Grammar: B1 - ⚙️ Verbs in Depth: 🎭 Modals & 🌱 Non-Finite Verbs (Introduction) - Lesson 5: Simple Passive Voice - Present Simple (The cake is made by Mary.)

Grammar: Voice and Structure

B2 Lesson 5: The Simple Passive Voice

What you will learn: By the end of this lesson, you will be able to form and use the Present Simple Passive voice to change the focus of a sentence.

Why It Matters: Changing the Focus

In a normal sentence (Active Voice), the subject *does* the action. In the Passive Voice, the subject *receives* the action. We use the passive to change the focus of the sentence.

Active Voice (Focus on the doer)

Sopheak makes the coffee.

Passive Voice (Focus on the receiver)

The coffee is made by Sopheak.

The Grammar Rule 📖

The structure for the Present Simple Passive is the verb 'to be' (am, is, are) followed by the Past Participle (the third form of the verb).

Present Simple Passive Formula

Subject + am/is/are + Past Participle

Notice how the object of the active sentence ("the coffee") becomes the subject of the passive sentence.

💡 When to Use the Passive Voice

We use the Passive Voice for specific reasons:

1. When the doer (agent) is unknown or not important.
   Example: "The streets in Battambang are cleaned every morning."
2. When the action or result is more important than the doer.
   Example: "Kralan (bamboo sticky rice) is sold along this road."
3. To sound more formal or objective (like in news reports).
   Example: "It is believed that the new bridge will help the local economy."

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Pro Tip: Including the Agent

If you want to say who performs the action, add it at the end using "by".
Example: "Excellent coffee is made by Kinyei Cafe."

Practice Your Grammar 🎯

Exercise 1: Complete the Sentences

1. Active: "They grow a lot of rice in Battambang."
   Passive: A lot of rice _______ in Battambang. (is grown)
2. Which sentence is correct?
   a) The mail is deliver every day.
   b) The mail is delivered every day. (b is correct - we need the past participle)
3. Active: "The students write the weekly reports."
   Passive: The weekly reports _______ by the students. (are written)

Exercise 2: Sentence Transformation

Change these active sentences into passive sentences.

1. Active: My mother cleans the kitchen every day.
   → Passive: The kitchen is cleaned by my mother every day.
2. Active: They make beautiful silk scarves in that village.
   → Passive: Beautiful silk scarves are made in that village.
3. Active: Someone steals my pen from my desk!
   → Passive: My pen is stolen from my desk!

Key Vocabulary

• Passive Voice (Noun) | ប្រយោគកម្មវាចក
  A sentence where the subject receives the action of the verb.
• Active Voice (Noun) | ប្រយោគកត្តុវាចក
  A sentence where the subject performs the action of the verb.
• Past Participle (Noun) | កិរិយាស័ព្ទក្នុងអតីតកាល
  The third form of a verb, used in passive and perfect tenses (e.g., make, made, made).
• Agent (Noun) | អ្នកធ្វើ
  The person or thing that performs the action in a passive sentence.

Your Grammar Mission ⭐

Your mission is to find one example of the passive voice in an English news article online (e.g., from the BBC or VOA). Notice why the writer chose to use it. Was the agent unknown or unimportant?