PASSIVE definition: not reacting visibly to something that might be expected to produce manifestations of an emotion or feeling. See examples of passive used in a sentence.

passive implies immobility or lack of normally expected response to an external force or influence and often suggests deliberate submissiveness or self-control.

'Catrin told me' is an active sentence, and 'I was told by Catrin' is passive. In a passive sentence, the subject is the person or thing affected by the action of the verb.

We make the passive by putting the verb 'to be' into whatever tense we need and then adding the past participle. For regular verbs, we make the past participle by adding 'ed' to the infinitive.

A passive voice construction is a grammatical voice construction that is found in many languages. [1] In a clause with passive voice, the grammatical subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb …

Grammar (opposed to active) of, relating to, or being a voice, verb form, or construction that expresses an action that is done to rather than by the subject: In a passive sentence, the subject undergoes the …

Passive definition: Receiving or subjected to an action without responding or initiating an action in return.

The passive voice is a way of writing or speaking that uses passive verbs. The sentence “The house was destroyed by the tornado” is written in the passive voice.

If you describe someone as passive, you mean that they do not take action but instead let things happen to them.

Do you know how to use the passive voice to change the focus of a sentence? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.