The Passive of The Infinitive

The Passive of The Infinitive :


Voice is that property of verbs which indicates whether the subject acts or is acted upon.

There are two voices - active voice and passive voice.

A verb is in the active voice when it represents the subject as the doer of an act.

1. Richard shot the bear.
2. Mr. Hardy builds carriages.
3. Dr. Wilson has cured my father.

A verb is in the passive voice when it represents the subject as the receiver or the product of an action.

1. The bear was shot by Richard.
2. Carriages are built by Mr. Hardy.
3. My father has been cured by Dr. Wilson.

The passive voice of a verb is expressed by a verb-phrase made by prefixing some form of the copula (is, was, etc.) to the past participle.

In the passive voice of the complete tenses, the past participle BEEN follows the proper form of the auxiliary have (as in the third example).

The passive of the infinitive is made by prefixing to be (perfect, to have been) to the past participle. Thus….

Present Infinitive Passive : to be struck

Perfect Infinitive Passive : to have been struck

The following table gives the conjugation of the verb STRIKE in the active and passive of the six tenses.

Active Voice…….Passive Voice

Present Tense

SINGULAR

1. I strike. …….1. I am struck.
2. Thou strikest. …….2. Thou art struck.
3. He strikes. …….3. He is struck.

PLURAL

1. We strike. …….1. We are struck.
2. You strike. …….2. You are struck.
3. They strike…….3. They are struck. Past Tense

SINGULAR

1. I struck. …….1. I was struck.
2. Thou struckest. …….2. Thou wast (or wert) struck.
3. He struck. …….3. He was struck.

PLURAL

1. We struck. …….1. We were struck.
2. You struck. …….2. You were struck.
3. They struck. …….3. They were struck.

Future Tense

SINGULAR

1. I shall strike. .……. 1. I shall be struck.
2. Thou wilt strike. .…….2. Thou wilt be struck.
3. He will strike. .…….3. He will be struck.

PLURAL

1. We shall strike………1. We shall be struck.
2. You will strike. ………2. You will be struck.
3. They will strike. ………3. They will be struck.

Perfect (or Present Perfect) Tense

SINGULAR

1. I have struck. ………1. I have been struck.
2. Thou hast struck. ………2. Thou hast been struck.
3. He has struck. ………3. He has been struck.

PLURAL

1. We have struck. ………1. We have been struck.
2. You have struck. ………2. You have been struck.
3. They have struck. ………3. They have been struck.

Pluperfect (or Past Perfect) Tense

SINGULAR

1. I had struck. ………. I had been struck.
2. Thou hadst struck. ………2. Thou hadst been struck.
3. He had struck. ………3. He had been struck.

PLURAL

1. We had struck. ………1. We had been struck.
2. You had struck. ………2. You had been struck.
3. They had struck. ………3. They had been struck.

Future Perfect Tense

SINGULAR

1. I shall have struck……….1. I shall have been struck.
2. Thou wilt have struck. ……….2. Thou wilt have been struck.
3. He will have struck……….3. He will have been struck.

PLURAL

1. We shall have struck……….1. We shall have been struck.
2. You will have struck……….2. You will have been struck.
3. They will have struck……….3. They will have been struck.

The Passive of The Infinitive :

Grammar Index


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