 You know that in an English sentence, the verb is the most important word. It is through the action described by the verb that the sentence becomes alive. As a result, I would say that the verb is the lifeblood of a sentence. Now among other properties, verbs tell time. They tell time by specifying when the action occurred, when the action took place. This time feature is known as tense. All verbs have different tenses indicated. All verbs have different tenses that indicate the time the sentence is referring to. Now tense as you have learned is the verb property that describes when in time an action took place. Now we shall look at another property of the verb which is known as voice. This is another property of verbs and it is known as voice. To understand voice, you must know the distinction between active and passive voice. Active and passive voice. And you must avoid this mistake of thinking that every verb is either passive or active. Some verbs are neither active nor passive but they are known as linking verbs. Now what does voice do? Voice indicates whether the subject of the verb is performing the action or is receiving the action which is described by the verb. Now there are two points that you must keep in mind. The first is that use active voice to emphasize the performer of an action. When you want to emphasize who is doing the action then you must write the sentence in the active voice. You must use the passive voice to de-emphasize the performer of the action. And in this way you emphasize the object of the action. Now if you look at I will show you a chart and it will become very clear. Sentences are either written either in the active or in the passive voice. Now let us look at the structure of the active voice sentence and the structure of the passive voice sentence. Now on the chart notice there are four columns. The first one is subject, second is verb, third is direct object and the fourth is compliment. Now an active voice sentence, the verb has an object, a direct object. The first sentence, the state management will prosecute, the verb will prosecute and the verb has a direct object. The object is trespassers, trespassers. Number two, passengers may purchase tickets at any airline office. The verb is may purchase and may purchase requires a direct object which happens to be tickets. Number three, students use computers in the laboratory. Use the verb use in that active sentence has a direct object which is computers. Number four, you should take the medicine once daily. You is the subject, look at all the four subjects in that chart. Look at the verbs and look at the direct objects. The verbs in the active sentence need a direct object, right? They may or may not take compliments but they do take direct objects. Now you notice that in these sentences the subject performs the action of the verb. In passive sentences the subject receives the action of the verb. The direct object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. Because every sentence in English must have a subject, passive sentences can be formed only by transitive verbs. Transitive verbs take direct objects. Therefore you cannot say he was died because die is an intransitive verb. Now look at the next chart which is the structure of passive voice sentences. And notice the change. Here the verbs are trespassers, tickets, computers, the medicine. Right? Trespassers will be prosecuted, tickets may be purchased, computers are used, the medicine should be taken. Notice how the whole thing is inverted. The formation of passive sentences. A passive sentence is composed of the following parts. Subject plus some tense of the B form of the verb plus the past participle plus agent. Number one, you have to keep in mind there are four things in the formation of the passive sentence. The object of an active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. What is the object in an active sentence? It becomes the subject of the passive sentence. That is number one. Number two, in the passive sentence the tense is formed by the B form of the verb. Number three, the subject of the active sentence becomes the agent of the passive sentence. And number four, in a passive sentence the agent or the doer of the action may sometimes be omitted. Now, it will all become clear if you look at the verb tenses in passive sentences. Look at the present tenses in passive sentences. The simple part, jewels are bought by ladies. Are bought, right? Present continuous, jewels are being bought by ladies. Past perfect, ladies have been advised to declare their jewelry in their wealth tax forms. And the use of models, steps must be taken to educate the public about filling up tax forms. The past tenses, in a passive sentence this is how the past tense is used. Maps of the rebels, the rebels hide out were shown to the press. Past continuous, until recently handcrafted jewelry was not being designed locally. Past perfect, Pakistani carpets had always been designed by local artists. And with perfect models, the textile industry might not have been required by the government to pay taxes. And the future tenses, teaching assistants will be used to assist teachers in evaluating students' examination scripts, will be used. This is a passive sentence using the future tense, will be used. Another one, factories are going to be built in the new export promoting zone. Are going to be the going to form, which is the future. And the future perfect, by 2010 the new canal system will have been put into regular use. Will have been put into regular use. Now all these sentences were in the passive. And you were shown how the different tenses are used in the passive. The agent in the passive sentence. A passive sentence can be written with an agent. A passive sentence can be written without the agent. By agent we mean the doer of the action. Now, let us look at samples where a passive sentence is written with the agent. The agent in the passive sentence answers the question by whom or by what. The action is performed. Number one, you have to remember two things. The first thing is that the agent is named if it is important or if it is necessary to complete the meaning or understanding of the sentence. For example, take the sentence. The accident was caused by a cyclist. This is a passive sentence. The accident was caused by a cyclist. Now by a cyclist is the agent. Noise in our neighborhood is produced by trains. Here the agent is named. The man was killed by his neighbor. By his neighbor. Now in all these three sentences, they were passive sentences but they were with the agent. The agent was specified. Now let us look at sentences, passive sentences which are without the agent. Here the agent is not named. You can have a passive sentence where the agent is not named. There are certain conditions. The first condition is when the identity of the agent is understood and it does not have to be mentioned. Example, the president has been re-elected for another year. Now in that passive sentence, the agent has not been mentioned. That sentence is without the agent and the agent over there is maybe it is the council, maybe it is the voters, maybe it is the syndicate, whatever. But that sentence is without the agent. The agent is not named. The president has been re-elected for another year. Who did the election? Who elected him? It is not mentioned. In other sentence, Sheena is spoken in many parts of northern areas of Pakistan. By whom? Sheena is spoken. Now in that sentence, the agent is not named. Because Sheena is spoken by people in many parts of northern areas of Pakistan. Now the second condition when you can have a passive sentence without the agent is when the identity of the agent is unimportant. For example, Pakistan television newscasts are translated into both English and Arabic. Now over there, who translates them? It is not important. Pakistan television newscasts are translated. It is understood that they are translated by someone. So the identity of the agent is unimportant. Another condition when you can have a passive sentence without naming the agent is when the identity of the agent is unknown. For example, take this sentence. An error has been made in the computer input data. An error has been made in the computer input data. It is understood that that error has been made by someone. So you can have passive sentences without the agent. Number one, when the identity is unimportant. Number two, when the agent is unknown. Now at the end, we will talk about the uses of the passive. When you want to give your writing an objective or an impersonal tone, you use the passive. And it is very often used in scientific writing, in business writing and in newspaper reports. Why? Because it takes away the responsibility of the writer. Number one, when you want to give your writing an objective or an impersonal tone. Number two, when you want to focus attention on the receiver of the action. Now for instance, if you were writing a paper about a discovery, the use of the passive will focus on the discovery. But if you were to write your paper with active verbs, the reader might think your paper is about the person who made the discovery and not the discovery itself. So you will use the passive. In today's lesson, we looked at the different tenses of the verb and we looked at passive sentences. So with that, we come to an end. Allah Hafiz, see you next time.