When we speak English, we often use active voice. Active voice is when the subject of the sentence is the agent of the action. The subject is the doer of the action, therefore we know who is doing the action. But we can’t always use the active voice, and that’s when the passive voice comes in. In a passive voice, the subject is not the doer of the action. Who is doing the action is unclear or unknown. Passive voice is not as commonly used as its counterpart, active voice. But it still is an integral part of the English language, and to become fluent in English, we need to learn the passive voice. This article is prepared to help you learn all about the passive voice in Simple Present Tense.
To make a Present Simple Passive Voice sentence, we put the subject, the proper form of the auxiliary verb “be”, the past participle of the verb, and optionally “by ” and the agent of the action. Because the subject of the sentence is already there, even though it doesn’t indicate the agent of the action, it still is a complete sentence. Therefore, the last part is additional information and is optional.
Some points to consider when forming a simple present passive voice sentence:
Subject: The subject is the receiver of the action in the passive voice.
Auxiliary verb: The auxiliary verb “to be” is used in the simple present tense to indicate that the sentence is in the passive voice. The choice of the auxiliary verb depends on the subject: For singular subjects (he, she, it), we use “is”; for plural subjects (we, you, they), we use “are”, for first person singular subject (I), we use “am”.
Past participle: The main verb is changed to its past participle form. The past participle is formed by adding “-ed” to the base form of the verb.
“By” + agent (optional): The agent is the doer of the action. It can be introduced by the preposition “by” to indicate who or what performs the action. However, the agent is not always necessary or included in passive voice sentences.
We can form positive, negative, and interrogative sentences using Simple Present Passive voice. Let’s take a look at how to from these different types of sentences:
1. For positive Simple Present Passive voice sentences:
We use the formula of subject + auxiliary verb “to be” (am/is/are) + past participle of the main verb + “by” + agent (optional).
Active Voice: “They deliver the packages.”
Passive Voice: “The packages are delivered by them.”
2. For negative Simple Present Passive voice sentences:
We use the formula of subject + auxiliary verb “to be” (am/is/are) + negative adverb (not) + past participle of the main verb + “by” + agent (optional).
Active Voice: “He doesnt repair the car.”
Passive Voice: “The car is not repaired.”
3. For interrogative Simple Present Passive voice sentences:
We use the formula of auxiliary verb + subject + past participle + “by” + agent (optional).
Active Voice: “Do you clean the house?”
Passive Voice: “Is the house cleaned?”
