Passive voice

Passive voice is a sentence structure where the subject is acted upon by the verb. It often includes a form of the verb "to be" followed by a past participle. While passive voice can sometimes make sentences less direct and clear, it is useful in certain contexts, such as when the doer of the action is unknown or unimportant, or when you want to emphasize the action itself rather than the subject.

1. Simple Sentence:
   
   • Active: The dog chased the cat.
   • Passive: The cat was chased by the dog.

1. Compound Sentence:
   
   • Active: She baked a cake and decorated it beautifully.
   • Passive: A cake was baked and decorated beautifully by her.

1. Complex Sentence:
   
   • Active: The scientist, who discovered the cure, received a Nobel Prize.
   • Passive: The cure, which was discovered by the scientist, earned him a Nobel Prize.

1. Interrogative Sentence:
   
   • Active: Did you finish the report?
   • Passive: Was the report finished by you?

1. Object-Verb-Subject Structure (Optional):
   
   • The subject of the sentence receives the action.
   • Example: The meal (object) was cooked (verb) by the chef (subject).

1. Use of "To Be" Verbs:
   
   • Forms of the verb "to be" (is, am, are, was, were, being, been) are used with the past participle of the main verb.
   • Example: The budget (object) was approved (verb) by the manager (subject).

1. Emphasis on Action or Object:
   
   • Passive voice often emphasizes the action or the recipient of the action rather than who performed it.
   • Example: A stunning mural (object) was painted (verb) by the artist (subject).

To convert a sentence from active to passive voice, identify the subject, verb, and object. Then, make the object of the active sentence the subject of the passive sentence, and add a form of "to be" with the past participle of the main verb. Optionally, include the doer of the action introduced by "by."

1. Active: The student read the book.
   
   • Passive: The book was read by the student.

1. Active: The children completed the homework.
   
   • Passive: The homework was completed by the children.

1. Active: Sarah wrote the letter.
   
   • Passive: The letter was written by Sarah.

1. When the Doer is Unknown or Unimportant:
   
   • Example: The window was broken. (Who broke it is unknown or not important)

1. To Emphasize the Action or Object:
   
   • Example: The novel was written by an anonymous author.

1. In Formal or Scientific Writing:
   
   • Example: The experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis.

1. When the Focus is on the Result:
   
   • Example: All the cookies were eaten by the time I arrived.

Transform the following active sentences into passive voice:

1. Active: The choir sang the song.
   
   • Passive: The song was sung by the choir.

1. Active: The researchers conducted the experiment.
   
   • Passive: The experiment was conducted by the researchers.

1. Active: The storm broke the window.
   
   • Passive: The window was broken by the storm.

By understanding how and when to use passive voice, you can choose the appropriate sentence structure to convey your message effectively.