Passive Sentences

Read the dialogue!

Yahuri    : Do you know the life cycle of a butterfly?

Sabnu     : Yes, I do. It has been explained by Mr. Ruswanto, my biology teacher.

Yahuri    : Can you tell me about it?

Sabnu     : Sure.

The sentence "It has been explained by Mr. Ruswanto,....." uses passive form.

A verb is in the passive voice when its form shows that something is done to the person or thing denoted by the subject. We use verbs participle in the passive sentences.

Look at the difference of the following sentences!

Active    : Nadia waters the flowers every day.

Passive   : The flowers are watered by Nadia every day.

Examples of Passive

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Simple Present	Active	Rita	writes	a letter
	Passive	A letter	is written	by Rita
Simple Past	Active	Rita	wrote	a letter
	Passive	A letter	was written	by Rita
Present Perfect	Active	Rita	has written	a letter
	Passive	A letter	has been written	by Rita
Future	Active	Rita	will write	a letter
	Passive	A letter	will be written	by Rita
Present Continuous	Active	Rita	is writing	a letter
	Passive	A letter	is being written	by Rita
Past Continuous	Active	Rita	was writing	a letter
	Passive	A letter	was being written	by Rita
Past Perfect	Active	Rita	had written	a letter
	Passive	A letter	had been written	by Rita

Passive Sentences with Two Objects

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on. 

	Subject	Verb	Object1	Object2
Active	Rita	wrote	a letter	to me
Passive	A letter	was written	to me	by Rita
Passive	I	was written	a letter	by Rita

As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.