Suppose I say:
It is foolish to lick a metal pole.
Is this in the passive voice?
Would this sentence be better as:
To lick a metal pole is foolish.
How about:
Licking a metal pole is foolish.
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3None of your three sentences is passive.– rogermueCommented Dec 20, 2015 at 4:16
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Passive: A metal pole being licked is foolish. For this case, all three of your suggested sentences are much better than the passive voice.– Peter ShorCommented Dec 20, 2015 at 5:54
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1 Answer
The passive is very simple. You take the forms of to be + as special complement the past participle.
Active: The soldiers destroyed the bridge.
Passive: The bridge was destroyed (by the soldiers).
The passive conjugation is (I give only the forms of the third person singular):
- Simple tenses
is destroyed, was destroyed, will be destroyed, would be destroyed.
- Perfect tenses
has been destroyed, had been destroyed, will have been destroyed, would have been destroyed.
You can form continuous forms by using "being" before the past participle:
The bridge was being destroyed (when we arrived).
