- English Passive Sentence (Past Tense)

The English passive sentence of past tense is made by using the to be (was or were) and past participle (VIII). The pattern is as follows.

PATTERN : S + was/were + VIII (PAST PARTICIPLE) +(by ....)

When the passive sentence is derived from the active one, the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence, and the subject of the active sentence is changed to be a prepositional phrase using the preposition by and it is palced in the final position of the sentence.

The following examples are the English passive sentences of past tense derived from the active sentences.

1a. + (Active) : My father wrote a report.
--- + (Passive) : A report was written by my father.

1b. - (active) : My father did not write a report.
--- - (Passive) : A report was not written by my father.

1c. ? (Active) : Did my father write a report?
--- ? (Passive) : Was a report written by my father?


2. (Active ) : The people broke the building.
---(Passive) : The building was broken by the people.

3. (Active) : Robert taught English.
---(Passive) : English was taught by Robert.


Exercises:
The answer key is available in other page of this blog (Click: Blog Archieve)

A. Change The sentences below into passive.

1. My father swept the floor.
2. Jonathan cleaned my room.
3. He read the novel last year.
4. The people broke the old house.
5. That man sold traditional medicine.

B. Translate the following passive sentences into English.

1. Rumahku dibangun tahun 1997.
2. Novel ini ditulis sepuluh tahun yang lalu.
3. Sejarah diajar oleh pak Ali tahun lalu.
4. Mobilku dijual bulan lalu.
5. Radioku direparasi minggu lalu.