The Passive Voice in English
The passive voice is a grammatical structure used to emphasize actions over actors in English sentences. This page explains when and how to use strona bierna angielski (the passive voice in English).
The passive voice is employed in several situations:
- To highlight the action rather than its performer
- When the actor is unknown or unimportant
- In formal or official statements
- With verbs that have two objects, allowing for sentence restructuring
Example: "The money was paid on time." (Emphasizing the action)
Example: "My camera has been stolen." (Unknown actor)
Highlight: In more formal contexts, passive voice is often preferred. For instance, "Smoking is forbidden in all parts of the building."
To form the passive voice, use the appropriate form of the verb 'be' in various tenses, followed by the past participle of the main verb.
Vocabulary: Past Participle - The form of a verb, typically ending in -ed, used to form perfect and passive tenses.
When specifying who performed the action in a passive sentence, use 'by':
Example: "The villa was bought by a rich businessman."