To change a sentence from active voice to passive voice, follow these steps:
- Identify the subject, verb, and object of the active sentence.
- Move the object of the active sentence to the subject position of the new passive sentence.
- Use a form of "to be" that matches the tense of the original verb.
- Add the past participle of the original verb.
- Remove the action words from the sentence, emphasizing the state of being rather than the action itself.
Here’s an example to illustrate the process:
Active voice sentence:
"The chef cooked the meal."
Change to passive voice:
- Subject: "The chef" → becomes the agent of the action, which can be included in a "by" phrase if necessary.
- Object: "the meal" → becomes the new subject.
- Verb: "cooked" is the action that will change to passive voice.
Passive voice sentence:
"The meal was cooked (by the chef)."
Notice that "was" is the past tense of "to be," and "cooked" is the past participle of the verb "cook." The action "cooked" has been removed from being the focus, shifting the emphasis to the state of the meal being cooked.
Here's another example:
Active voice sentence:
"The teacher graded the exams."
Passive voice sentence:
"The exams were graded (by the teacher)."
Again, "were" is the past tense of "to be," and "graded" serves as the past participle. The focus shifts away from the teacher's action to the state of the exams.