Forklaring

De fleste sætninger er aktive, da det som udgangspunkt er sætningens subjekt som udfører sætningens verballed, altså handlingen i sætningen.

Eksempel: The golden retriever retrieves the ball.
subjekt

Der er dog også mange tilfælde, hvor sætningens subjekt ikke udfører handlingen. Dette kaldes for passive sætninger. I passive sætninger må der, på grund af det passive subjekt, ofte bruges en præposition til at udtrykke, hvem der udfører handlingen.

Eksempel: The ball is retrieved by the golden retriever.
subjekt verballed

Passiv dannes som regel ved brug af en form af to be efterfulgt af et verbum i kort tillægsform , som det ses i de ovenstående eksempler. Passiv kan dog også dannes med f.eks. got eller modalverber.

Eksempel: The man got hurt.
Eksempel: The work should have been done.

Eksempler på aktive sætninger

The dog chases the ball across the yard.
She baked a delicious cake for her friend's birthday.
The teacher explained the math problems to the students.
He fixed the leaky faucet in the kitchen.
The children played happily in the park.
The firefighters rescued the cat from the tree.
She painted a beautiful landscape on the canvas.
They planted flowers in the garden last weekend.
The chef prepared a gourmet meal for the guests.
He scored the winning goal in the soccer match.

Eksempler på passive sætninger

The ball is chased across the yard by the dog.
A delicious cake was baked for her friend's birthday.
The math problems are explained by the teacher.
The leaky faucet is fixed in the kitchen.
The park was played in happily by the children.
The cats were rescued from the tree by the firefighters.
A beautiful landscape was painted on the canvas.
Flowers were planted in the garden last weekend.
A gourmet meal was prepared by the chef.
The winning goal is scored in the soccer match.