How to Change an Active Sentence to the Passive Voice

Passive voice atau kalimat pasif sangat sering dipakai, terutama dalam tulisan-tulisan teknik, dimana kita lebih banyak membicarakan fakta, proses, maupun kejadian daripada membicarakan orang/pelakunya.

Passive voice disusun dengan menggunakan kata kerja bantu "be" yang sesuai dengan bentuk waktu (tenses) yang digunakan dalam active voice atau kalimat aktif, diikuti oleh kata kerja bentuk ke-3 (the past participle). Subyek dalam active voice akan menjadi "agen" (agent) dalam passive voice. Agen ini seringkali tidak disebutkan, tapi jika disebutkan maka harus didahului oleh "by" dan diletakkan diakhir kalimat.

Dalam tes-tes berbentuk Sentence Completion, seperti TOEFL, TOEIC dan Ujian Nasional, kemampuan untuk menentukan apakah sebuah kalimat memiliki kata kerja aktif atau pasif seringkali diujikan. Peserta ujian harus mampu menganalisa subyek kalimat beserta bentuk waktu (tense) dengan benar.

A. Active Tenses & Passive Tenses

Lihatlah tabel berikut ini untuk mengetahui pasangan kata kerja aktif dengan bentuk pasifnya dalam berbagai bentuk waktu (tenses).

Bentuk kata kerja aktif dan pasif

Tense/Verb Form	Active Tenses	Passive Tenses
Simple Present	do / does	am / is / are done
Simple Past	did	was / were done
Present Continuous	am / is / are doing	am / is / are being done
Past Continuous	was / were doing	was / were being done
Present Perfect	have / has done	have / has been done
Past Perfect	had done	had been done
Future	will do	will be done
Conditional	would do	would be done
Perfect Conditional	would have done	would have been done
Present Infinitive	to do	to be done
Perfect Infinitive	to have done	to have been done
Present Participle / Gerund	doing	being done
Perfect Participle	having done	having been done

B. Contoh-contoh Active Voice dan Passive Voice

Lihat contoh-contoh active voice dengan padanan passive voicenya.

Contoh kalimat aktif dan kalimat pasif

Active Voice	Passive Voice
We sell computers.	Computers are sold.
We keep the butter here.	The butter is kept here.
Babbage invented ‘The Analytical Engine’ in 1830.	‘The Analytical Engine’ was invented in 1830.
They broke the window.	The window was broken.
We will link the device to the central computer.	The device will be linked to the central computer.
People have seen tigers in the forest.	Tigers have been seen in the forest.
He has installed the programs.	The programs have been installed.
They are repairing the bridge.	The bridge is being repaired.
They were carrying the man off the field.	The man was being carried off the field.

C. Penggunaan Passive Voice

Dalam bahasa Inggris, passive voice atau kalimat pasif tidak begitu saja digunakan tanpa alasan tertentu. Ada beberapa alasan mengapa kita sebaiknya menggunakan passive voice, sebagai pengganti active voice.

1. Jika subyek atau pelaku kata kerja aktif tidak perlu disebutkan, atau jika kita lebih menitikberatkan pembicaraan pada kejadian atau tindakan daripada pelakunya.
2. Jika kita tidak tahu atau lupa siapa subyek atau pelaku tindakan.
3. Jika subyek kata kerja aktif bukan merupakan orang tertentu, misal ‘people’, atau kata ganti benda tak tentu (indefinite pronoun) ‘one’.
4. Untuk menghindari gaya bahasa yang "kaku" atau tidak lazim, atau kalimat yang tidak memiliki tata bahasa yang baik. Passive voice biasanya digunakan untuk menghindari terjadinya pergantian subyek dalam satu kalimat.
   Contoh:
   1. Kalimat "When he arrived home a detective arrested him" sebaiknya disusun menjadi "When he arrived home he was arrested (by a detective)"
   2. Kalimat "When their mother was ill neighbors looked after the children" sebaiknya disusun menjadi "When their mother was ill the children were looked after by neighbors"

Oleh karena itu, passive voice tidak selalu harus menyebutkan "by ...", karena seringkali agen (pelaku) tersebut tidak penting untuk disebutkan, atau bahkan tidak diketahui secara jelas. Jika memang agen (pelaku) penting untuk disebutkan, lebih baik kita menggunakan kalimat aktif (active voice).

D. Exercises

1. Read the text below, which describes the insurance company’s procedure for dealing with PC-users’ problems. Fill in the gaps using the correct passive form of the verb in brackets.

   All calls ...(register)... by the Help Desk staff. Each call ...(evaluate)... and then ...(allocate)... to the relevant support group. If a visit ...(require)..., the user ...(contact)... by telephone, and an appointment ...(arrange).... Most calls ...(deal with)... within one working day. In the event of a major problem requiring the removal of a user’s PC, a replacement can usually ...(supply)....

2. Change the following into the passive voice. The agent (by ...) should not be mentioned, except in number 5.
   1. You need a doctor's prescription to buy the medicine.
   2. We use the hall only on special occasions.
   3. They make these artificial flowers of used paper.
   4. Someone has repaired the printer.
   5. The mob broke the office windows in a recent strike.
   6. People should return the books in time.
   7. We will announce the decision soon.
   8. They will deliver the goods tomorrow morning.
   9. A thief had stolen his new bicycle.
   10. They invited me to the party.

Practice Makes Perfect

📘 Exercise - Changing Active to Passive Voice 📘 Passive Voice in English Dialogue: The Invitation 📘 Passive Voice in English Dialogue: Meeting Friends at the Airport