Passive Voice

Carla Muniz

Professora licenciada em Letras

A passive voice (voz passiva) é um tipo de construção frasal onde o sujeito é paciente, ou seja, sofre a ação da frase em vez de praticá-la. É destacado o que acontece com o sujeito, porém, sem enfatizá-lo.

Exemplo: The car was washed. (O carro foi lavado.)

O foco do exemplo acima é o objeto do período (the car), uma vez que ele recebe a ação de ser lavado.

Regras e exemplos de uso da passive voice

A voz passiva pode ser utilizada em frases afirmativas, negativas e interrogativas. Sua formação é expressa por:

Objeto + verbo to be + Past Participle (Particípio passado) do verbo principal + complemento

Essa estrutura pode ser utilizada em diversos tempos verbais do presente, do passado e do futuro. Para isso, basta flexionar o verbo to be.

Confira abaixo alguns exemplos:

Passive voice no Simple Present

Objeto + am/is/are + Past Participle (Particípio passado) do verbo principal + complemento

• Affirmative Form: The school is painted by John. (A escola é pintada pelo John.)
• Negative Form: The school isn’t painted by John. (A escola não é pintada pelo John.)
• Interrogative Form: Is the school painted by Jonh? (A escola é pintada pelo John?)

Confira também os textos a seguir:

Passive voice no Present Continuous

Objeto + am being/is being/are being + Past Participle (Particípio passado) do verbo principal + complemento

• Affirmative Form: The school is being painted by John. (A escola está sendo pintada pelo John.)
• Negative Form: The school isn’t being painted by John. (A escola não está sendo pintada pelo John.)
• Interrogative Form: Is the school being painted by John? (A escola está sendo pintada pelo John?)

Leia também os conteúdos abaixo:

Passive voice no Present Perfect

Objeto + has been/have been + Past Participle (Particípio passado) do verbo principal + complemento

• Affirmative Form: The school has been painted by John. (A escola tem sido pintada pelo John.)
• Negative Form: The school hasn’t been painted by John. (A escola não tem sido pintada pelo John.)
• Interrogative Form: Has the school been painted by John? (A escola tem sido pintada pelo John?)

Veja também:

Present Perfect

Passive voice no Simple Past

Objeto + was/were + Past Participle (Particípio passado) do verbo principal + complemento

• Affirmative Form: The school was painted by John. (A escola foi pintada pelo John.)
• Negative Form: The school wasn’t painted by John. (A escola não foi pintada pelo John.)
• Interrogative Form: Was the school painted by John? (A escola foi pintada pelo John?)

Na imagem acima, Os Simpsons fazem uma descoberta: someone ate the cookies (alguém comeu os biscoitos). Essa frase está na voz ativa, pois indica que o sujeito (someone = alguém) praticou uma ação (ate the cookies = comeu os biscoitos).

Em seguida, a frase The cookies were eaten. (Os biscoitos foram comidos) está na voz passiva, pois indica que o sujeito (the cookies = os biscoitos) sofreu a ação (were eaten = foram comidos).

Para saber mais sobre o Simple Past, não perca os conteúdos abaixo:

Passive voice no Past Continuous

Objeto + was being/were being + Past Participle (Particípio passado) do verbo principal + complemento

• Affirmative Form: The school was being painted by John. (A escola estava sendo pintada pelo John.)
• Negative Form: The school wasn’t being painted by John. (A escola não estava sendo pintada pelo John.)
• Interrogative Form: Was the school being painted by John? (A escola estava sendo pintada pelo John?)

Veja também:

Past Continuous

Passive voice no Past Perfect

Objeto + had been + Past Participle (Particípio passado) do verbo principal + complemento

• Affirmative Form: The school had been painted by John. (A escola tinha sido pintada pelo John.)
• Negative Form: The school hadn’t been painted by John. (A escola não tinha sido pintada pelo John.)
• Interrogative Form: Had the school been painted by John? (A escola tinha sido pintada pelo John?)

