Simple present tense combines a subject + verb. For example: “He writes. ” Present continues tense combines a subject + being verb (am, is , are) + verb1 + ing. For Example: “He is writing. ” Present perfect tense combines a subject + have/has + verb. For example: “He has written. ” Present perfect continuous tense combines subject + has/have + been + verb + ing. Example: “He has been writing. ”
Simple past tense combines a subject + verb in the sentence. For example: “He wrote. ” Past perfect tense combines the subject + had + verb. For example: “He had written. ” Past continuous tense combines a subject + being verb (was, were) + verb + ing. For example: “He was writing. ” Past perfect continuous tense combines subject + had + been + verb + ing. For example: “He had been writing. ”
Simple future tense combines a subject + “will” + verb. For example, “He will write. ” Future perfect tense combines the subject + “will have” + verb. For example, “He will have written. ” Future continuous tense combines a subject + “will” + being verb + verb. For example, “He will be writing. ” Future perfect continuous tense combines the subject + “have been” + verb + “ing. ” For example, “He will have been writing. ”
For example, the sentence “He will write a letter” is in the future tense and active voice. To change this to passive voice, move the direct object to the beginning of the sentence, while keeping the future tense: “A letter will be written by him. ”
Depending on the tense of the sentence, being verbs include: “is,” “was,” “will be,” “has been,” etc.
In cases where the subject (one who does the action) is unknown, you may not be able to add the word “by. ” For example, if you have received a letter but do not know who sent it, you would write, “The letter was sent to me on November 1st,” but you would not say by whom it was sent.
Active voice, present tense: The cat kills the mice. Passive voice, present tense: The mice are killed by the cat. Active voice, past continuous tense: Some boys were helping the wounded men. Passive voice, past continuous tense: Wounded men were being helped by some boys. Active voice, future perfect tense: Someone will have stolen my purse. Active voice, future perfect tense: My purse will have been stolen by someone.
Be careful when removing emphasis from the subject of a sentence, as in some cases it can be seen as confusing to the reader. Passive voice can also remove the subject of a sentence altogether. For example, a politician who says, “I have lied to the American people” may be seen as repentant and forthcoming. If the individual were to say “The American people have been lied to,” they politician would be removing any blame from themselves by phrasing the sentence in the passive voice and removing the subject.
For example, the sentence “American nuclear devices were first tested in July 1945” places the emphasis on the nuclear testing and leaves the specific researchers anonymous.
For example, instead of writing “My team placed seven stream gages in the river,” you would write, “Seven stream gages were placed in the river. ” Here the passive voice lends anonymity to the action: anyone can replicate the experiment by repeating the same procedures. By using the passive voice, you’re arguing that the results can be replicated regardless of which scientists perform the actions.
