Summary
In-depth Explanation
What is the Passive Voice?
In the passive voice, the focus is on the action itself or the receiver of the action, while the doer of the action may be omitted or mentioned later in the sentence.
Here you can see the difference between the active and passive voices:
Active: An unknown author wrote the book in 1935.
Passive: The book was written in 1935.
How to Form the Passive Voice
To form the passive voice, use this structure:
[Subject] + [proper form of to be] + [past participle of main verb]
The verb to be is conjugated in the necessary form according to the tense and subject. For example:
The book was written in 1935.
The essays were written in 1935.
The book will be published next year.
If it is relevant, the word by followed by the agent or doer of the action can be added after the past participle of the main verb. For example:
The book was written in 1935 by an unknown author.
When to Use the Passive Voice
The passive voice has many uses. The main uses are:
When you do not know who or what did something. For example:
The house was set on fire last night.
A valuable painting was taken during the museum exhibition.
The documents were stolen from the office.
When it is obvious or unimportant who or what did something:
The law was introduced in 1998.
The bridge was built over a decade ago.
The suspect hasn’t been arrested yet.
To emphasize new information at the end of the sentence:
The vaccine was developed to combat the new virus strain.
A new policy was introduced by the board to improve productivity.
A groundbreaking discovery was made in the field of quantum computing.
To employ a more formal style of prose:
Seatbelts must be fastened for the entirety of the flight.
Mining is expected to become the largest industry in Africa by 2030.
A large increase in Netflix subscriptions has been reported this year.
To avoid starting a sentence with long or confusing clauses:
She was shocked by the sheer number of people who had boarded the subway train at 23rd Street.
(Instead of: “The sheer number of people who had boarded the subway train at 23rd Street was shocking to her.”)
The report was approved by the board following a thorough review of the financial data and recommendations.
(Instead of: “After a thorough review of the financial data and recommendations, the board approved the report.”)
The project was delayed due to unforeseen issues with supplier shipments and equipment failures.
(Instead of: “Due to unforeseen issues with supplier shipments and equipment failures, the project was delayed.”)