Final answer:
It is true that passive voice uses being verbs, which include forms of the verb "to be." In passive voice, the subject is acted upon, often using the verb "was" or "were" with the past participle of the main verb and could include the preposition "by."
Step-by-step explanation:
It is true that passive voice uses being verbs, which are various forms of the verb "to be." In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is acted upon by the verb and the object of the action often becomes the subject of the sentence.
For instance, the passive sentence "The survey was conducted by the researchers" uses the being verb "was" along with the past participle "conducted" to form a passive construction, where "survey" is the subject receiving the action. This can be contrasted with the active voice, where the subject performs the action, such as "The researchers conducted the survey."
Consider these steps to determine if a sentence is in passive voice:
- The subject is not conducting the action, but is being acted upon.
- A form of the be verb (am, is, are, was, were) appears with the past participle (-ed or –en) form of the verb.
- The preposition "by [noun phrase]" either appears in the sentence or can be added.
Using these criteria, sentences like "Mistakes were made by top-level officials" and "The electricity was turned off by the power company" are examples of passive voice.