Active voice versus passive voice
المبني للمعلوم المبني للمجهول.
The Active Voice:
المبني للمعلوم
Active voice is used when the focus is on the subject .It shows who or what has done something. In the active voice the agent (the person or thing that does something) becomes the subject of the sentence.
في المبني للمعلوم يكون التركيز على الفاعل ،أي أن الفاعل هو محور الجملة.
:Active Form
صيغة المبني للمعلوم:
[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action]
Subject+ Verb + Object
المفعول به + الفعل + الفاعل
Examples:
The dentist treats the pateint
Noura washes the dishes
Passive Voice
المبني للمجهول
Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.
يستخدم المبني للمجهول عند التركيز على الفعل بغض النظر عن الفاعل .أو بمعنى آخر عندما يكون الفعل أكثر أهمية من الفاعل.
Example: My Car was stolen.
Sometimes a
statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:
أحياناً تكون صيغة المبني للمجهول أكثر لباقة من المبني للمعلوم كما يوضح المثال التالي:
Example: A mistake was made.
In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone
في هذه الحالة أنا اركز على الخطأ المرتكب ،لكن لا أريد توجيه اللوم لأحد.
Form of Passive
صيغة المبني للمجهول
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle,(by…..)
(المفعول به) في مكان الفاعل+المصدر من فعل الكون +التصريف الثالث +by…
Example:. The dishes are washed by Noura]
The patients are treated by the dentist
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:
عند تحويل المبني للمعلوم إلى المبني للمجهول ،يجب مراعاة التالي:
***61607; the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
***61607; نضع المفعول به في الجملة في مكان الفاعل.
***61607; the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
***61607; يتغيرصيغة الفعل من المصدر إلى : فعل الكون+التصريف الثالث من الفعل.
***61607; the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)
***61607; نضع الفاعل في الجملة في مكان المفعول به أو نحذفه.
Examples: of Passive
He wrote a letterA letter was written
.Many tourists have visited that castle That castle has been visited by many tourists ..
Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM The work will be finished by 5:00 PM.
A lot of people think that all sentences that contain a form of the verb to be are in passive voice, but that isn’t true. For example, the sentence "I am holding a pen" is in active voice, but it uses the verb am, which is a form of to be. The passive form of that sentence is "The pen is being held by me."
البعض يعتقد أن كل الجمل التي تحوي فعلاً من أفعال الكون "verb to be" هي جمل مبنية للمجهول ،وهذا غير صحيح فمثلاً جملة"I am holding a pen"هي مبنية للمعلوم بالرغم من وجود فعل من أفعال الكون وهوam .وصيغة المبني للمجهول لهذه الجملة هي "The pen is being held by me"
"وحطوها حلقة في ودانكم مادام في فاعل في الجملة يعني مافيش مبني للمجهول"
Passive Sentences with Two Objects
المبني للمجهول في حالة وجود اكثر من مفعول به.
Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.
عند تحويل المبني للمعلوم الى المجهول مع وجود مفعولين بهما؛ نضع المفعول به المراد تسليط الضوء عليه مكان الفاعل, ويبقى الأخر كما هو (مفعول به)
تأمل الأمثلة التالية:
Active :Nana wrote a letter to me
نانا كَتبت لي رسالة..
Passive:A letter was written to me by Nana
رسالة كُتبت لي بواسطة نانا.
Passive:I was written aletter by Nana
أُرسلت لي رسالة بواسطة نانا.
.
As you can see in the examples, adding "by Nana " does
not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually drop
من الواضح ان عبارة"بواسطة نانا "غير مستساغة لذلك غالبا مايتم حذفها.
We particularly use the passive voice when we don’t know or aren’t bothered exactly who has done something. This is called passive without agent where the recipient of the action becomes the subject.
نستخدم المبني للمجهول بشكل خاص في حالة عدم معرفة أو انه من غير المهم معرفة الفاعل.في هذه الحالة لانذكر الفاعل في آخر الجملة.
For example:
"The office was cleaned." (What was cleaned? – The office=the subject)
هون المهم عندنا نظافة المكتب بغض النظر عن الفاعل.
We often use the passive to report what someone has said but we want to avoid telling anyone who said it.
أحياناً نستخدم المبني للمجهول في حالة نقل كلام أو حديث عن شخص ما مع تجنب ذكر القائل.
