Kalimat aktif (active voice) adalah kalimat dimana subject-nya melakukan pekerjaan, sebaliknya, kalimat pasif (passive voice) adalah kalimat dimana subject-nya dikenai pekerjaan oleh object kalimat. Active voice lebih sering digunakan dalam kehidupan sehari-hari dibandingkan dengan passive voice. Namun demikian, sering kita temukan passive voice di surat-surat kabar, artikel-artikel di majalah-majalah dan tulisan-tulisan ilmiah. Passive voice digunakan karena object dari active voice merupakan informasi yang lebih penting dibandingkan dengan subject-nya. Contoh :
• Active : We fertilize the soil every 6 months
• Passive: The soil is fertilized by us every 6 months
Dari contoh ini dapat kita lihat bahwa:
1. Object dari active voice (the soil) menjadi subject dari passive voice
2. Subject dari active voice (we) menjadi object dari passive voice. Perhatikan pula bahwa terjadi perubahan dari subject pronoun ‘we’ menjadi object pronoun ‘us’.
3. Verb1 (fertilize) pada active voice menjadi verb3 (fertilized) pada passive voice.
4. Ditambahkannya be ‘is’ di depan verb3. Be yang digunakan adalah tergantung pada subject passive voice dan tenses yang digunakan. (Perhatikan pola-pola passive voice di bawah).
5. Ditambahkannya kata ‘by’ di belakang verb3. Namun, jika object dari passive voice dianggap tidak penting atau tidak diketahui, maka object biasanya tidak dikemukakan dan begitu pula kata ‘by’.
6. Khusus untuk kalimat-kalimat progressive (present, past, past perfect, future, past future, dan past future perfect continuous, perlu menambahkan ‘being’ di depan verb3). Kalau tidak ditambahkan “being”, tensisnya akan berubah, bukan progressive/continuous lagi. Perhatikan contoh-contoh pada poin h – o di bawah.
Berdasarkan keenam poin di atas maka passive voice mengikuti pola sebagai berikut:
Subject + be + Verb3 + by + Object + modifier
Pola active dan passive voice pada tiap tensis
a. Jika active voice dalam simple present tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah is, am atau are.
Contoh:
• Active : He meets them everyday. • Passive : They are met by him everyday.
• Active : She waters this plant every two days. • Passive : This plant is watered by her every two days.
b. Jika active voice dalam simple past tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah was atau were
Contoh:
• Active : He met them yesterday
• Passive : They were met by him yesterday
• Active : She watered this plant this morning
• Passive : This plant was watered by her this morning
c. Jika active voice dalam present perfect tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah been yang diletakkan setelah auxiliary has atau have, sehingga menjadi ‘has been’ atau ‘have been’
Contoh:
• Active : He has met them
• Passive : They have been met by him
• Active : She has watered this plant for 5 minutes.
• Passive : This plant has been watered by her for 5 minutes.
d. Jika active voice dalam past perfect tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah been yang diletakkan setelah auxiliary had, sehingga menjadi had been
Contoh:
• Active : He had met them before I came.
• Passive : They had been met by him before I came.
• Active : She had watered this plant for 5 minutes when I got here
• Passive : This plant had been watered by her for 5 minutes when I got here
e. Jika active voice dalam simple future tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah be
Contoh:
• Active : He will meet them tomorrow.
• Passive : They will be met by him tomorrow.
• Active : She will water this plant this afternoon.
• Passive : This plant will be watered by her this afternoon.
• Active : The farmers are going to harvest the crops next week
• Passive : The crops are going to be harvested by the farmers next week.
f. Jika active voice dalam future perfect tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah been yang diletakkan setelah auxiliary will have, sehingga menjadi ‘will have been’
Contoh:
• Active : He will have met them before I get there tomorrow.
• Passive : They will have been met by him before I get there tomorrow.
• Active : She will have watered this plant before I get here this afternoon.
• Passive : This plant will have been watered by her before I get here this afternoon.
g. Jika active voice dalam past future perfect tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah been yang diletakkan setelah auxiliary would have, sehingga menjadi ‘would have been’.
Contoh:
• Active : He would have met them.
• Passive : They would have been met by him.
• Active : She would have watered this plant.
• Passive : This plant would have been watered by her.
h. Jika active voice dalam present continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah (is, am atau are) + being.
Contoh:
• Active : He is meeting them now.
• Passive : They are being met by him now.
• Active : She is watering this plant now.
• Passive : This plant is being watered by her now.
i. Jika active voice dalam past continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah (was atau were) + being.
Contoh:
• Active : He was meeting them.
• Passive : They were being met by him.
• Active : She was watering this plant.
• Passive : This plant was being watered by her. j. Jika active voice dalam perfect continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah (has/have) been + being.
Contoh: • Active : He has been meeting them.
• Passive : They have been being met by him.
• Active : She has been watering this plant.
• Passive : This plant has been being watered by her.
k. Jika active voice dalam past perfect continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah had been + being.
Contoh:
• Active : He had been meeting them.
• Passive : They had been being met by him.
• Active : She had been watering this plant.
• Passive : This plant had been being watered by her.
l. Jika active voice dalam future continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah will be + being.
Contoh:
• Active : He will be meeting them.
• Passive : They will be being met by him.
• Active : She will be watering this plant.
• Passive : This plant will be being watered by her.
m. Jika active voice dalam past future continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah would be + being.
Contoh:
• Active : He would be meeting them.
• Passive : They would be being met by him.
• Active : She would be watering this plant.
• Passive : This plant would be being watered by her.
n. Jika active voice dalam future perfect continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah will have been + being.
Contoh:
• Active : He will have been meeting them.
• Passive : They will have been being met by him.
• Active : She will have been watering this plant.
• Passive : This plant will have been being watered by her.
o. Jika active voice dalam past future perfect continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah would have been + being.
Contoh:
• Active : He would be meeting them.
• Passive : They would be being met by him.
• Active : She would be watering this plant.
• Passive : This plant would be being watered by her.
Contoh-contoh yang lain:
1. Koko’s nose is bleeding. He was punched by his friend right on his nose. (Hidung Koko sedang berdarah. Dia dipukul oleh temannya tepat di hidungnya).
2. The Indonesian football team was beaten by the Saudi Arabian team. (Team sepakbola Indonesia dikalahkan oleh team arab Saudi).
3. These plants were watered by my sister a few minutes ago. (Tanaman-tanaman ini disirami oleh adikku beberapa menit yang lalu).
4. There is no meal left. All has been devoured by Yeyes. (Tidak ada makan yang tersisa. Semuanya telah dilahap habis oleh Yeyes).
5. English is studied by all high school students. (Bahasa Inggris dipelajari oleh semua murid sekolah menengah lanjutan (SMP dan SMA).
