Using the PASSIVE voice in English to avoid responsibility

thank so much engvid teachers,now i can enhance my English communication with the help of you.

marco

Hi Emma !
Please tell me difference between using- have been + V3
vs was,were + V3 when u use passive voice?

Yours sincerelly.
Arcady.

arcady

this lesson is so useful for us,I thank you that every time ENGVID don’t forget us,thank you for teaching,thank you for attention.good luck to all Engvid.members :))
thank from Azerbaijan

bakhtiyar ali

11 out of 11 ^_^ that’s perfect ;)

bakhtiyar ali

This is too easy lesson because of that :-)

fakhranda

do you think that you are awesome in English?? :D

bakhtiyar ali

Hi everybody
Really can learn and enjoy in the same time.
Thanks so much EMMA

belkhir

hey.. how have you been.
i am learning for my skills aw well. how about if we both talk to each other . it will be very much helpful for both of us in improving our language.. :)

samm

hey

good thing!!

Ange benie

can you help me to know requests please teacher

latifa

good lesson from a nice teacher. English was taught by a pretty teacher, but it’s better her haircut lol. thank u Emma.

Efrain Dominguez

I got 11 out of 11…By the way, I learnt Passive Voice as follows.
Active : I made a mistake.
Passive : A Mistake was made by me.
Sub ( for Active Voice ) is, using Passive Voice by Whom, to need like by me, by us. we can add main sub of Active Voice as by Whom , Using Passive Voice ??? in this case, No more Avoid Reponsiblity ? cos we can find Who has responsibilty under Passive Voice.

masa1807

smart idea ..how cold we name the sentences like this – ” The cake was made by my mother” – active or passive ?

fakhranda

it’s passive

Sergey

Galal Kuhalni

You guys are correct. We can also say: A mistake was made by someone. This is still in the passive form.

In English, we often have a choice. We can say 1) The cake was eaten by your sister or 2) Your sister ate the cake.

In general, we try to avoid sentences like # 1 which uses the passive. The first sentence sounds weaker than the second sentence.

The passive is more frequently used when we don’t know who did an action or when we don’t want to take responsibility. In these cases, we don’t end the sentence with ‘by someone’.

Emma

Hi Emma Thanks for teaching. It was really helpful i want to learn Simple,compound and complex sentences can you help me to get this.?!!!

saranhasan

I think there’s another difference given by passive and active voice, it’s weather we give more importance is it to the subject or the object.

Hassan

Dear Professor Emma,
1.It was s very good lesson, however I do prefere your lessons when you are doing exercises with us in the final part od the video.
I understand that it was a special episode.
2. Comment to your links with lessons about definitive and infinitive articles or zero article. In my opinion all the videos from this www. site just surfe on the stormy waves of the ocean. We the students will appreciete if you accept our nomination for the post of captain of the ship as far as the presentation of this issue is concerned. And also if you make comments on sentences in exewrscises.

Yours truly,
MKJ

MKJMKJ

Passive one

MaiHuongNguyenThi

absolutely,passive

iftixar

yes it’s is passive

LeTranBaoKhoa

It must be passive. because when you use active you or somebody will be the subject and the subject must at the beginning of the sentence but passive we do not need to put the subject there. So that sentence is passive.

LeTranBaoKhoa

Me too

Matlab

and one more,,As far as I know, in English there are three Voice. Active Voice, Passive Voice, and Middle Voice ( ex: I enjoy myself ), Middle Voice can be changed into Passive Voice ?
Myself was enjoyed ( by me ) ? No Way. cos Middle Voice means Passive.
Can you maybe explain about Middle Voice exactly ?

masa1807

Great lesson Emma thanks so much ,and could you please make a lesson about intonation and thanks in advance!!!!

Hesham

Great lesson thanks….

Aschelove

Dear Emma
the expression is illustrated very good by Emma … is that correct ?
but I think we have to say the subject in some situations in passive voice …
well done

aramo82

The expression is well-illustrated by Emma.

This is one way to use the passive, although in general, the active is preferred.

Thanks for your comment.

Emma

i am living from iraq .i am a.pharmacist.
i want speak with you .i living in soran

yousif nemat salih

Emma, I had never noticed that governments very often use the passive voice to avoid taking responsability for their actions. After this class, I watched some news on television and I observed that, here in Brazil, they also do that a lot of times. Thank you for your eyeopening lesson. bye.

Daniel C Herculano

))

fakhranda

hello Emma
thank u so much for that lesson and I want to congratulate u for the new way that u done it was a great idea to put the videos to be included into the lesson also I like the quiz so thanks a lot engvid and please if it’s possible I want to know if this teacher valen can come back teach us or not?and where is she?

soufo

Meybe in Yevlakh

fakhranda

eltun

lol I mean we should asking for her too because she’s a great teacher

soufo

Thanks Emma as always!

esphiritu

I also learned that if you want to point who did something even in passive voice we just need to add BY. let me give you an exlemple:
This clase was tought by Emma.
Or that book was written by Cohelo.
By the way, is there a leasson where i can see the difference betwen for and by?
You can get here by plane
the covenant can be seen by all.
We reconcile the diference in the accounts by remembering that eacho of they has …

angelopolis

Thank you for your comments and examples.

You’re correct. We also use ‘by someone’ with the passive voice although the active voice is usually preferable if you know the doer of the action.

In terms of your question, I haven’t seen a ‘for/ by’ video on this site, but I will keep that idea in mind when I make the next videos.

Emma

Thanks Emma.
:)
There are three situations when it is better to use passive sentence instead of an active one.

Situation 1: When we don’t care or don’t know who performs the action.
e.g;
The injured workers were rushed to the hospital.

Situation 2: When we can’t or don’t want to say who performed the action.
e.g;
The window was broken last night.

Situation 3: When we want to place emphasis on the receiver of the action rather than doer.
e.g;
Thousands of homes were destroyed by the hurricane.

Best,
Mursaleen
Skype: mursaleen_1

mursaleen45

Hi Mursaleen,

Thanks for your easy to understand list. This is a good summary on when to use the passive voice.

