Active & Passive sentences

The Passive

In the passive, the object of an active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb: “a letter” in the 1^st sentence becomes the subject of the passive verb in the 2^nd sentence. The 1^st and the 2^nd sentence have the same meaning.

(Di dalam kalimat pasif, objek dari kata kerja aktif menjadi subjek dari kata kerja pasif: “sebuah surat” di kalimat kesatu menjadi subjek dari kata kerja pasif di kalimat kedua. Kalimat kesatu dan kedua memiliki makna yang sama.)

Active           (1) Mary writes a letter.

                                    S + Verb 1 + -s / -es + O

Passive    (2) A letter is written by Mary.

                                    S + is / are / am + Verb 3 + O

Active                                                            Passive

Mary writes a letter                                        A letter is written by Mary

S + Verb 1 + -s/-es + O                                  S + is / are / am + Verb 3

Mary is writing a letter                                  A letter is being written by Mary

S + is / are / am + verb + -ing + O                 S + is / are / am+ being + verb 3 + O

Mary has written a letter                               A letter has been written by Mary

S + has / have + verb 3 + O                           S + has / have + been + verb 3 + O

Mary wrote a letter                                         A letter was written by Mary

S + Verb 2 + O                                               S + was / were + verb 3 + O

Mary was writing a letter                              A letter was being written by Mary

S + was / were + verb + ing + O                    S + was / were + being + verb 3 + O

Mary had written a letter                               A letter had been written by Mary

S + had + verb 3 + O                                      S + had + been + verb 3 + O

Mary will write a letter                                   A letter will be written by Mary

S + will + verb 1 + O                                       S + will + be + verb 3 + O

Mary is going to write a letter                      A letter is going to be written by Mary

S + is / are / am + going to + Verb 1 + O       S + is / are / am + going to + be + V 3 + O

Mary will have written a letter                      A letter will have been written by Mary

S + will + have / has + V3 + O                       S + will + have / has + been + V3 + O

Exercises! Change these sentences from Active & Passive

1.   Shakespeare wrote that play.

That play was written by Shakespeare.

2.   Bill will invite Ann to the party.

Ann will be invited to the party by Bill.

3.   Alex is preparing that report.

That report is being prepared by Alex.

4.   Waitresses and waiters serve customers.

Customers are served by waitresses and waiters.

5.   The teacher is going to explain the lesson.

The lesson is going to be explained by the teacher.

6.   Shirley has suggested a new idea.

A new idea has been suggested by Shirley.

7.   Two horses were pulling the farmer’s wagon.

The farmer’s wagon were being pulled by two horses.

8.   Cathy had returned the book to the library.

The book had been returned to the library by Cathy.