Active / Passive Verb FormsSentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have "active forms" and "passive forms." You must learn to recognize the difference to successfully speak English.
Active FormIn active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active.
[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action]
Examples:
Passive FormIn passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the action.
[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action]
Active voice
In most English sentences with an action verb, the subject performs the action denoted by the verb.
These examples show that the subject is doing the verb's action.
Because the subject does or "acts upon" the verb in such sentences, the sentences are said to be in the active voice.
Passive voice
One can change the normal word order of many active sentences (those with a direct object) so that the subject is no longer active, but is, instead, being acted upon by the verb - or passive.
Note in these examples how the subject-verb relationship has changed.
Because the subject is being "acted upon" (or is passive), such sentences are said to be in the passive voice.
NOTE: Colorful parrots live in the rainforests cannot be changed to passive voice because the sentence does not have a direct object.
To change a sentence from active to passive voice, do the following:
1. Move the active sentence's direct object into the sentence's subject slot
2. Place the active sentence's subject into a phrase beginning with the preposition by
3. Add a form of the auxiliary verb be to the main verb and change the main verb's form
Because passive voice sentences necessarily add words and change the normal doer-action-receiver of action direction, they may make the reader work harder to understand the intended meaning.
As the examples below illustrate, a sentence in active voice flows more smoothly and is easier to understand than the same sentence in passive voice.
It is generally preferable to use the ACTIVE voice.
To change a passive voice sentence into an active voice sentence, simply reverse the steps shown above.
1. Move the passive sentence's subject into the active sentence's direct object slot
2. Remove the auxiliary verb be from the main verb and change main verb's form if needed
3. Place the passive sentence's object of the preposition by into the subject slot.
Because it is more direct, most writers prefer to use the active voice whenever possible.
The passive voice may be a better choice, however, when
the doer of the action is unknown, unwanted, or unneeded in the sentence
Examples
the writer wishes to emphasize the action of the sentence rather than the doer of the action
Examples
the writer wishes to use passive voice for sentence variety.
Pola active dan passive voice pada tiap tensis
A. Jika active voice dalam simple present tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah is, am atau are.
Contoh:
Active : He meets them everyday.
Passive : They are met by him everyday.
Active : She waters this plant every two days.
Passive : This plant is watered by her every two days.
B. Jika active voice dalam simple past tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah was atau were
Contoh:
Active : He met them yesterday
Passive : They were met by him yesterday
Active : She watered this plant this morning
Passive : This plant was watered by her this morning
C. Jika active voice dalam present perfect tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah been yang diletakkan setelah auxiliary has atau have, sehingga menjadi ‘has been’ atau ‘have been’
Contoh:
Active : He has met them
Passive : They have been met by him
Active : She has watered this plant for 5 minutes.
Passive : This plant has been watered by her for 5 minutes.
D. Jika active voice dalam past perfect tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah been yang diletakkan setelah auxiliary had, sehingga menjadi had been
Contoh:
Active : He had met them before I came.
Passive : They had been met by him before I came.
Active : She had watered this plant for 5 minutes when I got here
Passive : This plant had been watered by her for 5 minutes when I got here
E. Jika active voice dalam simple future tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah be
Contoh:
Active : He will meet them tomorrow.
Passive : They will be met by him tomorrow.
Active : She will water this plant this afternoon.
Passive : This plant will be watered by her this afternoon.
Active : The farmers are going to harvest the crops next week
Passive : The crops are going to be harvested by the farmers next week.
F. Jika active voice dalam future perfect tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah been yang diletakkan setelah auxiliary will have, sehingga menjadi ‘will have been’
Contoh:
Active : He will have met them before I get there tomorrow.
Passive : They will have been met by him before I get there tomorrow.
Active : She will have watered this plant before I get here this afternoon.
Passive : This plant will have been watered by her before I get here this afternoon.
G. Jika active voice dalam past future perfect tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah been yang diletakkan setelah auxiliary would have, sehingga menjadi ‘would have been’.
Contoh:
Active : He would have met them.
Passive : They would have been met by him.
Active : She would have watered this plant.
Passive : This plant would have been watered by her.
H. Jika active voice dalam present continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah (is, am atau are) + being.
Contoh:
Active : He is meeting them now.
Passive : They are being met by him now.
Active : She is watering this plant now.
Passive : This plant is being watered by her now.
I. Jika active voice dalam past continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah (was atau were) + being.
Contoh:
Active : He was meeting them.
Passive : They were being met by him.
Active : She was watering this plant.
Passive : This plant was being watered by her.
J. Jika active voice dalam perfect continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah (has/have) been + being.
Contoh:
Active : He has been meeting them.
Passive : They have been being met by him.
Active : She has been watering this plant.
Passive : This plant has been being watered by her.
K. Jika active voice dalam past perfect continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah had been + being.
Contoh:
Active : He had been meeting them.
Passive : They had been being met by him.
Active : She had been watering this plant.
Passive : This plant had been being watered by her.
L. Jika active voice dalam future continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah will be + being.
Contoh:
Active : He will be meeting them.
Passive : They will be being met by him.
Active : She will be watering this plant.
Passive : This plant will be being watered by her.
M. Jika active voice dalam past future continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah would be + being.
Contoh:
Active : He would be meeting them.
Passive : They would be being met by him.
Active : She would be watering this plant.
Passive : This plant would be being watered by her.
N. Jika active voice dalam future perfect continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah will have been + being.
Contoh:
Active : He will have been meeting them.
Passive : They will have been being met by him.
Active : She will have been watering this plant.
Passive : This plant will have been being watered by her.
O. Jika active voice dalam past future perfect continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah would have been + being.
Contoh:
Active : He would be meeting them.