Emma

Hi, Emma! Thank you very much for this lesson! Your examples are so good! I will wait for your next video! :)
Great lesson!

Gantikus

Now I’ve understood the passive voice.
Thank you, angvid.

saciak

Dear Emma,
I’m so grateful 2 u.
N I’ve got a ? plz:
What’s the formula 2 make a future passive?
11/eleven
Lots of tx.

fatiima8

will/shall + be + past participle

e.g;
Active: They will pay me at the end of the month.
Passive: I will be paid at the end of the month.
:)

mursaleen45

Thank u mursaleen45.
Moreover:
“”Simple future tense””
Active:subject+will/shall+simple verb+object
Passive:object of the active sentence+will/shall+be+pp+by+ssubject of the active sentence
e.g:Active:I will write a letter.
Passive:A letter will be written by me.

“Changing a negative sentence in2 the passive”=
Active:She will not help us.
passive:We will not be helped by her.

“Chenging an interrogative sentence in2 the passive”=
Active:Will u help him?
Passive:Will he be helped by u?

“”Future perfect tense””
Active:subject+will/shall+have+pp+object
Passive:object of the active sentence+will/shall+have+been+pp
e.g:Active:We shall not have accepted the invitation.
Pssive:The invitation shall not have been accepted by us.

“Changing an interrogative sentence
in2 the passive”=
Active:Will she have cooked the food?
Passive:Will the food have been cooked by her?

Note:
Active sentences in the “future continuous” n “future perfect continuous” tenses can not be changed 2 the passive.

It’s my pleasure if I could help 2 all Motivated English S2dents as well as I could.
The best 4 all.
Kind Regards,
fatiima!

fatiima8

one thing, I noticed in each passive sentence is that you are using “by” phrase.

As we have learned, passive sentences are used when writers don’t know or don’t care who actually performed the action. Thus the majority of the passive sentences do not include “by” phrases. Only when it is important for readers to know who performs the actions do writers include it in passive sentences.
e.g;
A letter will be written.
(In this sentence, don’t care or don’t know about doer.)
and

A letter will be written by me.
(In this sentence, it is important for readers to know who performs the action do writers include ‘by’ phrase.)

Best,
Mursaleen

mursaleen45

U know,actually it’s not essential 2 write (by+subject),it’s just 4 compliting the sentence.
Plus;those r all examples n we wanna learn how we can change an active sentence in2 a passive one.
Anyway…
G00000dluck with ur English.
Cheerio!

fatiima8

Hi there,

There are two basic patterns we use for passive modals:

modal + be + past participle

This dish can be prepared the night before.
The earthquake could be felt 20 km away.
The easy questions should be answered first.
The tickets would be sold there if possible.
He might be given an award.
Employees must be paid on the last day of the month.
A new government will be elected next year.

modal + have been + past participle

My call should have been answered right away.
Those tickets could have been sold easily.
This house might have been painted last year.
He may have been offered a better job.

Best,
Mursaleen
I love English
Skype: mursaleen_1

mursaleen45

Hi my buddy,
I peg your pardon,could you revise this sentence written by you?
“This dish can be prepared the night before.”It contains a fatal mistake.
I’m seedygaber from Egypt.
I very much like English like you.
Contact me if you please.
My e-mail address is
seedygaber@yahoo.com
farewell

seedygaber

Dear Emma
I’d like 2 thank u 4 ur efforts
May i ask if it possible 2 make a questions using passive or just answers 4 questions
thnx alot

Amr Mahmoud

I need 5 lecture in a week from EngVid.com

mursaleen45

thanks a lot EMMA you r sweet girl sorry i mean sweet teacher

osama

Thanks lot madam.
Your video gave me clear picture of how to use active and passive voice.

naveendc

Fantastic lesson Ema, you’re wonderful teacher… but I need another lesson demonstrates the many different tenses and when to use them and their structures… thx again Ema :)

Mahmoud

awesome, emma is awesome… thanks

mukti

I knew that was different how to use the passive voice and active voice. But I did not know the real meaning at all. I was being tricked by the smart politicians and the opinion newspapers! Oh my G**!

Thank you very much for your awesome lesson. (^^)

Isamu

I got the full mark!

marwa

it’s good to improve the english

aftabali512

Ok! thank you prof. Emma
I liked the explayions.

josedutra27

I appreciate Emma. An example on active voice.
Emma was appreciated. An example on Passive voice.

Ali Murad

i have got 11 on 11
thank you very much

sara

Brilliant! Thanks a lot

Pablo

Thank you so much Emma , this lesson was very useful for me

younes

thank you teaching us Emma. L’ll be glad to hear you new activity.

inci

i do love your page. it’s become a very good tool for improving my english since i found you in youtube, thanks a lot to the teachers and all persons who work here. love u all.

Erick tifosoblue lsa

Dear Emma, shall I correct? We use the passive voice when the passive subject is more important than the active subject, like: “A new version of this program was uploaded to the website!”

M. Johmani

Exactly! In your example, it doesn’t really matter who uploaded the program. The main point is that the program was uploaded.

Emma

perfect Emma :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
I really love your way of teaching.
Cheerful ,,

NEGAR

thank you Emma Alharbi from KSA(kingdom of saudi arabia)

alharbi19

Did you cut off your hair?“A mistake was made´´

lrdias

You mean did you get your hair cut?

Thank you, i have a question how can we change this active voice to passive. Example : I looked to her eyes or he will be at home

Pashton

nice,

nasim07

yehey. . . . i got a perfect score in this lesson!!! Awesome! Really help me to improve my english. Thank you guys!

octoaquarian

perfect EMMa . realy i got good concept for your topc so , i have little promblem for english academy or university , so how can i get good understanding for english business

moahamed

easy to understand and very useful … thanks Emma ;-)

gibson13

its very nice teacher emma

zohaib

nice lesson for english learner

Luqman

excelent explanation

Nurik

I found it very funny, congratulations.

Mauro

Hi Emma

adeeb1987

thanks for the teachings at list i know i got some grammer in my heard u teachers are so helpful

nene

I like this website so much

Socheat

Hello Team, The video was very nice and helpful. Thanks!!

