Using passive voice

Passive voice and transitivity

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Transitive and intransitive verbs

In the following examples, the verb kill is a transitive verb, ie a verb that represents an event that directly involves two persons or things, represented by the subject and the object in active clauses. In such cases, the object of the verb in the active clause can become the subject of a related passive clause:

The bomb killed five people. (Bank of English)      subject                       object	active clause
Five people were killed by the bomb.      subject	passive clause

Note that in the following example of a passive clause, the verb arrest is also transitive. A second person or thing, eg the police, is implied even though it is not explicitly mentioned:

He was arrested …

However, intransitive verbs, ie verbs that represent events that directly involve only one person or thing (represented by the subject), cannot normally be passive in form and therefore cannot be used in passive clauses. For example, the verb die is an intransitive verb and so it is incorrect to try and make it passive in form:

An elderly couple died in a fire yesterday. (SCMP 5/6/92)
            subject

An elderly couple were died in a fire yesterday.

For further information about transitive and intransitive verbs, see Using transitive and intransitive verbs: Overview.

Transitive and intransitive verbs
Verbs rarely or never used in passive voice