Passive Voice (grammar lesson)


Grammar Lessons \| Grammar Tests \| Common Grammar Errors \| Grammatical Terms \| Easily Confused Words \| Free Grammar Checker \| Search \| Contact Us Passive Voice Examples

Passive Voice - Glossary of Terms

Passive Voice

A verb is said to be in the "passive voice" when its subject does not perform the action of the verb. In fact, the action is performed on the subject.

Examples:

The bridge was blown up by engineers.

subject verb (in "passive voice")

The cows will be moved after tea.

subject verb phrase (in "passive voice")

In a passive sentence, the person or thing carrying out the action (often called the "agent") is introduced with "by".

Example:

The cows will be moved after tea by the farm-hands.

See also:

Glossary of grammatical terms