Shafi

Good video, was great when you add a littles videos from the presidents like examples. :-) cool.

leobsas2000

hi emma it was great and usefull thanks alot can you teach us in preasent because i have problem with present

fouzia

Your English lesson was very understandable. I liked, I missed two questions. Iam still learning English. thanks you

marycoco

I recently joined EngVid group. I found it very informative….Thanks a lot

mukeshgusain44

thank you for teaching us.good lesson. I am looking forwad new lesson. take care
From LIgt Your fire

ipekazeri

This is too easy lesson because of you
thanks

lanaji

cool…

abd_alnasiry

Emma, congratulations…i know that you pretend another idea with your topics…but, the english lesson is great, i enjoined it very much, by the other hand, i am in according to you about the goverment in his pasive decisions…

cesaraugusto35

really great lesson Emma! Now I understand when to use passive voice! Thanks a lot.

Luiz Otávio

Dear Emma

I was wondering here and I finally got a conclusion. Conjunctions are my weakness, I have 5 months of studying but it’s definitely hard to me, so… you could make some videos about conjunctions(“The most important conjuctions” and after other videos talking about other conjuctions), which are very important to the understanding of the english language.

Thanks very much indeed.

LAPIDE

lapide

I mean conjunctions like “as far as”, “as long as”, “as how”, “as well”, “as soon as”,”unless”,”so that”… and others..

lapide

Thanks for the suggestions Lapide.

Emma

that is an excellent class, I’
am an english teacher and as you know, We must study every single day. Searching for new knolegde. I love this web site and advice my students to acess.

Adriano

That is an excellent class, I
am an english teacher and as you know, We must study every single day. Searching for new knowledge. I love this web site and advice my students in order to take a look and watch these videos.

Adriano

Good lesson))) please let me know if smb want to improve your English conversation together))) I have no any EnglishSpeaker Friend((( my e-mail is gerasim.a@bk.ru or Skype gerasim.andrei))) please message me))

gerasim

thank you very much for sharing a wonderful lesson

hyacinth

Awesome lesson. A great lesson was learned.

Omer Hayat

Hi Emma,
I really appreciate you for your wholehearted,sincere work.You truly deserve a lot of appreciation because you explain everything clearly and easily with a view to practical usage of any rule .In the other hand, Grammar books deal with the construction of passive voice.They just define how to form sentences using passive ,but the writer often fails to clarify in which context as well as in which situation they should be used.Before framing a sentence in passive voice, one needs to understand clearly and exactly what they want to emphasize because the emphasis/focus is extremely important in turning a sentence into its passive form.I have included a few instances where this construction could be followed.
1.My friend sent a message to me last night.
2.I was sent a message last night.
3.A message was sent to me last night.
In my very first example,the emphasis is on the sender of the message.I indicate that it was a friend of mine who sent me the message.If I wanted to name my friend, I would replace “my friend” with their name.
In the second example,I focus on the receiver of the action who obtained the bucks.Here, It’s me who got the money.
In the last example,the emphasis is on the thing associated with this action .
So,three different questions can be asked as well as replied.
One might be interested to know who gave the money,or who received it or what was given.
In addition to determining the actual focus, one must use this construction appropriately.
Mam, I request you to correct my sentences if you detect any mistakes in them.
Looking forward to getting an early response.

sona sharma

Hi Sona,

I’m glad to see you have a strong understanding of these voices. You’re correct that each sentence has a different emphasis.

Your sentences were correct, but for the second and third example, I didn’t realize they were about money until I read your analysis of them.

Excellent work! Thank you for sharing this.

Emma

Very good and useful lesson. on the top of that it’s easy to understand. Thank, Love Engvid.

tem

Thanks. It is a good lesson!

pyuriy

I love your hairstyle. It’s beautiful. Also thanks for your great lesson.

silver164

Thank you Emma
I like your smile and new hairdo :)

snicka

I lke your smile and thanks for lesson

Kadir

I thank all the teachers.It is really very useful to speak in better English.Thanks a lot.

stacy

i have scored 10 marks out of 11.

stacy

Great!

Of course, mistakes weren’t made … this time 11/11

We want more :)

PS I think I’m still beginner in English, so correct my mistakes.
Thanks and take care :)

dawidmo

Greetings From Brazil,Emma(Idon’t know if you are Ms or Mrs.),but what I do want to is showing if I am right.You may correct me if i am wrong:

1-Passv=ive voice is used when you don’t want to know who did the action.
e.g.:The rock was thrown

2.Active voice is stronger than passive voice and I can take the responsability for anything I do

e.g.:The tree was cut down by me

Thanks.

dsilva179

Hi dsilva,

Both of your examples are the passive voice.

The rock was thrown. (Passive)

The rock was thrown by me. (Passive)

I threw the rock. (Active)

We use the passive voice mainly when we don’t know who did something or we don’t want to identify the person who did something.

However, we can also use the passive voice when the action itself is the focus of the sentence and has more emphasis than the person who did the action (this is when we use ‘by + someone’).

The passive voice is considered weaker than the active voice. Look at the following examples:

1) Sam broke the lamp. (Active)
2) The lamp was broken by Sam. (Passive)

These sentences mean the same thing, but the first sentence is stronger and usually preferable to the second.

Let me know if you have anymore questions.

Emma

Dear Emma,excuse me,I meant “I cut the tree.

Thanks a lot.

dsilva179

Oh excellent! This is a perfect example of the active.

Emma

US presidents are very tricky, they used passive voice to avoid responsibilities

Vu Uoc

Thanks for the lesson.

sumayah

Hi Emma. You are very nice. :)
I am wondering why there is no any article in the sentence
“I ate cake”.
Is it incorrect?
“I ate a cake”

nikll

“I ate a cake” implies you ate an entire cake, which is probably not the case. “I ate cake” means you ate some cake.

(You could also say something like “I ate a slice/two slices/a lot of cake”.)

engVid Moderator

Thank you so much, it is usefull information for me.

nikll

Thanks you so much for this lesson !!

