When we talk about active voice and passive voice in English, we refer to sentence structure (word order). In the 

, the subject of the action is evident. In 

, the object of the action is evident. To understand the English language better and therefore improve your English at the same time, it’s essential to know the two types of voice and their respective constructions.

To begin with, look at the following examples:

“Julia bought the new Game of Thrones book.”

“The new Game of Thrones book was bought by Julia.” se p

The sentence structure in the active voice is the most common, it’s the first one we learn, the clearest, and the one we use the most on a daily basis.

“Julia + bought + the new Game of the Thrones book.”

Sentence structure in the passive voice is not so common in everyday language. However, it is very important to know how to construct sentences in the passive voice in order to acquire a good level of English grammar throughout the course of learning the language.

 (using same tense as the main verb in the active voice sentence) + 

 (the main verb of the active voice in the past participle) *+ 

*If we wish to say who does the action, we use “by + subject” at the end of the sentence.

“The new Game of the Thrones book + was + bought + by + Julia “

“I still don’t quite understand when passive voice is used”.

We use passive voice when the person doing the action is unknown or not relevant to the type of information we want to pass on. In this case, emphasis and importance is on the action, not the person. Examples:

A new shopping mall was built near our school.

Now it’s your turn to practise. Change the following 

. Don’t forget! Change the verb “to be” in the passive voice using the tense of the main verb in the active voice.  If you have any questions, our 

 can help you or write your questions in the comments and we will answer them 🙂 🙂

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE IN ENGLISH

https://englishlive.ef.com/migration-articles/blog/grammar/advanced/active-and-passive-voice-in-english/

Imagine your favourite dinner. How about something traditionally English, like roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, vegetables and roast potatoes? Very pleasant. But that dinner can be made even more delicious. Add some rosemary to the potatoes, some horseradish sauce to the beef, along with mustard and cover the lot with a good, rich gravy.

We wouldn’t want a dinner of just those additions. Rosemary, horseradish, mustard and gravy would make a strange meal indeed. But added to those main ingredients, they bring the meal to life.

, not cookery. Even so, adjectives are the horseradish sauce of language. They bring it life, modifying the meaning of a noun just as the spicy creamy stuff modifies the taste of the beef.

Fortunately, there are few rules to the use of adjectives

The table below shows some popular adjectives. The adjective list is in the categories for which they modify their nouns and pronouns.

Descriptive Adjectives; General Opinion Adjectives; Specific Opinion Adjectives

There is a convention in English that multiple adjectives are presented in the following order:

General Opinion; Specific Opinion; Descriptive

Therefore, we get the following order of adjectives:

However, by swapping the order of adjectives, emphasis and effect can be created. This is best used sparingly. In the example below, there is greater emphasis placed on the fact the man is wonderful, because it is the final adjective used.

A comparative is an adjective which compares the noun it describes with another. Comparatives often end in ‘er’.

The superlative is the most extreme something can be. Superlatives often end in ‘est’.

The table below shows some adjectives with their comparatives and superlatives, to help us understand the pattern. There are some common irregular versions (where the pattern is not followed) at the end.

Sometimes, words hold little meaning by themselves, but when applied to an adjective help to make that descriptive word clearer.

Here we can see that the person performed to a good standard, but the range of that standard is undefined. By adding the intensifier ‘really’, the meaning becomes much clearer.

The opposite words to intensifiers are mitigators. These work in a similar way but reduce the impact of the adjective. So, using the same example, we can see that:

Which brings an element of weakness to the person’s performance.

Here is a list of the most common intensifiers and mitigators. Note, these words are not adjectives in themselves, they are adverbs. However, when applied to the adjective they make it into a more specific descriptive term.

Quite (note, this can also be an intensifier, depending on how it is used.)

A note on ‘quite’. This can be confusing as it works as both an intensifier and a mitigator. The examples below illustrate this.

In this sense, the word means ‘very’.

Here the word implies that, in fact, the happiness of the subject was limited.

