Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive. Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.
After some verbs the direct object can be followed by an object complement – a noun or adjective which describes or classifies the object. They elected him their leader. The other children called her stupid. We all regarded her as an expert. Queen Victoria considered him a genius.
Many verbs can be followed by two objects – an indirect object and a direct object. The indirect object usually refers to a person and the direct object usually refers to a thing. Two structures are possible. She gave me (indirect object) a nice gift (direct object). She gave a nice gift (direct object) to…
Not all verbs can have passive forms. Passive structures are not possible with intransitive verbs like die, cry or arrive, which cannot have objects. He died yesterday. The baby cried aloud.
Simple Present Active verb form: write/writes He writes a letter. I write letters. Passive verb form: is/am/are + written A letter is written by him. Letters are written by me.
When we say what people and things do, we use active verb forms. When we say what happens to people and things – what is done to them – we often use passive verb forms.