Tadj78000

great>> thanx

Loda Alkurdy

Thanks Emma, for your wonderful lesson!

meong

aaaaamazing

Nurken

thaks a lot , this website is very useful. ı m gonna continue to follow you .

beratua

Great!
Thanks so much for your lesson Emma.

witchaphon

Thanks a lot for the lesson… Very well explained.. :)

Rashmi

Thanks emma, have a great day

someone1

hi every body iam very glad to join you

rozey

I learn English for 2 month. I’v got 11 on 11 and I’m very proud of myself :). Thank You very much

Jerry.pl

11 out 11 got crazy after seeing this

basant gera

I love your teaching
this lesson is useful for me to teach my students

love
Xay
Skype: xaybannavong

phonexay

Emma!
I’ve wanted to say thank you so much for teaching English well.

and , you got your hair cut off! looks good on you:)

I hope i can keep learning English from you at this site. Thanks a million, Emma!

jasmine

Thank you very much : )
i really like this website

nuzthakarn

Dear my teacher, you said that active voices are better; which sentences should i prefer?
My friend gave me a present or
I was given a present.

bgunce

Both of these sentences are good to use. If you want people to know your friend was the one who got you the present, use the first. If it isn’t really important who got you the present, just the fact that you got a present, use the second.

Please note: “My friend gave me a present” is more preferable than “A present was given to me by my friend.”

Emma

11/11 perfect ! Thanks Ema !

karabugul

thank you very much for the lesson. It was very clear and illustrated with accurate examples. I really appreciate your work !

bilel

thank u so much,its really helpful to me

sumnima

Hi! Great lesson!
It’s just llike that here in Brazil! hehe

Gustavo

Thank you very much
i really like this website

Thank you Emma

adeeb1987

11/11 thanks Emma.

fwpaez

xlent!!!!!!

rukhsara

you are a great teacher emma i really have understand this lesson than you so much

minigirl

Dear Teacher,

Thank you for your good Lesson.

Ramu

rampek

I’ve made a big mistake today too.
A big mistake has been made today too.
Is it correct, teacher?

codomoee

I made a big mistake. A big mistake has been made. Both of these are correct.

Emma

really it is helpfull. Could you please explain in detail more

sagar

Hi Emma, first of all I wanted to say that I really enjoyed your lesson. I never realized that using the passive voice in some cases was a way to take away responsibilities. You’re so clever for making the connection. One mistake I noticed on your video, you used the word “government’s army”, well The government doesn’t have any army, it is the state’s army. Government changes periodically, states stay ever the same, and so its army. In fact that’s one of the requirements of modern states, besides of having a territory of its own and being recognized by all the other countries in the world, and a few more requirements which I don’t remember right now. I’m studying law, so I had to point it out, it’s a very common mistake, thinking that the government and the state are synonyms.

I would have add (not for you because OF COURSE you already know this, just for the other people) that you can use by if you wanted to point out who made the action, but a lot of people said that before me. Although (again as you know, but I’m saying this for the other people) it’s not necessary.

By the way, I like your hair, but I liked it more before you cut it :P

Martin

I have a tough question to Emma. I am about writing my PhD research. My prof. told me not to use the first person “I”. Instead of it I can use “the author”, “this research” or “the passive voice”.I would like to know, if there is any rule to prioritize their use

Amir

how to improve english emma?? (i am from nepal)

devendra

good job thanks all espeaily emma

abdullahi

tnx Emma. i still have no specific idea about the use of passive sentences.. when to use and how to use??? plz give some basic ideas about it plzzzzzzzzzzzzz dear mam…

mrbakht

I hope to attend in your class in USA to see you also improve my English skills.
thank you so much.

abdulmajeed557

thanks emma

abuomar

thank you so much.

Afif

Very clear and precise explanation. Thank you

Hi Emma,very informative.
I wish to join your class.

James

Is excellent I love it!!

victor

Thanks Emma I really love your lession

vilayphone99

She is so sweet and smart! I am very happy to improve my english!

Sucess for everybody!

danielssoares

Hi Emma, I would like to ask what is the different between ‘ significally affecting’ and ‘affecting significally’. ?, and in what suitation i should use. Thank you

chiwai1021

Hi Emma and grateful for your lesons

galass

Hello EmmA . thank you a lot . you are one of the best teachers . the God bless you .

Aziz Taghda

This is the first time that I learn about passive and active voice. It is very important that we need to lear about what is difference betwen passive and active voice in speeking and writting. We use active voice dress our responsibility, identify real time,

vanna

I was studying English for 7 months and twenty four seven,now I am sick and tired of studying English.i can not improve my speaking,and writing!what should I do?I am really boring.

majid hassan pour

Dear Emma,
We write a famous sentence in paragraphs.It is”Tourism is considered a main source of the national income in Egypt.”
Is this sentence weak according to your elucidating?
so many thanks for working ahollic.

seedygaber

Dear Emma,
Thanks for the explanation.
You saved me a few hours of staring at my book.

monicabluerose

thank you emma we all love you stay with us please we waiting pretty much your lessons and thank you engvid ………….(:

roouim22

Dear Emma,
Your lessons are really helpful and enjoyable:)
Thank you!
I just dont get one thing:
in different videos,movies,interviews I see people ,who pronounce the word “often” in different ways:pronouncing the “t” sound and without it.
I see that u do pronounce that.
My english teacher at school told me,that the correct pronounciation is without “t”.
But i think, that you should better know it,as you are a native speaker:)
Although,i heard other native speakers,who pronounced that word without “t”.
Could you please tell me which way of pronounciation is correct?
Or both ways are admissible?

karina7

Dear Emma
Your lessons are really helpful and enjoyable
Thank you
iam from Afghanastan

masih

Thank you so much for your lesson and I would lick to identify that the object should be determined first and then you have to put it in the begining of the sentence of passive voice.After that you have to tell us about the auxiliary how could they chaing bast on the subject.thank you

Nasief

very good

abm

Emma was loved by me

charleswu8899

Thanks a lot. Emma.

