The passive voice is a grammatical construction (a "voice") in which the subject of a sentence or clause denotes the recipient of the action (the patient) rather than the performer (the agent).
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Present perfect vs. passive voice
Here are two sentences that look pretty similar:
The book was written by Hugo.
The book has been written by Hugo.
Each of them says that the action has been already performed in the past ...
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0answers
38 views
Stipulated, mandated, ordained, required - w.r.t a law [closed]
Suppose a state's labor law requires that, say, every sign bigger than 1 square meters
Now, complete the following sentence: "The client shall obtain the necessary sign posting permit as ____ by ...
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2answers
83 views
Passive voice for sentences using modals and "used to:
I always have some problems with changing an active sentence which contains used to into a passive sentence, for example:
Mr Green used to teach languages at school.
What is the passive form? ...
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1answer
99 views
Passive voice for sentences like “He is going somewhere”
I have this sentence that I trying to render into passive voice:
Tom is going to school.
According to the rules described in this document (“Passive voice with direct and indirect objects”), it ...
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1answer
110 views
Conversion into passive voice and order of the words
This is a sentence in active voice: He cannot rear any cattle on his farm.
Its passive would be: Any cattle cannot be reared by him on his farm? OR On his farm, any cattle cannot be reared by him? OR ...
2
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1answer
148 views
Passive auxiliary verb or progressive one?
Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.
—Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Is ‘being’ a passive auxiliary verb or a progressive one?
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3answers
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Passive form of “John is painting his room”
When we want to change a statement from active to passive, in the present continuous, we have to change the verb that is continuous from the active verb to the continuous for of be and the past ...
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2answers
146 views
Verb types or mode of expression to convey lack of causality
In Biblical Hebrew there are two simple verb types (Qal grammatically active and Niphal passive) which covey no causation. They may be reflexive, permissive or tolerative or some combination. Would ...
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3answers
203 views
Why is this marked ungrammatical?
Why is the second sentence below marked as being ungrammatical?
Ed wanted a new CD player.
✲ A new CD player was wanted by ED.
—Bas Aarts, English Syntax and ...
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2answers
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“Compose” and “comprise”
The whole comprises the parts, for example
The board comprises five members.
and the parts compose the whole such as
Five members compose the board.
The preceding sentence can be written ...
4
votes
1answer
143 views
“Your order has shipped”
I ordered a CD from an online music store. My confirmation email reads "your order has shipped." English is not my first language, and this strikes me as odd. Shouldn't it be a passive-voice sentence, ...
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7answers
2k views
Is using passive voice “bad form”?
Whenever I create a document in Microsoft Word, it complains about a lot of my sentences being in passive voice. But, when I read that sentence aloud, it sounds fine to me. I am not sure if it is just ...
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0answers
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“need to be washed”, “need washing”, or “need washed”? [duplicate]
The car needs to be washed.
The car needs washing.
The car needs washed.
What's the subtle differences between them?
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4answers
218 views
I often use “is being” and “are being” in my sentences. Is it correct grammatically?
For example "lasers are being used to treat different skin conditions". It is a passive form without a subject. Please guide.
4
votes
2answers
186 views
He was getting vs being beaten
I would need to understand the difference here:
He was being beaten.
He was getting beaten.
I know "get" + ppt can be either passive voice or a change of state. What is that in this example? I ...
4
votes
3answers
187 views
Is the use of the word “been” necessary or proper when discussing a completed event?
Is the use of the word "been" in the following sentence necessary or proper?
The arbitration between the claimant and the respondent has already been concluded.
Someone has been editing my paper ...
2
votes
1answer
317 views
What's the sentence pattern of passive voice?
We saw him enter the room. He was seen to enter the room.
When the sentence that has the pattern of “S+V+O+OC” is changed into passive form, do we call ‘to enter the room’ as a subjective ...
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1answer
248 views
“Has been changed” or “has changed”?
Debate with a fellow writer: should I say "My email ID has been changed" or "My email ID has changed"?
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2answers
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“His hopes had not materialized”/“have not materialized”/“have not been materialized”
Which one is preferable in following sentence?
His hopes of getting through the I.A.S. had not materialized till today's date.
His hopes of getting through the I.A.S. have not materialized ...
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9answers
963 views
How can I reliably and accurately identify the passive voice in writing or speech?
How can I reliably and accurately identify the passive voice in writing or speech? I'm not interested in advice about whether or not to use it yet... I just want to know for sure what it is, so that I ...
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1answer
150 views
Active usage of “taken aback”
The expression to be taken aback is very common; a typical example sentence (that I just made up) would be
I was taken aback by the way she laughed.
However, I sometimes find myself wanting to ...
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1answer
54 views
“The data misses a desired object” vs. “a desired object is being missed in the data” [closed]
Do the following two sentences have the same meaning?
If the data misses a desired object, then information relevant to that object do not exist in the database.
If a desired object is being ...
2
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3answers
741 views
Can I use “when” + future tense in this case?
Can I use "when" + future tense in this case?
I'm not sure when it will be released.
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1answer
441 views
Is this correct: “Water will be being drunk by Michael”?
I started with "Michael is drinking water", which I could convert to "Water is being drunk by Michael", which I could change to the past tense as "Water was being drunk by Michael".
That leads me to ...
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2answers
345 views
Alternative to “is going to be”
I want to find a synonym to "is going to be" in a sentence like: "X is going to be outdated after Y joins X".
I could have chosen "will be", but I want something more incisive, and less "in the ...