Veja também:

Past Perfect

Passive voice no Simple Future

Objeto + will be + Past Participle (Particípio passado) do verbo principal + complemento

• Affirmative Form: The school will be painted by John. (A escola será pintada pelo John.)
• Negative Form: The school won’t be painted by John. (A escola não será pintada pelo John.)
• Interrogative Form: Will the school be painted by John? (A escola será pintada pelo John?)

Veja também:

Simple Future

Passive voice no Future Perfect

Objeto + will have been + Past Participle (Particípio passado) do verbo principal + complemento

• Affirmative Form: By next week, the school will have been painted by John. (Por volta da próxima semana, a escola terá sido pintada pelo John.)
• Negative Form: By next week, the school won’t have been painted by John. (Por volta da próxima semana, a escola não terá sido pintada pelo John.)
• Interrogative Form: Will the school have been painted by next week by John? (Por volta da próxima semana, a escola terá sido pintada pelo John?)

Veja também:

Future Perfect

Passive voice com verbos modais

No caso dos verbos modais, a construção da passive voice é feita da seguinte maneira:

Modal verb (verbo modal) + be + Past Participle (Particípio passado)

Os principais verbos modais são: will, would, can, could, must, should, may, might e ought to. Confira abaixo exemplos com o verbo modal could.

• Affirmative Form: The school could be painted by John. (A escola poderia ser pintada pelo John.)
• Negative Form: The school couldn’t be painted by John. (A escola não poderia ser pintada pelo John.)
• Interrogative Form: Could the school be painted by John. (A escola poderia ser pintada pelo John?)

Veja também:

Modal Verbs

Active voice x Passive voice

Diferentemente do que acontece na passive voice, na active voice (voz ativa) o sujeito da ação é posto em evidência. Confira abaixo alguns exemplos:

Exemplos

Active voice (Voz ativa)

Passive voice (Voz passiva)

Simple Present

John paints the school every year. (John pinta a escola todos os anos.)

The school is painted by John every year. (A escola é pintada pelo John todos os anos.)

Simple Past

John painted the school. (John pintou a escola)

The school was painted by John. (A escola foi pintada pelo John.)

Simple Future

John will paint the school. (John pintará a escola.)

The school will be painted by John. (A escola será pintada pelo John.)

Veja também os casos abaixo.

Veja também:

Gramática da língua inglesa

Vídeo sobre passive voice

Confira o vídeo abaixo e veja como passar uma frase da active voice para a passive voice.

Exercícios sobre passive voice

1. (PUC- Rio) The passive voice is used in “Orkut was quietly launched on January 22, 2004”. Find the sentence that is also in the passive voice.

a) Communities have never rejected new members.
b) Good ideas took shape at the end of the session.
c) Some communities have been able to control their growth.
d) Several social groups could be connected by the Internet.
e) Young students are never tired of chatting with friends on email.

Ver Resposta

Alternativa correta d) Several social groups could be connected by the Internet.

a) ERRADA. A estrutura da frase está na voz ativa. Em Communities have never rejected new members. (As comunidades nunca rejeitaram novos membros.), o sujeito communities (as comunidades) pratica a ação de não rejeitar novos membros.

b) ERRADA. A estrutura da frase está na voz ativa. Em Good ideas took shape at the end of the session. (Novas ideias tomaram forma no fim da sessão.), o sujeito good ideas (boas ideias) pratica a ação de tomar forma.

c) ERRADA. A estrutura da frase está na voz ativa. Em Some communities have been able to control their growth. (Algumas comunidades foram capazes de controlar o próprio crescimento.), o sujeito some communities (algumas comunidades) pratica a ação de controlar o próprio crescimento.

d) CORRETA. Em Several social groups could be connected by the Internet. (Vários grupos sociais poderiam ser conectados pela Internet.), o sujeito several social groups (vários grupos sociais) é passivo, ou seja, sofre a ação de poder ser conectado pela Internet.

e) ERRADA. A estrutura da frase está na voz ativa. Em Young students are never tired of chatting with friends on email. (Os alunos jovens nunca se cansam de conversar com amigos por e-mail.), o sujeito young students (alunos jovens) pratica a ação da frase: nunca se cansa de conversar com amigos por e-mail.