Chris

Thank you Emma

kishor

wonderful :)

ouissalita

As i become to know this program ‘engvid.com’ my knowledge is getting better in term of writing sentences.
Bounnhot

bounnot

that’s very good practice listening how to teaching English as a second and foreign language

Bounnhot

bounnot

Dear Teacher(Emma)

Your teaching system very nice,any body can understand
Thanks

Marasighe

thanks lotsa!

ziya777

thanks a million

abueqbal

A lot of skills were taken from your site. Thanks

mohammed

I really like it

yordany

Hi, thanks for the lesson, but I want to ask.
in the passive voice. we start the sentence with the Objet or with Noun?

Fufo

Dear Miss Emma: I really understand passive voice by your lesson, i like to get it up, and your teaching style is very nice Like it very much…Thanks a lot teacher…

abdul hameed

beautiful teaching style, i like it very much! thanks teacher and all team…

abdul hameed

Thanks for the lesson, it really helps me to improve my english (I am a french learner)

glmrenard

Thanks A lot for this educational site. Actually it is usefull. I like it so much. Please don’t stop and go on.

Mohamed

Dear Miss Emma: I like your way of teaching, Thanks

abdul hameed

Thans so much!
Everything’s clear!

Kind regards,
Handwriting

handwriting

hi i have a question from about pasive voice and active voice .
they go to school. how can we change this sentence into pasive voice

murtaza mutahid

Thans so much!
Everything’s understood

kamal

Hello, dear Emma!
Thank you for this lesson!

Speaking of Passive Voice usage, how many tenses are used in English? My question might sound strange, though I can often hear from my teachers that there are 24 tenses in English. When my knowledge of English was week, I didn’t question it. But now I can argue with them, how they could count 24 tenses. To the best of my knowledge 12 tenses are used in the active voice and only 8 among them are used in the Passive voice. I can’t understand my Ukrainian teachers. 12+8 only 20, but still I can’t understand why 20. What is the difference bitween Past Simple active and PastSimple passive?
He built the bridge in 1890. The bridge was built in 1890. The same tense and the same rule to use Past Simple. To my view it is wrong to count tenses in active and in passive voice as different ones, isn’t it? Thank you for your answer!So, there are only 12.

Valera

Great lesson thanks….

Sergey(UA)

You are very nice EMMA.

polyanskinn

You are very nice EMMA.

polyanskinn

Emma, thank you. But could you help me with these sentences.
She has been given flowers.
She has been giving flowers.
These sentences are active voice?

Thank you again.

chesarin2610

Emma, thank you. But could you help me with these sentences.
She has been given flowers.
She has been giving flowers.
These sentences are active voice?

Thank you again.

Cesar Rodriguez

My dear teacher , In spoken English passive voice is commonly used. I have little bit knowledge to use passive voice, but I wanna get command in it and want to rid of all confusion. I always face confusion to differentiate between Transitive and intransitive verbs. for understanding Passive voice, intransitive verbs must be known. please,please clear my intransitive verb. this is my humble request to my beloved teacher.
thanks with best wishes….

nasim07

this is the best website i’ve ever seen ,a superb place to spend the time with !!

Syed

Thanks Emma and ENGVID.

pkumar83

Hi Emma I don´t understand this question? please could you help me because was my only mystake thanks

The passive voice is always better to use than the active voice.
True
False- Most of the time, we prefer to use the active voice.

albertblue

Hi dear Emma.You’re learning very well.Thank you!!!!!!!!!!

jane94

Nice Smile again Emma. Great Job and you are really excellent. Thanks for your time.

john0622

You are very nice EMMA.

ramchandra

Emma, I had never been presented to the passive voice this way.

Thanks!

thamesoliver

Thanks Emma !!

shithila

Hi Emma
on behalf of all the students am gonna congratulate you this great contemporary way of teaching English.
Thank you

Bassel

thanks a lot teacher Emma and i hope to see you in the true world to Present to you a mountain of gold as a gift for these great lessons .

saad

Thank you, Emma, I understand

qingeryangyi

Emma is my favorite teacher…. It`s a good way to teach for beginners.

Fabricio

Very good class. Since I found this site I always see the classes to practice my english. Thank you.

Alexandre

The same Arabic thanks

rashad333

But I want to pronounce the letters

Be when I raed I have a problem with pronunciation of sentences

rashad333

Thank you Emma. I am from Thailand and I am studying English. English is very difficult for me but when I watch your EngVid lessons, I really like it.

Thank you

Piccolina

Thank you Miss Emma =) U’r quite good.

sirhicham

Hi,dear Emma,You’re really very good teacher.Thank you! I got clarity of the usage of difference, very clearly. Thanks to the engvid team.

rajasekhar321

Hi teacher Emma! thank you so much for this lesson. I learned a lot. You are a very good teacher.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Let

Hi Ema or everybody,
How can I answer the quiz because in the screen or my computer doesn’t appear the questions when I click in quiz, I have tried with some lessions with the same result???

fhector1

Please try again. The quiz was not working in Internet Explorer 9 for a little while, but it should now be fixed!

engVid

Good Lesson!

walt

Thank you Emma.

John

PerFeCt Emma

mahoutisoliman23

Emma you showed me a difference between active and passive voices in a very simple way.Thanks so much.

Jolanta

Your lessons are perfect,Emma.thank you

Aylin

now, I can to use the Passive and Active Voice , thank Emma

limsareth

^_^ thank u

Learner

Hi Emma
what are the different between two sentences
(a mistake will be made& a mistake have been made)thank you for your respond

ahmad

Thanks Emma

obera

hey emma,
can u explain me how to identify d sound of “CH” words,
like chore, chicago, chaos , in each word ch word make a different sounds… plz help

badprince

Really Thanks to Engvid website.

Now i have option to learn perfect and correct English.One more thing all teacher have good way to how to teach and what can be the needs of students.

