Observons la phrase suivante: The police are arresting the thief

Dans cette phrase ayant une structure active, nous avons:• Un sujet actif: the police • Un verbe: to arrest• Un complément d’objet (ou sujet passif, qui subit l’action): the thief

La même phrase peut être présentée différemment, c’est-à-dire qu’au lieu de mettre l’accent sur celui qui accomplit l’action (le sujet actif) on met l’accent sur celui sur qui subit l'action (le sujet passif). On utilise alors une structure passive.Exemple: Our neighbour was killed by a thief. →Notre voisin a été tué par un voleur.

Pour former le passif, on utilise :• l'auxiliaire BE (conjugué au temps de la phrase de départ), • suivi du PARTICIPE PASSÉ.

Cela veut dire que si la phrase est au prétérit, on garde le même temps pour la phrase au passif. Donc on va conjuguer BE au prétérit, ce qui donne: was (sing) ou were (plur).Puis on rajoute le participe passé du verbe. Pour rappel: Si le verbe est régulier, il suffit de rajouter -ED comme au prétérit, mais pour les verbes irréguliers, il faut se reférer à la 3e colonne de la liste des verbes irréguliers que vous avez tous appris!!!

Si on transforme une phrase à la voix active en phrase à la voix passive, le sujet (qui était en 1ère position) devient complément d'agent (en dernière position) et le C.O.D. (qui était à la fin) se retrouve en première position. Si on trace des traits, cela forme une croix.

A thief killed our neighbour(= Prétérit de KILL)

Our neighbour was killed by a thief 1 + 2 (1= Prétérit de BE

+ 2= Participe passé de KILL)

Modification typiques des formes aspectuo-temporelles:

Temps : Voix active Voix passive

Présent Simple They sell cars on the netThey speak english in this family

Cars are sold on the netEnglish is spoken in this family

Ils vendent des voitures sur le netOn parle anglais dans cette famille

Présent BE ING They are preparing a new fashion show

A new fashion show is being prepared

Un nouveau défilé de mode est en préparation

Prétérit They took a lot of photos on the moon

A lot of photos were taken on the moon

De nombreuses photos furent prises sur la lune

Present Perfect I have sold all my paintings

All my paintings have been sold

Tous mes tableaux ont été vendus

Pluperfect The engineers had originally built the Titanic to be « unsinkable »

The Titanic had been originally built to be « unsinkable »

Le Titanic avait été construit à l’origine pour être « insubmersible ».

Futur Simple Man will explore more and more planets.

More and more planets will be explored.

On / l’homme explorera de plus en plus de planètes

Conditionnel The volcano would destroy many villages, if it erupted.

Many villageswould be destroyed by the volcano if it erupted.

De nombreux villages seraient détruits par le volcan s’il entrait en éruption.

Make sentences in the passive form.Use the object of the active sentence as

the subject of your passive sentence.

Jonathan Swift / wrote / this novel / in the 18th century (1721)

This novel was written in the 18th century (1721) by Jonathan Swift

James Cameron / made / the film « Avatar » / in 2009

The film « Avatar » was made by James Cameron in 2009

Norman Rockwell / painted / « Triple self-portrait » / in 1960

« Triple self-portrait » was painted by Norman Rockwell in 1960

John Lennon / composed / the song « Imagine » / in 1971

The song « Imagine » was composed by John Lennon in 1971

Danish architect Jørn Utzon / designed / the famous Opera House in Sydney

The famous Opera House in Sydney was designed by the Danish architect Jørn

Utzon

She / never / feed / the lion / outside his cage

The lion is never fed outside his cage.

The strikers / are breaking / the walls of separation

The walls of separation are being broken by the strikers / /

The little girl / has beaten / the eggs

The eggs have been beaten by the little girl

The astronauts / will take / new photos / of the moon

New photos of the moon will be taken by the astronauts

A young female engineer/ has invented / this robot

This robot has been invented by a young female engineer

Maybe his parents / should give/ him / another present

Maybe he should be given another present

Someone / could have built / this house / in a pre-historic period

This house could have been built in a pre-historic period

The doctors / must tell / this woman / the truth

This woman must be told the truth by the doctors

They /took / the children / to the park

The children were taken to the park

The managing director/ can’t fire / all the employees / now

All the employees can’t be fired now (by the managing director)

I / have found / this painting/ in a flea market

This painting has been found in a flea market

The police / have already arrested / the thief

The thief has already been arrested by the police

I / may repair / your car for next week

Your car may be repaired for next week

You / can change / your ticket / within 2 days

Your ticket can be changed within 2 days

They / would keep / him / in prison / if they thought he was dangerous

He would be kept in prison if they thought he was dangerous

A taxi driver / will take/ you / back to school

You will be taken back to school (by a taxi driver)

He / must catch / the prisoner / before it is too late

The prisoner must be caught before it is too late

The De Beers Group / bought / this diamond called « the Heart of eternity » /

for $16 Millions

This diamond called « the Heart of eternity » was bought by the De Beers

Group for $16 Millions