Category: grammar
The Passive voice with a formal subject It
It is said, it was said, it is reported, it was reported- these phrases are examples of the passive voice with a formal subject. They are often used to attribute information to a general source or to distance the statement from a specific speaker.
The Group of Tenses of the Passive Voice
In the passive voice construction with to be and past participle, the focus is on the action being done to the subject, rather than the subject performing the action. This construction emphasizes the result or effect of the action, rather than who is doing the action. For example, in the sentence The cake was baked by the chef, the focus is on the cake and the fact that it was baked, rather than the chef who did the baking. This construction is useful when the doer of the action is unknown, unimportant, or when the speaker wants to emphasize the result of the action rather than who performed it.
The Indicative Mood-the Passive Voice
In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence receives the action of the verb, rather than performing the action itself. The passive voice is formed using a form of the verb to be followed by the past participle of the main verb.
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Transitive verbs are action verbs that require a direct object to complete their meaning. The direct object is the noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb.Intransitive verbs, on the other hand, do not require a direct object to complete their meaning. They simply describe an action or state of being. Intransitive verbs can be followed by adverbs, prepositions, or phrases that provide additional information, but they do not take a direct object.
Modal Verbs
Modal verbs are a type of auxiliary verb that indicate modality, or the speaker's attitude towards the action or state described by the main verb.