Thanks!

kapildhiman

thank you so much teacher Emma.

prem khati

thank you so much dear teacher Emma.

basher11

Very clear your explanantion about Passive and Active voices….congratulations.

learner

Emma, thank you. It was helpful.

jonathanhans

Your lessons are really perfect and I like them a lot. I was told that Passive voice is important to be used otherwise our writing will be boring so we should use the passive for better flow either in essays or descriptions.

evangelia ammari

Very very interesting!
Good work! :)

simone

good lesson.

hesham

i’ve got 11 out of 11.thank u emma.. :)

ieru

Nice :) thank you Emma

Dolly

Hello Emma!! It was the incredible lesson all the time!! I love this web and you guys!! Most of sites dont wanna share their lessons for free.. U r the pioneer~^^

D.H

Hi dear Emma,You’re really very good teacher.Thank you! I got clarity of the usage of difference, very clearly Your lessons are really perfect and I like them a lot. I was told that Passive voice is important to be used otherwise our writing will be boring so we should use the passive for better flow either in essays or descriptions.
Thank you very much it was helpful for me.

Jay

Thank you for the lesson teacher

Kerng

Thank you very match
my score is 11

wala

How to make this sentence passive,

The bell (ring) at the beginning of each lesson.

Bilal

good one! that helps. Thank you Emma

Sheri

Thank now I learned how to use the passive voice

sawsan1122

thanks to all of you.

zuhal

a person travell arround the world in eighty days miss please change the voice

munsifali

Thanks Emma! I got 11/11. :)

chanchal17

I think the sentence” I ate the cake ” is an example of an active one

duong

You are relly a fabulous TEAM!

Hossam

Thanks Emma for your efforts. You are really a great teacher. I wish you were my teacher in the USA. Thanks a lot and GOD bless you

noor

Emma, you are a wise woman, i like your example about politicians

arambol

Enjoyed the bites you played in between :). I equally like both the great personality of USA.

vishnu6887

thenk you Emma for lesson!

Alina

Thanks a lot.

shinoda

My favorite teacher! :) thanks!

deniz87

Every english students who have passed advance level,if they want to remind their english leson,the best way is Engvid free online school.Thanks for all Engvid natice teachers,

seng mao

Thanks for all graid english native teachers that have been giving a very good ways for me.Faithfully yours,

seng mao

Thanks Emma a lot. You’ve made clear explanations. However I have a problem with prepositions in the passive such as : of, by, from ……. ( made of, made by , made from . . )
and the positions of prep. of place , prep. of time and by + agent ) ? Could you explain them for me ? Look forward to yr explanation . I love you. My Emma….

ngockhanh

That was a great lesson! Thank you, beautiful Emma.

I like your blouse and the necklace, I think you should wear earrings too :)

Sally S

Hello! Emma, thank you very much for your lecture on the different between an Active n passive Voice. I could understand voices from your lecture that an active sentence the subject has been expressed to be active (‘DOER’ of action),whereas the object has not been given much importance. And a passive sentence the object has been given considerable importance whereas the subject has not been mentioned even. The thing that makes me confuse here is adding By + Doer of action (Subject) as well as omitting it in Passive sentence. e.g. (1)Good men are praised by people. (2) Good men are praised. My question is when does the by + doer need to add, and to omit it in Passive sentence?

Ting Lee

Hi! Emma, thank you very much for your lecture on the different between an Active n passive Voice. I could understand voices from your lecture that an active sentence the subject has been expressed to be active (‘DOER’ of action),whereas the object has not been given much importance. And a passive sentence the object has been given considerable importance whereas the subject has not been mentioned even. The thing that makes me confuse here is adding By + Doer of action (Subject) as well as omitting it in Passive sentence. e.g. (1)Good men are praised by people. (2) Good men are praised. My question is when does the by + doer need to add, and to omit it in Passive sentence?

Ting Lee

Hi Amma your explanation was great and thankyou for your help.

Aman Andebran

Hi, we just watched your lesson, great lesson!

Pet Class

Obama ………he’s so handsome,dont u think so?

saviorkira

Hello everybody. Emma, could you please prepare a video lesson about telephone conversation using formal English. It would be great if you could teach us the different ways to answer the phone at work. Thank you.
You and the other teachers do a great job.

girlfromrumania

Emma I love the way you teach, thank you very much.

JulioCesar

It was a good lesson. Such kind of lessons will improve our English. Thanks.

hussain33336

One of the best lesson have I ever seen

kibocg

Hi EMMA! thanks u 4 this lesson. i like the passive voice. but it was very easy. learn us please the passive voice in the question, the passive v. of the nouns uncountable.

ganbashir15

Thank you so much

hameed127

In this case was made only one wrong.

alpido24

thank you for teaching and test, IT was helpful and useful.

amir

Thank you Emma. The lesson was great. when you teach all things become really easy.

julio31

You got 11 correct out of 11.
:D

supermus

i got 11 correct answer out of 11 thank alot but i know it needs more practice …

11/11 ,this will help alot.Thank you

marouane10

Incredible lesson! I appeciated it, thank you Emma!

sgmmm

Hi Emma, I am feeling quite difficulty to make the following sentence into passive. Will you help me please.

Active Sentence : They don’t seem to know the desolation.

nilaymalda

This video helped me a lot! Thanks!

gabrielcunhaa

Thanks Emma.

wiltoncleiton

Thanks Emma it was perfect :)

mahmoudmohsen

hello emma, great lesson.
I wonder if you could explain the differnce between the get-passive and the be-passive.
the problem is that sometimes you cannot know if the past participle is a adjectives or not:

The window was broken, i.e Someone or something broke the window.
The window was broken, i.e. The window was not intact. (resultant state)

The window got broken cannot have a stative meaning.

this example was taken from wikipedia, i`m not sure if it is a good source you can learn from.

rhcp05

Thank you very much Emma! Excellent lesson!
Thank you Engvid!

ocampo1963

Thanks a lot Emma.
I got 11 out of 11 –> no serious mistake was make !!!

huenhanp102

thank you so much.

mariama1

Hi everybody! As the saying is: “A friend in need is a friend indeed”, so from now on you’re my very friends because I was really in need before I visit this website. And I want you to keep connected with me and discuss a lot because, “Practice makes perfect”. So you can join me in my e-mail address:myselfall28@gmail.com, ENGLISH ONLY!!!

mustafy

THANKS EMMA, THANKS ENGVID, THANKS EVERYDAY

mustafy

Skype ID Iftixar17 ..—->If you want to improve your speaking level like me ,you can add me at skype for talking.

iftixar

Thanks a lot Ms Emma! You’re great teacher!!!

