A What is the sentence about? Compare these two entries in an encyclopedia. Alexander Graham Bell A British inventor who went to live in Canada and then the USA. Bell invented the telephone. Telephone An apparatus with which people can talk to each other over long distances. The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell. | 55 Active and passive 1 A What is the sentence about Compare these two entries in an encyclopedia. Alexander Graham Bell A British inventor who went to live in Canada and then the USA. Bell invented the telephone. Look at these two sentences. ACTIVE Bell invented the telephone. Telephone An apparatus with which people can talk to each other over long distances. The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell. PASSIVE The telephone was invented by Bell. The two sentences have the same meaning but they are about different things. One sentence is about Bell and the other is about the telephone. Each sentence begins with the subject. The subject is the startingpoint of the sentence the thing we are talking about. The new information about the subject comes at the end of the sentence. We say Bell invented the telephone because we are talking about Bell and the new information is that he invented the telephone. When the subject is the person or thing doing the action the agent then we use an active verb. ACTIVE Hell invented thr telepluuic. Subject and agent The bulged .Bell is We say The telephone was invented by Bell because we are talking about the telephone and the new information is that it was invented by Bell. When the subject is not the agent is not doing the action then we use a passive verb. PASSIVE The telephone ws invented lw Hell. Subject Agent I he subject I the telephone1 is no the iivul. Il lj I he thing dial thr action rs directed ai. B The passive and by the police in 1876 etc In a passive sentence when we want to say who or what did the action we use by. On our way home we were stopped by the police. The new hospital will be opened by the Queen. The paper was all blown away by the wind. We can give other details about the action. For example we can use a phrase saying when or where something happens. The telephone was invented in 1876. The visitors will be driven to the airport. The concerts are usually held at the university. Sometimes there
