Understanding 'To Be' Verbs and Passive Voice in English Writing, Study notes of Voice

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UHCL Writing Center

“To Be” Verbs

and

Passive Voice

What is a “to be” verb?

• A verb that is used in a number of ways in the English language, including linking, passive construction, and auxiliary
• Has many forms, including is, am, are, was, were, be, being, and been

How are they used? (cont.)

• Perfect form:
  • I, you, they, we have been
• Progressive form:
  • I am being, they are being, etc.

Linking Verbs

• “To be” verbs are used as linking verbs to describe the role or description of the subject. They are called this because they link the subject and the subject complement. - Examples: The cat is black. - They are late to the party. - He was not very happy. - Driving a car is faster than walking.

Auxiliary verbs

• Used with progressive and progressive perfect tenses
  • Present progressive: The dog is barking.
  • Past progressive: The dog was barking.
  • Future progressive: The dog will be barking.
  • Present perfect progressive: The dog has been barking for five minutes.
  • Past perfect progressive: The dog had been barking when I got home.
  • Future perfect progressive: The dog will have been barking for 20 minutes by the time I finish this workshop!

For more information…

• See the PowerPoint on Verb Tenses on the Writing Center website.

Passive Voice

• Passive voice occurs with the emphasis is placed on the object of the action rather than the subject. - Example: - Active voice: The boy threw the ball. - Passive voice: The ball was thrown.

Why use passive voice?

• The actor is unknown:
  • The cave paintings of Lascaux were made in the Upper Old Stone Age. [We don't know who made them.]
• The actor is irrelevant:
  • An experimental solar power plant will be built in the Australian desert. [We are not interested in who is building it.]
• You want to be vague about who is responsible:
  • Mistakes were made. [Common in bureaucratic writing!]

“To Be” verbs used with passive voice

• When using to be verbs with passive voice, they are used similarly to linking and auxiliary verbs.
• Passive sentences are constructed as follows:
  • [thing receiving action] + [to be verb] + [past participle of verb]+[by] + [thing doing action] (“Active/Passive Verb Forms”).

Examples

• Present progressive tense: “The sweater is being knit by the girl.”
• Simple past: “The sweater was knit by the girl.”
• Simple past, plural: “The pies were made by different people.”

Works Cited Corson, Tim and Rebecca Smollett. “Passive Voice: When To Use It and When To Avoid It." University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto, n.d. Web. 12 Nov, 2014. “Active/Passive Verb Forms.” Englishpage.com. Language Dynamics, n.d. Web. 12 Nov, 2014.