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votes
2answers
123 views
Human verbs for things - bad style? [closed]
In writing on an academic topic concerned with IT systems and business stuff, my aim is to write with active formulations which liven the text. But I'm noticing that I tend to use human verbs for ...
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3answers
106 views
Scripts ran/run/running/?
What is the correct verb construct in the following sentence?
Scripts ____ under cron have an empty environment.
Cron is a program that runs scripts at scheduled points in time (e.g. every ...
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0answers
130 views
what is the passive form of “It is said that there is a secret conspiracy in this judicial case”? [closed]
What is the passive form of:
It is said that there is a secret conspiracy in this judicial case.
Is this sentence already in a passive voice?
3
votes
4answers
183 views
Phrase: “This area is being supervised by video”. Can “video” really supervise?
In the city of Potsdam I have seen the following label on the main station building: "This area is being supervised by video".
The meaning of the phrase is pretty clear, but can "video" be really ...
3
votes
3answers
354 views
Passive to active interrogatives
I am a high school student. While doing my weekly assignment, I came across a question which asks me to write in active voice
Have they been told to be ready?
Can anyone help me out with this ...
4
votes
4answers
297 views
Passive voice of “Stay”
What would be the passive voice of "passengers stay in a hotel".
The whole sentence would be "passengers can be forwarded to their destination in a new flight, or (be kept) in a hotel". "Kept" is not ...
3
votes
5answers
499 views
Present perfect passive voice
I have to put this sentence in passive:
She took a long time to write the composition, but at last she wrote it.
Trying to write this in passive, I wrote the following:
The composition took ...
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votes
1answer
187 views
Is the proper phrase “Be Discovered” or “Get Discovered”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why is “to get” sometimes used where “to be” could be used?
I am working on a website and I'm having a little difficulty selecting an appropriate ...
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4answers
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Why is “to get” sometimes used where “to be” could be used?
Why is "to get" sometimes used where "to be" could be used?
Examples:
"The video got uploaded to the web site." vs. "The video was uploaded to the web site."
"He got thrown in the pool." vs. "He ...
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6answers
710 views
Is there a passive for the sentence “Be quiet.”?
How to say "Be quiet.", which is a command, in passive voice?
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2answers
330 views
Subject and object while using passive voice [closed]
My English teacher and an overwhelming majority of my English class insists that in the following sentences the bolded words are subjects and the italicized words are objects.
I ate the cake.
...
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vote
1answer
78 views
“Issue #16 is being downloaded” vs “Downloading issue #16” [closed]
When downloading something on an application, I preferred the present continuous active voice form of the message, say something like "Downloading issue #16"
However I have been asked to change it ...
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1answer
60 views
Has been procured [closed]
The program must check the latest date in which data has been procured and then update the database accordingly.
Is the above sentence correct.
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votes
4answers
355 views
How can I use “fête” as a verb in active voice?
Oxford Dictionaries cites a verb as an entry for fête and gives a passive example. How can I use fête in the active voice? For example, can one fête an occasion with pomp and circumstance?
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2answers
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Passive form questions
Note: English isn't my main language.
I have a question about the passive form, I think the following paragraph has a strange "form" of a passive context, here it is:
Prodded by hunger, the female ...
2
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2answers
1k views
“has been raised” or “was raised” in an academic journal [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Past simple and present perfect
The first line in my research is the following:
Since the May 6, 2010 ``Flash Crash’’ event, the following question
has been raised ...
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votes
2answers
2k views
Is it “is being build” or “is being built”? [closed]
Channel is being build with aid of latest technologies available
today.
Is the above line correct? or should built be used instead of build? What is the grammatic logic to follow so I ...
4
votes
3answers
237 views
passive voice for quit
What will be the passive voice for - "she quits her teaching job in school".I have come up with -"the teaching job in school is quit by her".But somehow its not sounding correct.Is it fine?
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2answers
288 views
“Barrier will open” vs. “barrier will be opened”
To me "barrier will open" sounds more correct. I am not 100% sure if "barrier will be opened" is acceptable. What do you think?
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votes
2answers
612 views
How can I fix the passive voice error in this sentence?
To combat this, new security measures have been implemented such as
identification checks and on-site police officers.
The error is in bold. I've been reading online about passive voice but ...
4
votes
3answers
244 views
What’s the difference between “come recommended” and “be recommended”?
… But their main business is in parts and refurbishing, and the old man, Deforges, doesn’t like to sell a used piano to someone who hasn’t come recommended. He says it’s more trouble than it’s ...
1
vote
4answers
78 views
What's the passive form of “A lives (or resides) in B”?
I could easily say "Currently, there are six people living in that manor", but how do I turn it into passive sentence so that the manor becomes the subject?
I was trying to make a sentence about a ...
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13answers
1k views
Passive of “tried to eat”
OK, so I'm trying to complete the following analogy:
John ate the worms.
is to
The worms were eaten.
as
John tried to eat the worms.
is to
The worms were tried to be eaten.
or
...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
Is the sentence “X is located in Y” active or passive voice?
It looks passive to me, due to the structure to be + past participle. However, if I take Z as a doer of the verb locate and change it around as in Z locates X, I am very confused with the meaning ...
21
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1answer
1k views
“The ticket is printing” vs “…is being printed”
You're standing in front of a ticket vending machine and it says "The ticket is printing". Is that correct or should it be "The ticket is being printed"?
EDIT:
If both are correct, which one should ...
