Passive Voice for Objectivity

In English, we usually follow a simple path. We say: Person + Action + Thing. This is the 'Active' way. For example, John fixed the car. But what if we don't care about John? Or what if we don't know who fixed it? We flip the sentence around. The thing comes first. The person moves to the end or disappears. We call this the Passive Voice. It changes the focus of your sentence. It is like moving the furniture in your room. The room is the same, but it feels different. You use the verb be to help you. It acts like a bridge. It connects the thing to the action. This bridge tells the listener, "Hey, look at this thing!" It is a very cool trick. It helps you talk about things when the 'doer' is a mystery. Or when the 'doer' is just not that interesting. Think of it like a grammar traffic light. It tells you when to stop focusing on the person and start focusing on the result.

1. 1Creating this pattern is like following a recipe. You only need a few ingredients.
2. 2Start with the Object (The thing that receives the action).
3. 3Add the verb to be. (Use is or are for now, or was and were for the past).
4. 4Add the Past Participle of the main verb. (This is often the -ed form, like played or cooked).
5. 5Optional: Add by and the person if you want to mention them.
6. 6Let's look at a simple example.
7. 7Active: The chef prepares the food.
8. 8Passive: The food (Object) + is (be) + prepared (Past Participle).
9. 9Result: The food is prepared.
10. 10If you have many things, use are.
11. 11Example: The windows are cleaned.
12. 12If it happened yesterday, use was or were.
13. 13Example: The letter was sent.
14. 14It is that simple! Just remember, the verb be must match the object. If the object is singular (one), use is. If it is plural (many), use are. Don't forget the -ed on the end of most verbs. Some verbs are special, like made or seen. You will learn those with practice. Think of it like learning to ride a bike. At first, you think about the steps. Soon, you just do it!

There are four main times to use this for objectivity.

• When the doer is unknown: You find a lost wallet. You say, The wallet was found. You don't know who found it yet.
• When the doer is obvious: You go to the bank. You say, The money is kept here. Of course the bank keeps it! You don't need to say by the bank.
• When you want to be formal: In a report, you might write, The results are shown in the chart. It sounds more professional than I show the results.
• When the object is more important: Imagine a famous bridge. You say, The Golden Gate Bridge was completed in 1937. The bridge is the star of the sentence, not the workers.

Use it when you want to sound like a scientist or a reporter. It helps you stay calm and factual. It is great for job interviews too. You can say, The goals were achieved instead of just saying I did it. It sounds very modest and polite.

Don't use the passive voice for everything! If you use it too much, you will sound like a robot.

• Personal stories: Don't say, The coffee was drunk by me. It sounds weird! Just say, I drank the coffee.
• Simple, clear actions: If you know who did it and they are important, keep it active. My mom made this is better than This was made by my mom in a cozy home setting.
• When you want to be energetic: Active sentences have more energy. We won the game! is much better than The game was won by us!.

Think of passive voice like a fancy suit. It's great for special times or professional moments. But you don't wear a suit to sleep! Use active voice for your daily conversations with friends. Use passive voice when you want to be objective or formal. Balance is the key to great English.

Even native speakers mess this up sometimes, so don't worry!

• Forgetting the verb be: Some people say, The cake eaten. This is wrong. You must say, The cake was eaten. The be verb is the heart of the sentence.
• Using the wrong be form: Don't say, The apples is sold. Apples are plural, so use are. The apples are sold is correct.
• Wrong Past Participle: Some people use the simple past. They say, The book was wrote. The correct form is written. The book was written.
• Overusing by: You don't always need to say who did the action. If you say, The trash was taken out by the trash man, it's a bit too long. Just say, The trash was taken out.

Keep your sentences lean and clean. Check your be verb and your -ed endings. It's like checking your keys before you leave the house. A quick look saves you a lot of trouble later!

How is this different from other things?

• Passive vs. Adjectives: Sometimes they look the same. The door is closed. This can be a description (the door is not open) or a passive action (someone closed the door). Context helps you decide!
• Passive vs. Present Continuous: The car is fixing (Wrong) vs. The car is being fixed. The first one sounds like the car is a person fixing something! The second one is the correct passive form.
• Active vs. Passive: Remember the spotlight. Active = Spotlight on the person (The fire destroyed the house). Passive = Spotlight on the object (The house was destroyed by fire).

It's like a coin. One side is active, the other is passive. They both have the same value, but you show the side that is most important at that moment.