic contexts to provide a more objective and depersonalized tone to the text.

  • Sentence Structure Variation: Using passive voice allows for variation in sentence structure, which can help avoid repetition and maintain reader interest.


These aspects make the passive voice a valuable tool in various contexts of writing and speaking in English, especially in formal contexts or when the focus is more on the results of actions than on the actors themselves.



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