2.- How to say it. Passive Voice.

Did you notice how often the passive voice is used in English?

Study these sentences.

• The best wines are produced in the South of Spain.
• The robber was caught by two policewomen when he was crossing the frontier.
• G. W. Bush was elected president in 2001.

We are going to try and explain these questions below.

FORM.

• Active: We translate a book every year. (a book: direct object).
  • Passive: A book is translated every year.
• Active: The children broke the windows. (the windows: direct object).
• Passive: The windows were broken by the children. (by the children: by agent).

So, the rules for the passive voice are:

1. The direct object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
2. The verb “to be + past participle” is used in the same verbal tense as the active verb. The verb “to be” is in accordance with the new subject.
3. The subject of the active sentence becomes the agent in the passive, when it is mentioned.

The passive of an active tense is formed by putting the verb "to be" into the same tense as the active verb.

We add the past participle of the active verb. The active direct object becomes the passive subject.

In the passive, we use "by + agent" to say who did the action.