Verb FormsCAdvanced

Passive Voice

When to Use the Passive

Use the passive when: the doer is unknown ("My bike was stolen"), the doer is obvious or unimportant ("The suspect was arrested"), you want to focus on the action rather than who did it (scientific writing: "The solution was heated to 80°C"), or to avoid assigning blame ("Mistakes were made"). Overusing the passive in everyday conversation sounds unnatural.

When to Use the Passive

Use the passive when: the doer is unknown ("My bike was stolen"), the doer is obvious or unimportant ("The suspect was arrested"), you want to focus on the action rather than who did it (scientific writing: "The solution was heated to 80°C"), or to avoid assigning blame ("Mistakes were made"). Overusing the passive in everyday conversation sounds unnatural.

Practice

Which sentence most appropriately uses the passive?

In the experiment, the cellsat 37°C for 48 hours.

Transform to passive: put in the correct order:

Click words from the bank to place them here

Previous

Passive Across Tenses