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In English grammar, the "voice" describes the relationship between the verb and its participants. If the subject of the sentence does the action, the verb is in the active voice. If the subject does not actively participate in the action described and the focus is on the action itself, not the subject, then the verb is in the passive voice.
It is important when you write in English that you distinguish between the active and passive voice. If you want the focus to be on the subject, or actor, use the active voice. If you wish the emphasis to be on the action itself, and not the actor, use the passive voice.
Here are two examples of the active voice from Yabla English:
He created the mythology.
Caption 54, New Zealand 100% Pure - 'The Hobbit' Cast Talks about New Zealand
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Now, we'll have a demonstration from some of your instructors.
Caption 15, Karate Kids, USA - The Little Dragons
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In the first example, the focus is on the subject "he" having created the mythology. It is usually easy to make a passive voice sentence out of the active by using the verb "to be" and the past participle of the original verb. In this case, we can write it in passive voice thus:
The mythology was created by him.
The mythology did not do the creating. The focus here is not the fact that he created it, but the fact that it was created.
In the second example, we can render it passive like this:
Now, there'll be a demonstration for us from some of your instructors.
"We" are no longer emphasized as the ones who will be the audience of the demonstration, but rather the fact of the demonstration is the most important thing.
Further Learning
Read more about the active voice and the passive voice and find examples on Yabla English to see them used in a real-world context.
Regular verbs in English consist of a base verb from which all different tenses can easily be formed. For example, the verb "to learn": present tense: learn; continuous present tense: learning, perfect tense and past tense: learned. As you see, all tenses of the regular verb "to learn" can be formed by adding the endings -ing and -ed.
English irregular verbs, however, have no definite rules, and although some irregular verbs have certain patterns in common, the best way to learn them is by looking at each individual verb. Let's look at the irregular verb "begin" in its simple present tense as an example.
Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off,
and begin again the work of remaking America.
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As you see, in the simple present tense it remains the same. But in the present continuous tense:
It's beginning to turn into a lovely red color!
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Just like a regular verb, this irregular verb adds -ing, but with an extra '"n": However, in the past tense:
She got a fright when the clock suddenly began to strike twelve.
Caption 15, Yabla Fairy Tales - Cinderella
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The base verb "begin" changes to "began." And as a past participle:
Bottled water sales have begun to drop.
Caption 67, Nature Preservation - The Story of Bottled Water
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The base verb "begin" changes to "begun."
Further Learning
Take a look at this list of English irregular verb forms, and search Yabla English for some of your favorite English irregular verbs to see them used in a real-world context.
The continuous (or progressive) tense comprises two parts: the verb "to be" in the present, past, or future tense, combined with the present participle of the main verb. It is a common verbal form in the English language, actually more common than the simple tense in the spoken language.
Let's find an example on Yabla English of the present continuous tense:
Time is running out.
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To form the above present continuous tense, the present tense of the verb "to be" ("is") is combined with the present participle of the verb "to run" (by adding "ing," or in this case "-ning") to the end of the verb. The present continuous tense expresses something that is presently incomplete or unfinished. In the above case, there is still time enough now, but soon there will not be.
And the past continuous tense:
I was laughing so hard.
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To form the above past continuous tense, the past tense of the verb "to be" ("was") is combined with the present participle of the verb "to laugh." The past continuous tense expresses something that is incomplete or unfinished in the past. In the above case, laughing was occurring during a past event.
And lastly, the future continuous tense:
This is where you will be working from.
Caption 14, The Company - Starting on a New Job
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To form the above future continuous tense, the future tense of the verb "to be" ("will be") is combined with the present participle of the verb "to work." The future continuous tense expresses something is incomplete or unfinished that will happen in the future. In the above case, work will be performed at some point in the future.
Further Learning
Take a look at this list of basic verb forms, and search Yabla English for some of your favorite English present participle verbs (ending in -ing) and see these tenses used in a real-world context.
The simple tense, in its present, past and future forms, is called "simple" because it consists of just one word, unlike other verb tenses such as present progressive and present perfect. The first-person form of the simple present tense is almost always the same as the dictionary form of the verb.
With the verb "to write," for example, the simple present tense in first person is "I write."
Well, when I write songs...
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In the simple past tense, the basic form "write" changes to "wrote." Some basic verbs just add "-ed" to become past tense, but many are irregular and must be learned.
I wrote this song.
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The simple future tense consist of adding "will" (or "shall") before the verb:
Tammy will write a song and then record it on her laptop.
Caption 92, Royalchord - Interview
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Further Learning
Take a look at this list of basic verbs and their irregular simple past tenses, and search Yabla English for some of your favorites to see how they are used in context.
English verbs that describe an action, rather than an occurrence or a state of being, are the most common kind of verbs. Unlike the other kinds of verbs, they have the common feature of always ending in the letter "s" in the present tense third person singular form:
He takes a step back.
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He eats the fruit.
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He (subject) takes (action verb) a step (object).
He (subject) eats (action verb) the fruit (object).
There are three forms of sentences where an action verb may be found: an affirmative sentence (as with the examples above); a negative sentence; and an interrogative sentence, or question.
To change the above affirmative sentences to negative sentences, add the verb "to do" and "not," the declarative form of "no."
He does not take a step.
He does not eat the fruit.
To change the affirmative form to the interrogatory form (or question), add the verb "to do" at the beginning of the sentence with a question mark at the end:
Does he take a step?
Does he eat the fruit?
So to reiterate:
Affirmative: He takes a step.
Negative: He does not take a step.
Interrogatory: Does he take a step?
Affirmative: He eats the fruit.
Negative: He does not eat the fruit.
Interrogatory: Does he eat the fruit?
Further Learning
Browse some videos at Yabla English and find some other examples of affirmative sentences with action verbs. Practice turning them into negative sentences with "to do" and "not", and changing them into interrogative sentences with "to do" and a question mark.
The verb "to be" is, in its infinitive form, part of one of the most famous lines in world literature:
To be, or not to be, that is the question.
—from "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare
Most verbs describe action, but "to be" describes a state of being: how or what you are or how somebody is. The present tense conjugation of "to be" is: I am; he, she, or it is; you are; they are; and we are.
"To be" can describe your name and your profession:
My name is Jack Thomas. I am a finance student here.
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It can describe how you are feeling:
I've never been to New York before, and I am so excited to go!
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If the sentence is a negation, the word "not" appears after the verb:
I am not a lawyer.
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In the first person singular, "I am" is often contracted to "I'm"; "he is," "she is," or "it is" to "he's," "she's," or "it's"; "you are" to "you're"; "they are" to "they're" and "we are" to "we're":
Today we're at the top of the Empire State Building.
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See how we're part of the global economy?
Caption 13, Dissolve Inc. - Generic Brand Video
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Further Learning
Browse some videos at Yabla English and find some other examples of the verb "to be" used in context in real conversations.
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