Grade 9 Grammar Lesson 32 The passive

What is the active voice? When is it used?
What is the passive voice? When is it used?
What are agents?
How is the passive voice formed?

• The object in the active voice becomes the subject in the passive voice.
• In a passive sentence, we use by when we want to say who or what did the action.
• We can give other details about the action, which tells us when or where something happens.
• We mention the agent only if it is important for the meaning of the sentence. But if the agent doesn’t add any new information or when it’s difficult to say who the agent is, we avoid it.
• The passive is often used in news reports.
• The passive is formed using be (is/was/have been etc)+ the past participle of the verb.
  

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