Passive : They would be being met by him.
Active : She would be watering this plant.
Passive : This plant would be being watered by her.
Example article
Computers and Education in America
In the last decade, computers have invaded every aspect of education, from kindergarten through college. The figures show that schools have spent over two billion dollars installing two million new computers. Recently, with the explosive increase of sites on the Internet, computers have taken another dramatic rise. In just five years, the number of Internet hosts has skyrocketed from 2 million to nearly 20 million. It is not uncommon for 6th graders to surf the Net, design their own home pages, and e-mail their friends or
strangers they have "met" on the Web. Computer literacy is a reality for many junior high students and most high school students.
In the midst of this technological explosion, we might well stop and ask some key questions. Is computer technology good or bad for education? Are students learning more or less? What, exactly, are they learning? And who stands to benefit from education's current infatuation with computers and the Internet?
In the debate over the virtues of computers in education, the technological optimists think that computers and the Internet are ushering us into the next literacy revolution, a change as profound as Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. In contrast, a much smaller but growing number of critics believe that cyberspace is not the ideal classroom. I agree with the critics. If you consider your own experience, you'll agree that the benefits of computer literacy are at best wildly overrated. At their worst, computers and the Internet pander to the short attention spans and the passive viewing habits of a young television generation.
The technological optimists sing a siren song of an enchanted new land where the educational benefits of computers and the Internet are boundless. First, they boast that children can now access information on every conceivable subject. If little Eva or little Johnny wants to learn about far-away cultures, they can access sites from their own homes that will teach them about the great languages and cultures of the world. Second, these starry-eyed optimists warble about how the Internet has created a truly democratic space, where all children--rich, poor, black, white, and brown--have equal access to information and education. Third, they claim that computers will allow students to have e-mail
conversations with experts on any subject around the world. No longer will students be limited by their own classroom, their teacher, or their environment. Distance learning is the wave of the future, and classrooms will become obsolete or at least optional. In the words of John Sculley, former CEO of Apple Computer, the new technologies have created an "avalanche of personal creativity and achievement" and they have given students the "ability to explore, convey, and create knowledge as never before." Children who used to hate going to school will now love to learn to read and write, to do math and science. They will voluntarily spend hours learning on the Web instead of being bored to death by endless books and stodgy teachers.
Sound too good to be true? Let's examine these claims, one by one. First, promoters of
computer learning are endlessly excited about the quantity of information available on the Internet. The reality, however, is quite a different story. If you've worked on the Internet, you know that finding and retrieving information from a Web site can sometimes be tedious and time consuming. And once you find a site, you have no idea whether the information will be valuable. Popular search engines such as Yahoo! are inefficient at finding relevant information, unless you just want to buy a book on Amazon.com or find
a street map for Fargo, North Dakota. Information is definitely available on the Web, but the problem is finding relevant, reliable, and non-commercial information.
Next, the optimists claim that the Internet is truly a democratic space with equal access for
everyone. Again, the reality falls short. First, access to an Internet provider at home costs over a hundred dollars a month, once you add up service and long distance fees. And then there's the technology barrier--not every person has the skills to navigate the Web in any but the most superficial way. Equal access is still only a theoretical dream, not a current reality.
Finally, computers do allow students to expand their learning beyond the classroom, but the distance learning is not a utopia. Some businesses, such as Hewlett Packard, do have mentoring programs with children in the schools, but those mentoring programs are not available to all students. Distance learning has always been a dream of administrators, eager to figure out a cheaper way to deliver education. They think that little Eva and Johnny are going to learn about Japanese culture or science or algebra in the evening when they could be talking with their friends on the phone or watching television. As education critic Neil Postman points out, these administrators are not imagining a new technology but a new kind of child: "In [the administrator's] vision, there is a confident and typical sense of unreality. Little Eva can't sleep, so she decides to learn a little algebra? Where does little Eva come from? Mars?" Only students from some distant planet would prefer to stick their nose in a computer rather than watch TV or go to school and be with their friends.
In addition to these drawbacks are other problems with computers in education. There is the nasty issue of pornography and the rampant commercialism on the Internet. Schools do not want to have their students spend time buying products or being exposed to pornography or pedophiles. Second, the very attractiveness of most Web sites, with their color graphics and ingenious links to other topics, promotes dabbling and skimming. The word "surfing" is appropriate, because most sites encourage only the most surface exploration of a topic. The Internet thus accentuates what are already bad habits for
most students: Their short attention spans, their unwillingness to explore subjects in depth, their poor reading and evaluation skills. Computers also tend to isolate students, to turn them into computer geeks who think cyberspace is actually real. Some students have found they have a serious and addictive case of "Webaholism," where they spend hours and hours on the computer at the expense of their family and friends. Unfortunately, computers tend to separate, not socialize students. Finally, we need to think about who has the most to gain or lose from computers in the schools. Are administrators getting more students "taught" for less money? Are big companies training a force of computer worker bees to run their businesses? Will corporate CEO's use technology to isolate and control their employees?
In short, the much ballyhooed promise of computers for education has yet to be realized.
Education critic Theodore Roszak has a warning for us as we face the brave new world of computer education:
Like all cults, this one has the intention of enlisting mindless allegiance and acquiescence. People who have no clear idea of what they mean by information or why they should want so much of it are nonetheless prepared to believe that we live in an Information Age, which makes every computer around us what the relics of the True Cross were in the Age of Faith: emblems of salvation.
I think if you examine your own experience with computers, you'll agree that the cult of computers is still an empty promise for most students. Computers, the Internet, and the Web will not magically educate students. It still must be done with reading, study, good teaching, and social interaction. Excellence in education can only be achieved the old fashioned way--students must earn it.
--Dudley Erskine Devlin
