There are two main ways to speak in English, active voice and passive voice.[1]https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar/passive-voice/
How do you construct the passive voice?
What is the active voice?
In the active voice, the subject performs the action.
For example: Bob ate ice cream.
What is the passive voice?
In the passive voice, the action is performed on the subject.
For example: The ice cream was eaten by Bob.
When do you use the passive voice?
In most cases, it is best to use the active voice. This is especially true when the subject of your sentences is the one performing the actions.
However, in certain cases, it is actually better to use the passive voice. Usually, you want to use the passive voice in certain legal, professional, or formal settings such as:
Emphasize the action over the one doing the action
Example: The witness was sworn in before they were allowed to testify.
In this case, it is not that important to know who the person that is swearing in the witness. Rather, the process of swearing them in is more important as we need to know that they are telling the truth.
Scientific Writing
Example: The specimens were placed under the microscope.
In this case, we understand a scientist is placing the specimens under the microscope to study; however, the passive structure emphasizes the importance of the experiment over the scientist.
Reporting crimes when you don’t know who committed it
Example: My house was broken into.
In this case, we don’t know who the criminals were. If we did, we probably would not be as worried as we could catch them. In addition, the passive structure emphasizes the crime that was committed over the actual criminals that committed it.
Change the following sentences from active to passive tense.
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