Passive voice

From Al-Duroos

The passive voice is where a form of "to be" (was, is, had been, ...) is used with a verb, making the object the focus of a sentence.

Examples in English of the passive voice include:

• "It was said that ..."

• "The apple was eaten." - by who?

• "I was born ..."

• "The book was written by John Doe."

Past tense

In the "past" tense, the vowel pattern changes to put a verb in the passive voice.

Rule 1 - Change the first fatha to a damma; Change the second fatha to a kasra:

Passive	<--	Active
تُرِكَ (turika)		تَرَكَ (taraka)
It was left		He left

This verb is used not to say someone or something departed, but that something was "left behind", "left on the doorstep", "left on the table", etc.

Rule 2 - If the verb is hollow (contains a long vowel in the middle), the long vowel becomes a "ya" (ي).

Passive	<--	Active
بِيعَ (biya'a)		بَاعَ (baa'a)
It was sold		He sold

Rule 3 - If a verb ends in an alif or alif maqsura, the alif is changed into a "ya" (ي):

Passive	<--	Active
بُنِيَ (buniya)		بَنَىَ (banaa)
It was built		He built

Examples

- Sami wrote a letter from Paris. - A letter was written from Paris.

- Sami says that Paris is beautiful. - It was said that Paris is beautiful.

- Farah was born in Beirut in 1975. - New York is called the Empire State by Americans - People usually are drinking coffee after the meal. - Baghdad is called the city of Peace by Arabs.

Links

• Active and Passive Verbs - Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)