Improving your grammatical skills is important if you want to achieve your desired band scores in Speaking and Writing.
In this article, we’ll be focusing on another grammatical structure that you may find useful on your IELTS test, the passive voice.
What is voice?
In grammar, voice is the form the verb takes to show the relationship between the action (or state, in some cases) and the participants (subject, object) in an event.
The voice can be active or passive:
In a sentence written in the active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action (e.g. She wrote the letter.)
On the other hand, in a sentence written in the passive voice, the subject receives the action (e.g. The letter was written.)
When do we use the passive voice and how do we form it?
Now that you know what we mean by ‘passive voice’, let’s look at when and how to use it.
In a nutshell, we use the passive voice when we want to focus the reader’s attention on the person or thing affected by the action.
In the above example “The letter was written.”, our attention goes to the letter. As you may have already noticed, we form the passive using be (in a suitable tense) and the past participle (written, invited, stolen, etc.) In what situations, then, should we use the passive voice instead of the active voice?
The passive voice is commonly used in the following cases:
1. when we do NOT know who the agent (or doer) is
For much of human history, animals have been captured and put in zoos for our entertainment.
2. when it is obvious to the listener or reader who the agent is
I recently quit my job because I was being paid less than my less experienced, male colleagues.
3. when it is not important to know who the agent is
What a lot of people in western countries don’t realize is that most of their fancy clothes are made overseas in rural and poor areas.
4. when people in general are the agents
Nowadays, most movies and TV shows can be streamed online.
Note that when using the passive voice, we can leave out the agent or doer, just like we did in all of the examples above, or we can place the agent in a prepositional phrase (by + agent) when the agent is important:
One of the best gifts that I’ve ever received was a necklace that was given to me by my grandmother.
What tenses can be used in the passive voice?
The passive can be used with all tenses. The table below gives examples of the most common forms in the passive:
tense | verb form | example | |
|---|---|---|---|
present simple | am are is | + past participle | Finally, the product is delivered to local supermarkets |
present continuous | am are is | + being + past participle | That cathedral is being repaired as we speak. |
past simple | was were | + past participle | A significant increase in sales was witnessed between the years 2000 and 2010. |
past continuous | was were | + being + past participle | We didn’t know, but we were being monitored that day |
present perfect simple | have has | + been + past participle | I haven’t been asked to participate in the project. |
past perfect simple | had | + been + past participle | An important lesson had been taught |
modal simple | can will might could may must | + be + past participle | Trophy hunting may be allowed in some countries, but that doesn’t mean that it’s OK. |
modal perfect simple | could must | + have been | The project could have been cancelled had it not been for him. |
Importantly, we do NOT form passive structures with intransitive verbs (e.g. She died., not She was died.).
Also, when talking about someone’s birth, use the past form of be + born (e.g. He was born in Scotland., not He is born in Scotland.)
Just as in real life, you may use the passive voice at any point during the Speaking and Writing sections of the IELTS. However, keep in mind that the passive voice is used much more frequently in writing than in speaking.
In fact, Writing Task 1 may require you to use this structure often, particularly when describing a process or diagram (e.g. The materials are then taken to the recycling plant.). If you feel like you need more practice in this area, make sure you set some time aside to focus on improving your grammar while preparing for IELTS.
By Andrea Castro
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