Active and Passive sentences

Hi can you tell me whether the following sentences are correct?

Active Sentence
The dog bites the man

Passive Sentence
The man is being bitten by the dog

Are the above sentences correct?


Or does the active sentence and passive sentence both have to use the past tense, i.e the dog bit the man, and the man was bitten by the dog.

Thank you for your help.

Originally Posted by Anonymous

Hi can you tell me whether the following sentences are correct?

Active Sentence
The dog bites the man

Passive Sentence
The man is being bitten by the dog

Are the above sentences correct?


Or does the active sentence and passive sentence both have to use the past tense, i.e the dog bit the man, and the man was bitten by the dog.

Thank you for your help.

The first sentence is grammatically correct. It is the simple present tense. However, we usually use the simple present tense to state a general truth. This particular action is more likely to be something that is in progress or continuous. [The dog is biting the man.]

The second sentence is grammatically correct, but I'd say using the passive voice in that particular context doesn't work very well. To me, it's rather awkward sounding.

I would rewrite it as follows: The dog is biting the man.

I hope that helps. :)

Or does the active sentence and passive sentence both have to use the past tense, i.e the dog bit the man, and the man was bitten by the dog. <<<

1. The dog bit the man.

2. The man was bitten by the dog.

These sentences make more sense in the past. I see no problem with using the simple past or the passive voice/simple past here.

No problem. 8) :)