كما في المثال التالي:
For example:
"I was told you weren’t coming."
يكثر استخدام المبني للمجهول في المجال العلمي والسياسي وعالم الأعمال.
For example:
"The civilian was shot." (Who was shot? The civilian=the subject)
"The report was mislaid." (What was mislaid? The report =the subject)
When you can’t use the passive
متى لايمكنك استخدام المبني للمجهول
Intransitive verbs cannot be used in the passive. This is because they cannot have objects, and so there is nothing to become the subject of the passive sentence.
الأفعال اللازمة (غير المتعدية) لايمكن ان تستخدم في المبني للمجهول ،ذلك بسب عدم وجود-بالضرورة- مفعول به .
على سبيل المثال لا الحصر فعل يموت وفعل يصل.
For example with verbs like die or arrive.
So remember, Passive voice is not grammatically incorrect; it’s just not often the best choice. If you know who did what, it’s better to use an active sentence in most cases.
تذكر أن المبني للمجهول صحيح نحوياً لكن ليس الخيار الأفضل غالباً.إذا كنتَ على علم بمن فعل ماذا فمن الأفضل أن تستخدم المبني للمعلوم.
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE TENSES CHART
SIMPLE PRESENT and SIMPLE PAST
The active object becomes the passive subject.
am/is/are + past participle
was/were + past participle
Active:
Simple Present
The movie fascinates me.
The movie bores Jack.
The movie surprises them.
Passive:
Simple Present
I am fascinated by the movie.
Jack is bored by the movie.
They are surprised by the movie.
Active:
Simple Past
The movie bored me.
The movie fascinated Jack.
The movie surprised them.
Passive:
Simple Past
I was bored by the movie.
Jack was fascinated by the movie.
They were surprisedby the movie.
PRESENT and PAST CONTINUOUS (PROGRESSIVE)
Passive form:
am/is/are + being + past participle
was/were + being + past participle
Active:
Present Continuous
I am helping Shannon.
June is helping Su and Ling.
Passive:
Present Continuous
Shannon is being helped by me.
Su and Ling are being helped by June.
Active:
Past Continuous
I was cleaning the bathroom.
They were cleaning the bedroom.
Susan was cleaning the kitchen and patio.
Passive:
Past Continuous
The bathroom was being cleaned by me.
The bedroom was being cleaned by them.
The kitchen and patio were being cleaned by Susan.
PRESENT PERFECT, PAST PERFECT and FUTURE PERFECT
Passive form:
have/has been + past participle
had been + past participle
Active:
Present Perfect
I have mailed the gift.
Jack has mailed the gifts.
Passive:
Present Perfect
The gift has been mailed by me.
The gifts have been mailed by Jack.
Active:
Past Perfect
Steven Spielberg had directed the movie.
Penny Marshall had directed those movies.
Passive:
Past Perfect
The movie had been directed by Steven Spielberg.
The movies had been directed by Penny Marshall.
Active:
Future Perfect
John will have finished the project next month.
They will have finished the projects before then.
Passive:
Future Perfect
The project will have been finished by next month.
The projects will have been finished before then.
FUTURE TENSES
Passive forms:
will + be + past participle
is/are going to be + past participle
Active:
Future with WILL
I will mail the gift.
Jack will mail the gifts.
Passive:
Future with WILL
The gift will be mailed by me.
The gifts will be mailed by Jack.
Active:
Future with GOING TO
I am going to make the cake.
Sue is going to make two cakes.
Passive:
Future with GOING TO
The cake is going to be made by me.
Two cakes are going to be made by Sue.
PRESENT / FUTURE MODALS
The passive form follows this pattern:
modal + be + past participle
WILL / WON’T (WILL NOT)
Active:
Sharon will invite Tom to the party.
Sharon won’t invite Jeff to the party.
(Sharon will not invite Jeff to the party.)
Passive:
WILL / WON’T (WILL NOT)
Tom will be invited to the party by Sharon.
Jeff won’t be invited to the party by Sharon.
(Jeff will not be invited to the party by Sharon.)
Active:
CAN / CAN’T (CAN NOT)
Mai can foretell the future.
Terry can’t foretell the future.
(Terry can not foretell the future.)
