Here's how to identify a passive voice sentence:
* The verb is in the past participle form (e.g., "is eaten," "was written," "will be built").
* The sentence often includes a "by" phrase to indicate the agent of the action (e.g., "The cake was eaten by the dog").
Example:
* Active voice: The dog ate the cake.
* Passive voice: The cake was eaten by the dog.
In the active voice sentence, the subject ("the dog") performs the action. In the passive voice sentence, the object ("the cake") becomes the subject, and the action is performed on it.
Key points to remember:
* The passive voice can be useful when the action is more important than the doer of the action.
* Overuse of the passive voice can make writing sound dull and wordy.
* The passive voice can be used to emphasize the receiver of the action.
Here are some more examples:
* Active: The artist painted the portrait.
* Passive: The portrait was painted by the artist.
* Active: The teacher gave the students a test.
* Passive: The students were given a test by the teacher.