There is a danger of using mitigators and, far more significantly, intensifiers, and the same applies to comparative adjectives. The danger is that they can lead to hyperbole. That is when statements go over the top.

Hyperbole does have a place, and is especially effective when used ironically, but like all good things, when over used it loses its impact and can even become clichéd.

Adjectives are brilliant for bringing writing to life; they give our audience detail of the picture we are creating, whether speaking or 

. But beware! We started by linking adjectives to condiments. And just as we do not want too much salt on our food, for fear that we destroy the taste we want to enjoy, so over-using adjectives ruins the speed, pace and interest of our writing or speech. Like all good things in life, adjectives are best used in moderation.

Fashion Vocabulary: Talk about fashion in English

All Kinds of English Adjectives

https://englishlive.ef.com/migration-articles/blog/grammar/elementary/adjectives/

‘Who, what, where, when why? Who is the guy?’ asked Manhattan Transfer, an American Jazz group, back in the 1970s. Unfortunately, they soon entered a world that was grammatically nonsensical, but still, the title of their song offers us a range of question words.

, question words are essential terms to help us find out more about a subject or topic.

Here are the most common words used to frame a 

.  There are nine (although ‘whom’ is quite old fashioned and rarely used in common English). You can see that eight of the nine words begin with the letters ‘Wh’; therefore, question words are sometimes known as the ‘W’ or ‘Wh’ words.  More properly, question words can be called ‘interrogative’ words.

Who – What – Where – Why – Which – When – Whose – Whom – How

‘Can’, ‘should’ and ‘would’ are other words used to ask questions in English.  These words tend to require a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, or an affirmative.  Since these question word lead to an expected answer, they are not really questions.

These questions can prompt two kinds of answers.  ‘Open’ answers, which are based on opinion and are open to discussion. ‘Closed’ answers tend to be factual, short and asked for information.  All of the question words above are closed except for ‘why’ and ‘how’.  This means that these are the best words to use when framing questions which are meant to prompt discussion, rather than just answers.

Improve your English grammar, vocabulary and more with 

_Used to find out which person is doing the particular thing in question

. The answer will usually be factual and simple.

**The question word ‘what’ is appropriate when there are many possible answers to a question. Those answers will be non-human, and usually inanimate. As with ‘who’ questions, the answer is mostly likely to be closed.

‘What would you like for your birthday?’

_**Where is the question that relates to place. Once more, it is a question to elicit a straightforward answer.

‘Where did you buy that amazing dress from?’

_**This is a higher level question which seeks an explanation for the answer. It is a question word to provoke an open ended response.

‘Why does the sun shine so brightly?’

**Which _is your favourite subject at college?

_**This is, in many ways, similar to the ‘what’ questions. However, while there are endless possible answers to a ‘what’ question, with ‘which’ the answers are limited.  The response is likely to be factual, although judgements are often required in the response.

_**Whereas ‘who’ relates to people, and ‘where’ to place, ‘when’ questions will have answers connected to time. As with most of the other questions, the answers are most likely to be factual rather than based on opinion.

‘Eight o’ clock, if you have finished cooking it by then.’

_**There are similarities between the question words ‘who’ and ‘whose’. However, ‘whose’ will always be followed by a noun. The answer will be closed.

_**This is an old-fashioned term, not often used today. Many native English speakers are less than clear about its accurate use. In fact, the word serves the same purpose as ‘who’ questions, but tends to be used when it is the object of the verb. With modern English, there is no real need to use the term.

_**Along with ‘why’ this is the other question word that sometimes provokes an open ended response. It is therefore ideal to use in discussions.

Which promotes another comment by the original speaker, such as ‘And how do I do that?’

However, ‘how’ can also be used to find the answer to a straight-forward question.  For example:

Practising Use of the Appropriate Question Word

As with most learning, once you understand the concept, you need to practice it to remember it!  Try practicing with the exercise below (answers at the end).

Find the correct question word to start each sentence:

How to ask questions in English

https://englishlive.ef.com/migration-articles/blog/grammar/elementary/question-words/

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