Passive Voice

Active Voice

El active voice describe una oración donde el sujeto realiza la acción mencionada por el verbo.

subject + verb (-ed or irregular ending) + object = active voice

Passive Voice

El passive voice ocurre cuando se el objeto de un acción cambia de lugar con el sujeto en una oración. Por eso, la persona o el objeto que forma la acción no es gramaticalmente el sujeto de la oración. Observe el siguiente ejemplo:

“Why was the road crossed by the chicken?”

The chicken es el que está realizando la acción, sin embargo no está en el lugar del sujeto. The road es el objeto pero esta en el lugar del sujeto.

La oración original del ejemplo anterior es “Why did the chicken cross the road”, donde the chicken es el sujeto y realiza la acción en el objeto (the road).

Se encuentran estructuras de las oraciones que ayudan a reconocer el passive voice. Busca alguna forma del verbo “to be” como: is, are, am, was, were, has been, have been, had been, will be, will have been y being) seguidos por past participle. Puede identificar la estructura del passive voice con la siguiente fórmula gramatical:

object + form of “to be” + past participle = passive voice

Ejemplos

Mira los siguientes ejemplos, donde se puede observar claramente como una oración en active voice se puede convertir en passive voice utilizando las estructuras vistas anteriormente.

Mary ate six slices of pizza at dinner. (active)
At dinner, six slices of pizza were eaten by Mary. (passive)

Zack changed the flat tire. (active)
The flat tire was changed by Zack. (passive)

They are going to watch a movie tomorrow. (active)
A movie is going to be watched by them tomorrow. (passive)

Dad read the newspaper in one hour. (active)
The newspaper was read by Dad in one hour. (passive)

I will clean the car every Friday. (active)
The car will be cleaned by me every Friday. (passive)

The employees are required to watch a safety video twice a year. (active)
A safety video will be watched by the employees twice a year. (passive)

He emailed her application for a new job. (active)
The application for a new job was emailed by him. (passive)

Lauren renovated the entire kitchen. (active)
The entire kitchen was renovated by Lauren. (passive)

The forest fire destroyed the whole neighborhood. (active)
The whole neighborhood was destroyed by the forest fire. (passive)

Leo donated food and clothes to the homeless shelter. (active)
Food and clothes were donated to the homeless shelter by Leo. (passive)

No one responded to her messages. (active)
Her messages were not responded to by anyone. (passive)

The wedding planner is making all the arrangements. (active)
All the arrangements will be made by the wedding planner. (passive)

Patrick will bake five pizzas for the fundraiser. (active)
For the fundraiser, five pizzas will be baked by Patrick. (passive)

Who ate the last apple? (active)
The last apple was eaten by whom? (passive)

Britney posted the video on Instagram. (active)
The video was posted on Instagram by Britney. (passive)

The director will give you instructions. (active)
Instructions will be given to you by the director. (passive)

The team will celebrate their victory tonight. (active)
The victory will be celebrated by the team tonight. (passive)

The kangaroo carried her baby in her pouch. (active)
The baby was carried by the kangaroo in her pouch. (passive)

Las oraciones anteriores muestran cuán diferente puede sonar una oración cuando se escribe en active voice o passive voice. Generalmente, se escribe en active voice, debido a que es mas directo and claro de entender. Sin embargo, el passive voice puede se usado para otro tipo de escrituras mas formales o científicas.

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