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Speaker 1: Thanks for joining me for today's podcast English Lesson. Did

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you know that this podcast was started in twenty fourteen.

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On top of that, my company, Happy English was established

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in twenty ten. Those two facts have been presented to

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you using the passive voice, and that is the focus

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of our lesson today.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast coming to you from

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New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael all Rye.

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Speaker 1: Thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael here from

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Happy English and I help people speak English better. This

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is Happy English Podcast Episode seven forty three. The passive

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voice for this podcast English Lesson. Let's look at what

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the passive voice is and whent to use it. We'll

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also go over some examples to help you understand this

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concept better. Let's get started with this little story about

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my friend Donna, which illustrates the active and passive voices

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in English. Donna loves gardening and spends most of her

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weekends working in her backyard. Last Saturday, she planted a

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variety of flowers, including tulips, roses, and daisies. She carefully

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watered each plant and added fertilizer to the soil to

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help them grow. As she worked, she noticed a group

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of butterflies fluttering around, attracted by the bright colors of

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the flowers. Donna felt a deep sense of satisfaction as

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she looked at the beautiful gardens she had created. By

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the end of the day, the garden had been transformed

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into a vibrant oasis. The flowers were planted in neat rows,

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and the entire area was meticulously organized. The garden was

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admired by all who passed by, and compliments were given

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to Dinna for her hard work. The butterflies continue to

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visit the garden, and their presence was enjoyed by everyone

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who stopped to take in the view. In the evenings,

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the garden was illuminated by soft lights, creating a peaceful

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atmosphere that could be appreciated by all. You may have

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already learned that in English we have two main voices,

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active voice and passive voice. But do you know what

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voice means in this context? Basically, the term voice in

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language refers to how a sentence is made. The voice

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shows us whether the subject of the sentence is doing

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the action or receiving the action. When we use the

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active voice, the subject of the sentence is doing the action.

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For example, in the cat chased the mouse, the subject

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is the cat and the cat is doing the action

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of chasing. We know who the actor is. It's the cat.

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So when we say the cat chased the mouse, the

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cat is the actor. This is the active voice. On

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the other hand, when we use the passive voice, the

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subject of the sentence is receiving the action instead of

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doing the action. For example, in the mouse was chased

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by the cat, the subject is the mouse and the

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mouse is receiving the action of the verb chase. We

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know that the target of the action is the mouse.

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So when we say the mouse was chased by the cat,

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the mouse is the target. This is the passive voice.

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So voice is just about who or what is the

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focus of the action in a sentence, Whether the focus

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is on the doer of the action active or on

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the receiver of the action passive. Most sentences you come

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across in English are in the active voice, where the

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subject of the sentence performs the action. When we know

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who or what is doing the action, we prefer using

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the active voice. For example, the thief stole the car.

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In this sentence, the subject is the thief, the action

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is stole, and the object is the car. Now, let's

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have a look at how this sentence changes when we

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use the passive voice. The car was stolen by the thief.

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In the passive voice, the focus shifts from who is

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performing the action to the object that is receiving the action. Here,

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the car becomes the focus of the sentence and the

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thief is mentioned at the end. To be honest, when

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we use the passive voice in everyday conversation, we generally

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don't mention who did the action, because when we want

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to talk about who did something, we prefer to use

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an active voice. A natural way to speak would be

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either to say the thief stole the car or the

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car was stolen. The most important thing I want you

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to get from today's lesson is when we typically use

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the passive voice, and that's next. In everyday conversational English,

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we generally use the passive voice when the actor or

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the doer of the action is either unknown or unimportant.

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For example, according to the news, the bank was robbed

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sometime over the weekend. When I walked by that old house,

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I noticed that some of the windows were broken. The

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trees in this park were planted over one hundred years ago.

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In each of these examples, the focus and the grammatical

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subject of the sentence is the result of the action.

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The bank was robbed, the windows were broken, and the

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trees were planted. Who did the action is either unknown

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or unimportant for the conversation. Okay, let's take a break there.

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In the next episode, we'll take a look at how

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the passive is used in three other situations and in

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various verb tenses. Keep in mind, the best way to

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remember this and any other word or phrase in English

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is to take that word or phrase, write it in

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a sentence that's true for you or true in your world,

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and then memorize your sentences. Hey, did you know that

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you can get the chance to practice this kind of

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English with me directly? You can get more practice using

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your English when you join my podcast Learner's Study Group.

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There you can make new friends, join us for live

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group lessons every week where we practice these podcast lessons together.

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Plus you get access to the pdf, transcript and audio

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download for every Happy English put in the past and

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in the future. And on top of that, each episode

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has exercises where you can practice this English point with

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speaking and writing checked by me. To learn more, just

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visit Myhappy english dot com and check podcast lesson seven

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forty three. Remember, learning another language is not easy, but

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it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you on

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your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please

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visit Myhappy English dot com. Show your support for Happy

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English by leaving us a review. Get English, Get happy

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