2. Complete a voz passiva com o tempo verbal correto:

After the accident, two people _______________ to the hospital.

a) was taking
b) were taking
c) was taken
d) were taken
e) are taken

Ver Resposta

Alternativa correta: d) were taken

Antes de conferir a análise das alternativas, compreenda o sentido da frase.

After the accident, two people _______________ to the hospital. (Depois do acidente, duas pessoas _______________ para o hospital.)

a) ERRADA. O sujeito da frase é two people (duas pessoas). Logo, o verbo a seguir deve estar flexionado no plural. Como was é uma flexão de singular, a alternativa é automaticamente invalidada.

Além disso, was taking (estava levando) é uma flexão de Past Continuous (Passado Contínuo), tempo verbal utilizado para indicar ações contínuas no passado. Na frase em questão, não faz sentido usar o Past Continuous, pois a ação não indica que as duas pessoas “estavam levando” ninguém para o hospital, mas sim que elas sofreram a ação de serem levadas para o hospital.

b) ERRADA. Were taking (estavam levando) é uma flexão de Past Continuous, tempo verbal utilizado para indicar ações contínuas no passado. Na frase em questão, não faz sentido usar o Past Continuous, pois a ação não indica que as duas pessoas “estavam levando” ninguém para o hospital, mas sim que elas sofreram a ação de serem levadas para o hospital.

c) ERRADA. O sujeito da frase é two people (duas pessoas). Logo, o verbo a seguir deve estar flexionado no plural. Como was é uma flexão de singular, a alternativa é automaticamente invalidada.

d) CORRETA. A frase indica que duas pessoas sofreram a ação de serem levadas para o hospital. Como a situação é referente a um passado pontual, usa-se o verbo to be no Simple Past (were, pois o sujeito é plural: two people = duas pessoas) + Past Participle do verbo principal. O verbo principal é to take e sua flexão de Past Participle é taken.

e) ERRADA. Are taken (são levadas) é uma flexão indicativa de tempo presente; de hábitos e rotinas. No entanto, a lacuna a ser preenchida integra uma frase indicativa de passado.

Veja também:

Verbos Irregulares em Inglês

3. Passe a frase abaixo para a voz passiva:

Bob repaired the car.

Ver Resposta

Resposta correta: The car was repaired by Bob.

A frase Bob repaired the car. (Bob consertou o carro.) é uma frase na voz ativa flexionada no Simple Past, que é um tempo verbal indicativo de ação pontual no passado. Para passá-la para a voz passiva, devemos seguir a seguinte estrutura:

Objeto + Simple Past do verbo to be (was/were) + Past Participle (Particípio passado) do verbo principal + complemento

O objeto da frase é the car (o carro). Como car é um substantivo singular, usamos a flexão was. O verbo principal da frase é to repair (consertar) e sua flexão de Past Participle é repaired. O complemento da frase é by Bob (pelo Bob.)

Ficou interessado em aprimorar os seus conhecimentos sobre a língua inglesa? Não deixe de conferir os conteúdos abaixo:

Carla Muniz

Professora, lexicógrafa, tradutora, produtora de conteúdos e revisora. Licenciada em Letras (Português, Inglês e Literaturas) pelas Faculdades Integradas Simonsen, em 2002.

Passive Voice

Everyone drinks water.
Water is drunk by everyone.

“Voice” is a grammatical category that applies to verbs. Voice in English expresses the relationship of the subject to the action. Voice has two values:

• active: the subject does the action
• passive: the subject receives the action

Shakespeare
wrote
Hamlet.
 
 
 

 
 
Hamlet
was written
by
Shakespeare.

The active voice is the “normal” voice – the one that we use most of the time. In the active voice, the object receives the action of the verb:

active
subject
verb
object

 
→

Cats
eat
mice.

The passive voice is less common. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb:

passive
subject
verb
object

←
 

Mice
are eaten
by cats.

See how the object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb:

 
subject
verb
object

active
Everybody
drinks
water.

passive
Water
is drunk
by everybody.

Active Voice

Cats eat mice.

