What do we mean by ‘voice’?

Voice is the form of the verb that shows whether the emne of a sentence does the action (=the active voice) or is affected by it (= the passive voice)

What does ”active” and ”passive” mean?

In the active voice, the agent/actor (person or thing doing the action) is the subject of the sentence.

For example:

And now , in the passive voice, the agent is either unknown or less important, we focus on the action itself.

For example: “The postman was bitten”. (The agent is not known or not specified)

eller “The postman was bitten by the dog”. (The agent “the dog” is less important here than the object ” the postman”)

How do we form the passive voice?

In creating sentences in the passive voice, it is important to remember that we use the third form of the verb , called past partciple.

For example:

VERB 1 – bite VERB 2 – bit VERB 3 – bitten

“The postman was bitten yesterday.”

Why use the passive voice?

The passive voice is more common in written English than in spoken one.

• It is often used in newspapers, in the media, and in academic writing or formal correspondence.

” A new bridge is being built at the Hoover Dam”.

• Det giver dig også mulighed for at tale mere neutralt om tingene i stedet for at bruge dine egne meninger:

"Det siges, at...."

Det menes, at ......"

• Det er også vigtigt at forstå den passive stemme, når man læser tekster, for at undgå misforståelser.

Der bruges passiv:

1. Når vi ved det ikke der udførte handlingen:

Præsident Bush blev myrdet i går aftes.

2. Når hvad sker, er vigtigere end hvem gør det:

Min bil blev slemt beskadiget i går aftes i en haglbyge.

3. Når den person, der udfører handlingen, er mennesker i almindelighed:

Privat ejendom. Uvedkommende vil blive retsforfulgt.

Nogle rigtige eksempler på passiv stemme:

"Skatter vil blive hævet næste år" (avisoverskrift, radionyheder)

"Swimmingpoolen er ved at blive lukket fordi det er ved at blive rengjort“ (en meddelelse)

"Koncerten i aften er blevet aflyst fordi guitaristen er syg" (dette er nutid perfekt passiv)

Se nu, hvor meget du har lært om passiv stemme ved at gøre dette GRAMMAR QUIZ!:)

(Udfyld spørgsmålene med den korrekte form af verbet og tiden i hver linje, og svar derefter på spørgsmålet. Held og lykke!)