English Passive Voice Formation and Irregular Verbs
Understanding the Passive Voice in English
Structure
The basic structure for the past passive voice is:
Subject + was/were + Past Participle (3rd column verb) + [by Agent]
Active vs. Passive Examples
Active: Mark Chapman killed John Lennon.
Passive: John Lennon was killed by Mark Chapman.
Tense Examples
- Present Passive: Uses is/are + Past Participle (e.g., Tennis is played.)
- Past Passive: Uses was/were + Past Participle (e.g., John Lennon was killed.)
Identifying Active and Passive Voice
- Active voice usually specifies: 1. Who/what performs the action (Subject), 2. The action (Verb), and 3. Who/what receives the action (Object). Example: He plays tennis.
- Passive voice focuses on the recipient of the action. It might omit who performed the action or include it using ‘by’. Example: Tennis is played by him.
- The presence of ‘by’ + agent often indicates passive voice.
Pronoun Changes (Subject to Object in Passive)
- He → him
- She → her
- I → me
- We → us
- They → them
- You → you
Common Irregular Verbs List
| Infinitive | Past Simple | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| be | was/were | been |
| become | became | become |
| beat | beat | beaten |
| begin | began | begun |
| bend | bent | bent |
| bite | bit | bitten |
| break | broke | broken |
| bring | brought | brought |
| build | built | built |
| burn | burnt/burned | burnt/burned |
| buy | bought | bought |
| catch | caught | caught |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| come | came | come |
| cost | cost | cost |
| cut | cut | cut |
| do | did | done |
| draw | drew | drawn |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| drive | drove | driven |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| feed | fed | fed |
| feel | felt | felt |
| fight | fought | fought |
| find | found | found |
| fly | flew | flown |
| forbid | forbade | forbidden |
| forget | forgot | forgotten |
| forgive | forgave | forgiven |
| get | got | got/gotten |
| give | gave | given |
| go | went | gone |
| grow | grew | grown |
| have | had | had |
| hear | heard | heard |
| hide | hid | hidden |
| hit | hit | hit |
| hold | held | held |
| hurt | hurt | hurt |
| keep | kept | kept |
| know | knew | known |
| lead | led | led |
| learn | learnt/learned | learnt/learned |
| leave | left | left |
| lend | lent | lent |
| let | let | let |
| lie | lay | lain |
| light | lit | lit |
| lose | lost | lost |
| make | made | made |
| mean | meant | meant |
| meet | met | met |
| pay | paid | paid |
| put | put | put |
| read | read | read |
| ride | rode | ridden |
| ring | rang | rung |
| rise | rose | risen |
| run | ran | run |
| say | said | said |
| see | saw | seen |
| sell | sold | sold |
| send | sent | sent |
| shake | shook | shaken |
| shine | shone | shone |
| shoot | shot | shot |
| show | showed | shown |
| shut | shut | shut |
| sing | sang | sung |
| sink | sank | sunk |
| sit | sat | sat |
| sleep | slept | slept |
| smell | smelt/smelled | smelt/smelled |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| spend | spent | spent |
| spill | spilt/spilled | spilt/spilled |
| spread | spread | spread |
| stand | stood | stood |
| steal | stole | stolen |
| stick | stuck | stuck |
| sting | stung | stung |
| strike | struck | struck |
| swear | swore | sworn |
| sweep | swept | swept |
| swim | swam | swum |
| swing | swung | swung |
| take | took | taken |
| teach | taught | taught |
| tear | tore | torn |
| tell | told | told |
| think | thought | thought |
| throw | threw | thrown |
| understand | understood | understood |
| wake | woke | woken |
| wear | wore | worn |
| win | won | won |
| write | wrote | written |
Vocabulary Section
Film Genres
- Adventure
- Animation
- Comedy
- Crime
- Drama
- Epic
- Fantasy
- Horror
- Musical
- Romance
- Science Fiction
- Thriller
- War
- Western
Film Production Elements
- Cast
- Costumes and make-up
- Photography
- Script
- Soundtrack
- Special effects
- The director