Download active and passive voices

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICES
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The voice of verb shows whether the sentence is active or passive. The
sentence is active if an action is performed by the subject, and the sentence
is passive if an action was performed on the subject.
The active voice is used in making a straight forward statement about an
action, i.e. the “doer” of the action is the subject of the sentence. In the
passive voice, the “doer” of the action is not important because the subject
of the passive sentence generally obvious to everyone.
Simple tenses
Active :
Subject + verb (type I)
Passive :
Subject + verb to be + verb (type III)
Example:
A:
Jono grows some flowers in his garden.
P:
Some flowers are grown by Jono in his garden.
A:
We kill the weeds with a herbicide.
P:
The weeds are killed with a herbicide.
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Continuous tenses
Active
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Subject + verb to be + verb (type I) + ing
Passive :
Subject + verb to be + being + verb (type III)
Examples:
A: Santi is planting shallots in the glasshouse.
P: Shallots are being planted in the glasshouse.
A: Farmers are clearing weeds manually.
P: The weeds are being cleared manually.
A: Jono was climbing the tree when suddenly the branch broke.
P: The tree was being climbed by Jono when suddenly the branch broke.
Perfect tenses
Active
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Subject + have/has + verb (type III)
Passive :
Subject + have/has + been + verb (type III)
Examples:
A: The young farmer has harvested his soybean two days ago.
P: The soybean has been harvested two days ago.
A: In order to increase soil fertility, farmers have used manure.
P: Manure has been used in order to increase soil fertility.
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Sentence transformation
The negation in passive voice is performed in the usual manner, i.e. by
placing the word not after the verb to be (auxiliary verb). Whereas, the
interrogative form is performed by placing the verb to be at the beginning of
a sentence followed by the subject and past participle (verb type III).
• Examples
 The area was covered by smoke from bush fire.
 The area was not covered by smoke from bush fire.
 Was the area covered by smoke from bush fire?
 Plant pests and diseases can be prevented by spraying pesticide.
 Plant pests and diseases can not be prevented by spraying pesticide
 Can plant pests and diseases be prevented by spraying pesticide?
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Soil fertility is being investigated by soil scientists from Unja.
The soil fertility is not being investigated by soil scientists from Unja.
Is the soil fertility being investigated by soil scientists from Unja?
• Assignment 1
Change the following sentences into passive voice or active voice. Please look
carefully on the verbs used.
1. Teak (Tectona grandis) are planted in East Java.
2. Scientists are studying agroforestry and its benefit to farmers in Jambi.
3. The Department of Forestry grows iron wood (Eusideroxylon zwagerii) in
Senami restricted area.
4. My tomato plants were attacked by root disease.
5. Forty percent of rice field in Jambi have been destroyed by flood.
6. In 2000, the CVPD disease had caused total production loss of
approximately 2 billions rupiah.
7. Water in our area is contaminated by pesticide.
8. The Agricultural Faculty Unja will open Forestry Department next year.
9. Farmers in Tanjung Jabung has exported coconut oil to China since 1998.
10. During harvest time, birds eat the rice in the rice field.
• Assignment 2
Read the following passage carefully and identify the verbs in passive voice.
Crop Protection Using Chemical Dusts
The problem of applying chemicals for crop protection is greater than
of spreading fertilizers. This is because a very small amount of active
ingredient has to be applied to a large crop area, often to a particular part of the
plant where it can be most effective. These active materials are formulated for
application in a number of ways. However, dusting is the method which will be
discussed in this passage. In dusting, the finely ground active ingredient, is
blended down with a local filler such as a talc or clay to give a dust, usually
containing 2 – 4% of active ingredient. This can be applied to the crops by
hand dusters, tractor drawn dusters that blow the dust out through a boom,
aircraft, or by drift dusting. The characteristics of the finished blended dust
should be determined by the method of application. However, in the tropical
area such as Indonesia, there is a limited choice of fillers.