passive versus active

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hi mr Gentel and associates

could you please assist me with some of these questions. for each could you please explain to me why the sentence is in the passive or active form.

1) The image was taken in 1979. ( past simple passive)
please tell me why this is in the passive form rather than active

2) Jenny posed for American photographer Lee Freidlander ( past simple active) why is this in the active form

3) Jenny's body remains in remarkable shape for 50. ( present simple active)
why is this in the active form

4) The singer is also seen in a photo shoot for W magazine.( present simple passive)
why is this in the passive form

thank you for your time.

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@saj,

The boy kicked the ball... ACTIVE....Subject performs action.
Your sentences 2 & 3

The ball was kicked by the boy.....PASSIVE...Subject receives action.
Your sentences 1 &4

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@saj,

saj wrote:

could you please assist me with some of these questions. for each could you please explain to me why the sentence is in the passive or active form.

Fresco already explained it, but in case it isn't clear I'll do it again with some examples.

Quote:

1) The image was taken in 1979. ( past simple passive)
please tell me why this is in the passive form rather than active

Because the subject of the sentence "the image" doesn't do anything. It has something done to it. To rewrite the sentence to make it active would look like this:

Somebody took this images in 1979.

Now, "somebody" is the subject of the sentence and has performed the action.

Try making example pairs like this and it should become clearer to you.

I broke the window. - Active
The window was broken. - Passive

I shot the sheriff. - Active
The sheriff was shot. - Passive

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passive versus active

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