Note the following:

• As evidenced above, in converting a sentence in active voice to a sentence in the passive voice, the object of the active voice sentence becomes the subject of the passive voice sentence.

EXAMPLE: He drew the picture. / The picture was drawn by him.

• Sentences in the passive voice do not make sense if the "doers" are not mentioned.

EXAMPLE: "The match was won." ('doers' left out) as opposed to "The match was won by Liverpool"

• A transitive verb is a verb that has an object that comes after it and so can be changed into the passive voice.

EXAMPLE: "Lee throws a ball." can be changed to "A ball is thrown by Lee".

• An intransitive verb is a verb that does not have an object following it and so cannot be changed into the passive voice.

EXAMPLE: Lee walks away. (INCORRECT: Lee was walked away.)

• The passive voice is often used to evade responsibility by people or organizations.

EXAMPLE: The report was lost by somebody. (Who is that 'somebody'?)
EXAMPLE: All workers are encouraged to work overtime. (Encouraged by whom?)

• Notices often use the passive voice.

EXAMPLE: Customers are advised to leave all their belongings here.

• An active sentence when changed to a passive sentence conveys the same meaning. The only difference is that the object in an active sentence is repositioned to become the subject in a passive sentence, and the subject in the active sentence becomes the object in the passive sentence.

• We need to be sure of what we are saying. If we are not sure of our facts, we can exercise caution by saying: It is said that he is the culprit. / He is said to be the culprit.

• It is possible to use 'get' instead of 'to be', especially so in our everyday conversation.

EXAMPLE: I got cheated by the salesman. / They think he will get beaten in the race.