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Vocabulary for the week elementary
Grammar elem
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Grammar elem

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Passive Voice

Passive voice wording can be formed in multiple ways.

Using To Be Verbs

The passive voice utilizes "to be" verbs a lot. These are verbs like "am," "is," "are," "was," and "were." These "to be" verbs link up with the
participial form
⁠
of a verb. This gives us constructs like "was being" or "is being." Another popular verb construct within the passive voice is "have been.”
"By" is another favorite in the passive voice. If we know who or what is carrying out the action, "by" typically slips into the sentence to indicate the acting party. For example, "All her laundry was folded by the hotel staff."

Using Verb Tense

⁠
Verb tense
⁠
impacts how passive voice statements should be formed. Use the formulas detailed below to construct sentences in passive voice based on whether the verb is past, present or future tense.
Table 2
0
Column 1
Column 2
Column 3
1
Tense
Formula
Example Sentence
2
Past Simple
was/were + past participle
All her laundry was folded.
3
Past Continuous
was/were being + past participle
Her laundry was being folded by the maid.
4
Past Perfect Simple
had been + past participle
Her laundry had been folded earlier.
5
Present Simple
am/is/are + past participle
The hedges are trimmed weekly
6
Present Continuous
am/is/are/is being + past participle
The hedges are being trimmed today.
7
Present Perfect Simple
has/have been + past participle
The hedges have been trimmed already.
8
Future Simple
will be + past participle
She will be given her award on Saturday.
9
Future Continuous
will have been + past participle
We're late. She will have been given her award by now.
There are no rows in this table
⁠

Using Infinitives

It's important to make a note about infinitives at this point. Basically,
infinitives are verbs
⁠
with "to" in front of them. Not every infinitive indicates the passive voice, but they do work hand in hand quite often. For example, "The garbage needs to be taken to the dump," or, "Are you going to be fired?"
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