Ip Man Lee

Thank you.

Sukontarat

11/11 Good points… :)

Enemku

Thanks a lot Emma, Lesson was delivered. 100% marks was gotton. These are examples of passive voice. Again thanks.

Abdul Qayum

thanks:)

marsmelow

hi can you plz help me

Ibtisam ul hassan

Thank you^^ God bless you~

Gloria Lee

Hi Ms Emme thank you for this lesson I understand this lesson but I want lesson about how to use fax? Please
then thank you very much

Sana Nada

well, i had studyed the passive voice in my school, but I didn’t known why I must studyed this.. But today I deeply know it. Thanks alot, Emma,….

nguyenducanh09

Hi Emma! I am now clear with voices . But I have a few doubts. Hope you’ll reply.
It’s easy with the sentences like this,
This work was done by Emma.
But in the following cases I am really confused.
Please explain me which one of these sentences are correct and why.
1.Cartoon serials are watched for a long time by the children.
2.Cartoon serials are watched by the children for a long time.
I am really sorry ,if you find this question a bit silly.But it’ll really be helpful for me to score the mark I deserve in my board exam.
please help me.please please please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aarthi K

Finally,I know the difference between passive and native sentence.
It let me know what is the situation that we have to use passive or native.
Thank for your lesson,Emma.
You are the best.Take care.

DennyCheng

You need to fix que first question on the Quiz, the correct answer is “true” however it states incorrect.

Roger1

Emma can you sent your email if you don’t might ?

faris 1995

thank you

amr tawfiq

Thanks Emma :)

Anouar

I Thank you !

Iamhere.

I got the perfect score! Thanks~!

sarah2013

Hi Emma,
I just found this website it’s really helpful.
I have problem with tense, it confusing me when i write an essay. I really want
your help ASAP, i will have assessment test, in order to get in the college. Can you give me some vocabulary that i can use in writing an essay! Or can you give me any tip. My test this upcoming Tuesday, i don’t have time to watch all videos. I hope you will replay to me.
Thanks

Toline

Great lesson Teacher!! I loved it so much!! I got 10!! :)
Thanks Emma!! :p

Loveee3

Thanks Emma!Good lesson :)

karinasl89

thanks Emma for the explanation .

farhed

noooooooooo!!! i must be got 100%. there must be something wrong with quiz software.
okay leave it

thanks a lot Emma…your way of teaching with a smile is awesome. keep it on.

sandip55

i got very need full key words in your upload….i have been seen several videos about passive voice….but that political example is unleashed my mind.

Thank you very much.

sandip55

Thank you very Mach Emma , I got 10 from 11 which is good for me in this lesson

Alloughani

11 out of 11. very useful videos.

mahmoudkaf88

thanks a lot for the lesson , it’s was really helpful for me , take care

English32002

just thanks

sami

That was great Emma:))
I have a question by the way and I think it’s not the best place to ask it but believe me I didn’t knew where to ask it :)
Is it OK to take this lessons one by one without any order ? That’s what i do !!!

Faraaz

wow!11/11 thanks engvid,this is really a big help for me.

glory terist

Thank you so much Emma, I enjoy with your explication. of “passive voice”. can you give us some situation wen we use passive voice. and we can’t? thnks.

youssef@@

hi! can anyone tell me about construction : ^The murderer is thought to be a woman^ thank for attention!

jakekudur

Thanks Emma for lesson!!!

vitalii16

thank you .
you make it easer for me .

ziad.alzayed

Nice lecture was given…

Hussain Ahmed

A question:
a) My husband gave me this ring.

b) I was given this ring by my husband.
Is this one used in everyday English or is it
kind of “snobish?”

Thanks in advance.

Sonia1234

Thank you, Emma. I enjoyed the lesson.

nyanchi

perfect !!!

Arthur

Many Thanks Emma. This is a really useful lesson!

LeandroJS

Thanks Emma,

Mettti

The passive was explained by Emma.
The beautiful was seen by me.
:-)

ersoybal

Thanks a lot,Emma.
+-+

misterkidman

thanks a lot now i understand a little bit more how do I use passive an active voice

famosochino

Thanks Emma a lot! I really love your way of teaching.

tientruongthanh94

I got 82 score

You5ef

Thanks Emma

Helman

Thans a lot Emma. You’re a great teacher.

Lkinter1

Thanks Emma.
I Passed the test with flying colours.(Active Voice)
The Sanctions about iran Were Removed! (Passive)
I Hope So.

Mohsen Barati

I got 11 to 11 by Emma teacher. . .
Thanks a lot.. .

Sivakumar

Very useful lesson thanQ !
11/11 :D

Roufaida

Thanks. It is great to know that there is a reason to use a passive sentence.

Yune

thank’s Emma i understand all the lesson

Augustin2

10/10. Thanks a lot.

Soei

thank you for teaching

vkachan69

Thank you Emma. I made 100% corrected at first.You are a Great Teacher!I give my to you.

TammyChung

I for got the word “love” to say to Emma.Thank you Emma and I give my love to you.

TammyChung

I got 10 of 11

zeno ae

look i solved the whole quiz

mohammad akram

Hi Emma!
In the question number 6: The following sentence is an example of the active voice: I stole a lot of money from the bank.
X True
/ False- This is an example of the passive voice.

I didn’t understan why… Can you explain?… Thanks so much!

norma1921

One out of 11 mistake were made. :D

Tammyjang1

I was tested 11 questions.And the 11 questions was answered by Nebi.Thanks Emma.

Nebi Habish

thxxxxxxxxxxx :)

mustafa assad

Thanks a lot Emma,you’re the best teacher.

Mustapha

you are my favorite teacher if you have special website and special online course i want you to teach english to me my mail : onurkarakaya1@gmail.com
you are better then other teachers thank you emma

elkudos

hi thank you for a one more lesson, My question is this , how will we decide a Helping verb in passive voice? plz reply me .

Ibtisam ul hassan

i like you :*

m3hdi.sajjadi

I got 10 of 11 Thanks Emma!