Passive:
CAN / CAN’T (CAN NOT)
The future can be foretold by Mai.
The future can’t be foretold by Terry.
(The future can not be foretold by Terry.)
Active:
MAY / MAY NOT
Her company may give Katya a new office.
The lazy students may not do the homework.
MIGHT / MIGHT NOT
Her company might give Katya a new office.
The lazy students might not do the homework.
Passive:
MAY / MAY NOT
Katya may be given a new office by her company.
The homework may not be done by the lazy students.
MIGHT / MIGHT NOT
Katya might be given a new office by her company.
The homework might not be done by the lazy students.
Active:
SHOULD / SHOULDN’T
Students should memorize English verbs.
Children shouldn’t smoke cigarettes
.
Passive:
SHOULD / SHOULDN’T
English verbs should be memorized by students.
Cigarettes shouldn’t be smoked by children.
Active:
OUGHT TO
Students ought to learn English verbs.
(negative ought to is rarely used)
Passive:
OUGHT TO
English verbs ought to be memorized by students.
Active:
HAD BETTER / HAD BETTER NOT
Students had better practice English every day.
Children had better not drink coffee.
Passive: HAD BETTER / HAD BETTER NOT
English had better be practiced every day by students.
Coffee had better not be drunk by children.
Active:
MUST / MUST NOT
Tourists must apply for a passport to travel abroad.
Customers must not use that door.
Passive:
MUST / MUST NOT
A passport to travel abroad must be applied for.
That door must not be used by customers.
Active:
HAS TO / HAVE TO
She has to practice English every day.
Sara and Miho have to wash the dishes every day.
DOESN’T HAVE TO/ DON’T HAVE TO
Maria doesn’t have to clean her bedroom every day.
The children don’t have to clean their bedrooms every day.
Passive:
HAS TO / HAVE TO
English has to be practiced every day.
The dishes have to be washed by them every day.
DOESN’T HAVE TO/ DON’T HAVE TO
Her bedroom doesn’t have to be cleaned every day.
Their bedrooms don’t have to be cleaned every day.
Active:
BE SUPPOSED TO
I am supposed to type the composition.
I am not supposed to copy the stories in the book.
Janet is supposed to clean the living room.
She isn’t supposed to eat candy and gum.
They are supposed to make dinner for the family.
They aren’t supposed to make dessert.
Passive:
BE SUPPOSED TO
The composition is supposed to be typed by me.
The stories in the book are not supposed to be copied.
The living room is supposed to be cleaned by Janet.
Candy and gum aren’t supposed to be eaten by her.
Dinner for the family is supposed to be made by them.
Dessert isn’t supposed to be made by them.
PAST MODALS
The past passive form follows this pattern:
modal + have been + past participle
Active:
SHOULD HAVE / SHOULDN’T HAVE
The students should have learned the verbs.
The children shouldn’t have broken the window.
Passive:
SHOULD HAVE / SHOULDN’T HAVE
The verbs should have been learned by the students.
The window shouldn’t have been broken by the children.
Active:
OUGHT TO
Students ought to have learned the verbs.
(negative ought to is rarely used)
Passive:
OUGHT TO
The verbs ought to have been learned by the students.
Active:
BE SUPPOSED TO (past time)
I was supposed to type the composition.
I wasn’t supposed to copy the story in the book.
Janet was supposed to clean the living room.
She wasn’t supposed to eat candy and gum.
Frank and Jane were supposed to make dinner.
They weren’t supposed to make dessert.
Passive:
BE SUPPOSED TO (past time)
The composition was supposed to be typed by me.
The story in the book wasn’t supposed to be copied.
The living room was supposed to be cleaned by Janet.
Candy and gum weren’t supposed to be eaten by her.
Dinner was supposed to be made by them.
Dessert wasn’t supposed to be made by them.
Active:
MAY / MAY NOT
That firm may have offered Katya a new job.
The students may not have written the paper.
MIGHT / MIGHT NOT
That firm might have offered Katya a new job.
The students might not have written the paper.
Passive:
MAY / MAY NOT
Katya may have been offered a new job by that firm.
The paper may not have been written by the students.
MIGHT / MIGHT NOT
Katya might have been offered a new job by that firm.
The paper might not have been written by the students.
Best wishes