One of my subscribers commented that the passive is sometimes confusing.
Good news, because in this video, we’re going to look at the passive voice - why and
when to use it and hopefully deal with this confusion.
Hey, I’m Alister and welcome to another video.
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Let’s start things with some interaction and a question.
Which of these sentences uses the passive voice?
Answer 1 or 2 in the poll, right up here.
Number one.
The Harry Potter series was published in the UK by Bloomsbury.
Number two.
Bloomsbury published the Harry Potter series in the UK.
If you said sentence 2 you are incorrect.
This is the active voice and is the most common sentence order.
The subject (Bloomsbury) is in first position in the sentence.
The subject is the ‘doer’ or the agent of the action (published).
If you said sentence 1 you are correct.
This is the passive voice - the person, or thing that the action was done to (the Harry
Potter series) becomes the subject and is in first position in the sentence.
In the passive voice it is possible to leave out the agent of the action.
The Harry Potter series was published in the UK.
To include the agent of the action, we use by + agent - by Bloomsbury, in our example.
Penicillin was discovered in 1928.
Passive voice with no agent.
Penicillin was discovered in 1928 by the Scottish scientist, Alexander Fleming.
This is the passive voice + by + agent - the Scottish scientist, Alexander Fleming.
Let’s have some more interaction with this question.
Which of these is the most common structure of the passive?
Answer 1, 2 or 3 in the poll, right up here.
Number one.
Get + past participle.
Number two.
Be + past participle.
Number three.
Have + object + past participle.
We’ll answer later in the video.
Here are five reasons why we use the passive.
Number 1
When the agent is clear and obvious.
The criminal was arrested.
There’s no need to say by the police or the police arrested the criminal. It’s obvious.
Can you think of another example?
Write it below in the comments and help everyone.
Number 2
To emphasise the importance of the result.
“The challenging surgery was completed successfully and your child is recovering.”
In this conversation, say, between a doctor and two parents, the important information
for the parents at that moment is that their child is well and healthy, not that the surgeon
did a successful operation.
The passive can be used to state facts and results.
This is our third reason for using the passive.
It’s obvious who the agent is, everyone, anyone.
There’s no need to say we can use the passive to state facts and results.
For Number 4 let’s look at this sentence.
“Oh no! My bag’s been stolen!”
Do we know who stole the bag?
Answer yes or no in the poll.
If you answered no then you are correct.
This shows us that we also use the passive when we don’t know who did the action.
This situation would probably be easier if the victim did know who stole their bag.
Can you think of another example?
Write it below in the comments and help everyone.
Our fifth reason for using the passive is to be impersonal and create distance between
the speaker and the words that they are saying.
In some cultures it is considered polite to burp as a sign of appreciation for good food.
Writing in this way is common in academic and formal contexts.
To answer the earlier question, the most common form of the passive is:
Be + past participle. Verb 3.
Let me know in the comments if the polls I’ve used make this video more interactive and
improve your experience.
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The best way to do this is to make sure you watch one of these grammar videos.
Thanks so much for watching and I’ll see you over here in one of these videos.