Nando Rodrigues

i really have doubt about how to use subjuctive present.
could you please help me?

demba balde

Thank you, now I understand more about passive.

tigrenochek

I want to be honest, now I can confess, I sold your car. Your car was sold.
The company was hired a lot of workers. A lot of workers were hired.
I will pay my bills by Sunday. My bills will be payed by Sunday.

Jon Snow

Great lesson! Thank you very much.

Vivimi

this lesson provide a good way or remind us that the usually speaking way of news vedio of broading the news . so it’s very useful lesson for me ,tks emma.

baofeng235

Thanks Mrs. Emma, very clear..

AlexisSegovia

Thanks :)

SvetaAlkhovik

The lesson was watched. Whether I saw it or someone else saw is no matter. The comment was read. I read it for to say thanks.

svetashev

Oh, a mistake was made. I write “read” instead of “write”.

svetashev

Ohh, a mistake was made again. I have to write “written” and “have write”

svetashev

i got 91%

k.abed

one more time, it’s a good lesson , thanks a lot Emma!

Sonia B

Thank you infinitely Emma :)

Sonia B

thanks a lot! It made me easier to recognized active vs. passive :)

irishfabe

I had got eleven of eleven… sorry for my bad English

manuel hernandez

thank you for teaching me

sudhish1234@g.mail.com

I like your explain is really important the difficult lesson will be easy

Sadrebady

I got a 100

Zouhir MKNS

Thanks, Emma. I got 100.The lesson was passed successfully.

nickandr

My father built our house when I was very young so I don’t remember what year he was built.:D I got all correct in first attempt!

Tammyjang1

I got 80, but it’s fine. :D

Urbanthis

Thank you Emma

@brah@m56

thank you Amma

Mr Hamidi

Thank you, your explanation is excellent. I really like your lessons, appreciated.

Ozhan Surer

Thanks a lot ,, now I understood what’s the difference between passive and active…

reinhard

:) thanks a lot! really good class thanks so much. now I need to practice more :) see you.

Ale27

Adam also made a lesson about passive. The way you have taught much easier than him. Thanks anyway because of your tutoring.

Rezajohn

Emma!Very good video!

Mikesyndrom

Thank you so much Emma. Iam not good at passive,but iam glad to get 100% on this quiz.

ifrah90

Teacher EMMA thanks for good lessons, and Give a example…Active & Passive
1, I learned English a better way today.
2, English was learned a better way today
3, English was learned a better way today by me.
under two sentence in the passive voice , have I done correct these two sentence in passive voice…..

Khalid Khan Ghumro

I have to say: thanks for the English lesson

Envider

Thank you Emma,I really appreciate this lesson.

Vasi.St

thanks a lot, Emma)

AlexeyVasiliev

You got 11 correct out of 11.
thanks

M kartal

Thanks a lot Emma.
It was very a useful lesson I appreciate your all lessons
Meantime I got 11 correct out of 11 .

Elvinaga

Thanks for everything Ms.Emma

yduitama

The lesson were be perfected. Emma, thank you.

dreamk7x

I love the way you teach

Nguyetmoon

I am amazing yuor class!

spcopat

“Your class” not “yuor class” :D

SherlyYT

Your lesson is helpful but the quiz too easy, 11/11. Can you make the harder quiz? :D

SherlyYT

Thanks!

shihai182

Thanks, I got it the use of Active & Passive voice.

casaresjp

Emma!
Everything is clear!
Thx!

Marsius

thanks !

m.m.a.v

This is very important to know that whoever study an English that what is the active voice and what is the passive voice. Thank you so much Emma! I can understand clearly what you are saying.
Have a wonderful Day.

Tammyjang1

Thanks Emma!!!

maicris

Let’s sum up: I liked this episode!
Emma, thanks!!

Marsius

I loved it

Emma Rodrigues

Thank you so much, Emma. I take 100 points.

sinan1975

Hello emma. Thank you for your lesson. It was very clear and I understand that. But I still have a question. How we can use this lesson for peresent and future sentence?
Can we use [the cake is eaten] or [the cake will be eaten]?
And how about past/peresent perfect?
Thank you very much because this superb lesson.

Lord.Mohammad

Hi bro.. I am not good in english but hope I can help you a bit…The cake is ate, the cake will be ate, the cake was eaten, the cake has been eaten

Imamrahu2306

two mistakes were made in the quiz.

trozo

100% ty emma..

Imamrahu2306

Hi bro.. I am not good in english but hope I can help you a bit…The cake is ate, the cake will be ate, the cake was eaten, the cake has been eaten

Imamrahu2306

Tks Emma!

edi wilson

I got 11/11. Thank you so much Emma!

Abdullah Alshamiri

thank you I got 11/11

liremm

Hello Miss Emma ,
I need to learn correct sentence patterns .

Akithanejan

Please help me on these .

Akithanejan

I hope you will help me on these

Akithanejan

ohh teacher Emma, I have 100%, thanks for this claas…

Paulo Bet

i can give three mathematical formula about passive voice

Noor jan

i use method english language grammar

Noor jan

i teach mathematical grammar in english language

Noor jan

i’m grateful to you Emma.
i will have a best level in english with your lessons
i’m going to focus on all lessons.
I plan to take 1h each day.

Fleurie

Thank you this lesson.

Agnes Cadampog

Hello,
i would like to mention that i have to make myself learn English every day.
I’m going to take a quiz ater watching the video.
I hope i will be manage to get 100% score.
.
.
.
After taking the quiz:
I got 11 out of 11. No mistakes were made. I think the quiz is relatively easy. It contains only basic and trivial examples. I would say it’s too simplistic. I would love to see more compound quiz.
It would be useful, especially for advanced students.
I wish you all the best in learning English.

marcin95

thank you Emma for reminding me that passive voices and active but i have small question i want to ask you
for example : i ate cake
cakes was eaten by me. where do we use by in active and passive voices ??
that is my question i think you can help me or other people who could help me it’s no problem

thank you!!!

Ange benie

Is a great explanation. you make easier to understand it.
tranks a lot.