Grammar Rules · Passive voice
Passive voice.
The passive is be + past participle: "The email was sent." Only verbs that take an object can go passive; happen, occur, appear, and sleep cannot, so "was happened" is always wrong. When you know who did the action, the active form is usually clearer: "I made a mistake", not "A mistake was made by me." One case runs the other way: "born" needs the passive: "I was born in Seoul."
Wrong → right
| Common mistake | Corrected |
|---|---|
| The accident was happened last night. | The accident happened last night. |
| The error was appeared again this morning. | The error appeared again this morning. |
| I was slept only four hours. | I slept only four hours. |
| The problem was occurred during the update. | The problem occurred during the update. |
| I borned in Seoul in 1990. | I was born in Seoul in 1990. |
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