The active voice is the “normal” voice of an English sentence. Intransitive verbs (verbs with no direct object) are always in the active voice. Transitive verbs are usually in the active voice:

subject
verb
 

Johnny
laughed.
 

Anton
got up
late.

People
drink
water.

In the active voice, the subject is the person or thing responsible for the action of the verb.

All tenses are possible in the active voice, as well as all sentence types, positive, negative or question.

Use of active

The active voice is the “default” voice in English. All intransitive verbs can only be in the active voice, and all transitive verbs usually are active voice – unless we deliberately make them passive.

In spoken English, we almost always use active voice. It is the natural choice, more precise and generally shorter.

In written English, active voice is usually easier and more interesting for the reader. Passive voice can sound dull and bureaucratic, and is typical of official writing. In the interests of “plain English” that the average person can understand, many governments now encourage civil servants to write in the active voice.

The active voice is:

• direct and specific
• uses fewer words – always a good thing
• dynamic

Except on occasions when the passive voice is actually useful, the active voice is the voice of choice.

Passive Voice

Mice are eaten by cats.

Although the passive voice is less common than the active voice, there are several good reasons to sometimes use the passive. On this page we look at how to construct the passive voice and when and why to use it.

How do we make the passive?

The basic structure of a passive clause is very simple:

subject
+
auxiliary verb
be
+
main verb
past participle
+
by
+
agent

 
optional

The auxiliary be is conjugated in all tenses. The main verb is always the past participle. The agent is the original “doer” of the action.

Look at some examples:

subject
auxiliary verb be
main verb
past participle
by
 

I
am
employed
by
Apple.

You
will be
woken
 
at 6.

It
will have been
finished
 
by then.

We
have been
notified
by
Head Office.

You
are being
transferred
 
next week.

They
will be
paid.
 
 

Notice above↑:

• auxiliary be can be conjugated for all persons and tenses
• main verb is invariable: past participle
• if there is an agent (Apple, Head Office), it is introduced by by

Agentless passive

The subject of an active sentence “does” the action. In a passive sentence, we express the doer (or agent) through a by phrase (the long passive) or, very often, we remove it completely (the short passive). In the following example, the agent is “the Allies”:

active
The Allies firebombed Dresden.

passive
long
Dresden was firebombed by the Allies.

short
Dresden was firebombed.

The short passive is also known as the “agentless passive”. Soon you will see how useful it can be.

Negatives and questions

The table below shows examples of the passive with negative sentences, question sentences and negative-question sentences:

 
 
subject
 
 
auxiliary verb
be
 
main verb
past participle
 

–
 
You
 
 
are
not
paid
to watch YouTube.

 
They
will
never
be
 
employed
by us.

?
Are
they
 
 
 
 
cleaned
regularly?

Has
your wallet
 
 
been
 
stolen?
 

-?
Is
he
 
 
 
not
notified
immediately?

Will
they
 
not
be
 
dismissed?
 

Have

n’t

they
 
 
been
 
forgotten?
 

Notice above↑:

• position of auxiliary be or first auxiliary for questions
• possible positions of not, n’t, never to create negation

Use of the passive

When and why do we use passive voice?

There are several times when the passive voice is useful, and usually the decision has to do with the “doer” (agent) or the “receiver” of the action. For example, we use the passive when:

1. we want to emphasize the receiver of the action:

• President Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald.
  cf: Lee Harvey Oswald killed President Kennedy.

2. we don’t know who did the action (the agent):

• My wallet has been stolen.
  cf: Somebody has stolen my wallet.

3. we think the agent is not important or interesting:

• Our house is being painted.
  cf: XYZ Company is painting our house.

4. the agent is obvious:

• I am paid weekly.
  cf: My company pays me weekly.

5. we are making general statements or announcements:

• Passengers are reminded to fasten their seatbelts.
  cf: The Captain reminds passengers to fasten their seatbelts.

6. the agent is everyone:

• The emergency services can be called by dialling 999.
  cf: The public can call the emergency services by dialling 999.

7. we are writing formal or scientific texts:

• Potassium was added and mixed in. The solution was heated to 80°C and then allowed to cool.
  cf: The technician added potassium and mixed it in. The technician
  heated the solution to 80°C and then allowed it to cool.

8. we want to avoid responsibility for our own actions (typically found in government reports):

• Mistakes were made and unfortunately never rectified.
  cf: The Prime Minister made mistakes and unfortunately never rectified them.

• He was killed with a gun.

Normally we use by to introduce the agent. But the gun is not the original doer of the action. The gun did not kill him. He was killed by somebody with a gun. In the active voice, it would be: Somebody killed him with a gun. Somebody is the agent. The gun is the instrument.

Look at this sentence:Normally we useto introduce the agent. But the gun is not the original doer of the action. The gun did not kill him. He was killedsomebodya gun. In the active voice, it would be: Somebody killed hima gun. Somebody is the agent. The gun is the instrument.

The get-passive

Although we normally construct the passive with be + past participle, it is also possible (in informal language) to use get + past participle. So if France beat England at football, we could turn this to passive and say “England were beaten by France” (be-passive) or “England got beaten by France” (get-passive). And we might also add: “But France will get thrashed by Russia.”

For formal English and exams you should use the be-passive, but in informal language people sometimes use the get-passive.

Forms of passive

The passive voice is not a tense itself. But for transitive verbs each tense, as well as other verb forms such as infinitives and participles, can be produced in the passive voice. Some of the more complicated tenses (mostly perfect continuous) are rarely used in the passive, but they are possible.

Here are some examples of the passive voice with many of the possible forms using the verb sing:

infinitive
to be sung

perfect infinitive
to have been sung

participle
sung

perfect participle
having been sung

gerund
being sung

 
Simple
Continuous
Perfect

Present
am, are, is sung
am, are, is being sung
have, has been sung

Past
was, were sung
was, were being sung
had been sung

Future
will be sung
will be being sung
will have been sung

Active and Passive Examples

The table below shows example sentences in active and passive voice for the basic tenses as well as various other verb forms, including infinitives and participles.

 
active
passive

Present Simple
How does one pronounce his name?
How is his name pronounced?

Present Continuous
Ati’s helping Tara.
Tara’s being helped by Ati.

Present Perfect
Kid has served dinner.
Dinner has been served.

Present Perfect Continuous
The police have been watching that house for weeks.
That house has been being watched for weeks.

Past Simple
They didn’t fix my phone yesterday.
My phone wasn’t fixed yesterday.

Past Continuous
They were interrogating him when I called.
He was being interrogated when I called.

Past Perfect
I wondered why they hadn’t invited me.
I wondered why I hadn’t been invited.

Past Perfect Continuous
She wasn’t sure how long they’d been following her.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been being followed.*

Future Simple
They will hang him at dawn.
He will be hanged at dawn.

Future Continuous
They won’t be questioning him when you get there.
He won’t be being questioned when you get there.

Future Perfect
They will have repaired your car by 7pm.
Your car will have been repaired by 7pm.

Future Perfect Continuous
They’ll have been treating her for exactly three months tomorrow.
She’ll have been being treated for exactly three months tomorrow.*

infinitive
I don’t want anyone to disturb me.
I don’t want to be disturbed.

perfect infitive
They seem to have taken it.
It seems to have been taken.

participle
I saw the cat eating it.
I saw it being eaten by the cat.

perfect participle
Having finished my work, I went home.
My work having been finished, I went home.

gerund
I insisted on them paying me.
I insisted on being paid.

going to
Is he going to sing Thriller at the party?
Is Thriller going to be sung at the party?

used to
Ram used to take care of everything.
Everything used to be taken care of by Ram.

can
They can question him for six hours.
He can be questioned for six hours.

could
It could have badly hurt you.
You could have been badly hurt.

may
The papers say they may release him.
The papers say he may be released.

might
Somebody might buy it.
It might be bought.

must
Passengers must wear seat belts.
Seat belts must be worn.

should
You should have told me.
I should have been told.

ought to
They ought to forgive him.
He ought to be forgiven.

*possible but rather awkward and therefore rare