Active & Passive voice

[Fazzu]

Dear teachers,

1.A lot of people speak French. Active
2.French is the only language spoken in this province.(agent not identified) Passive

Isn't it both of the sentences in simple present tense?
What makes these two sentences active and passive voice?

Fazzu

[Tdol]

They are both in the simple present tense. What makes the second passive is that the verb shopwing the tense is the auxiliary verb 'be' and the lexical part of the verb is in the past participle.

[rewboss]

In other words: The passive voice is formed by taking "to be" in the appropriate tense, followed by the past participle of the main verb.

For example:

Present continuous: present tense of "to be" plus the present participle:
He is showing her the photographs.
The film is being shown in movie theatres across the country.

Past perfect: past tense of "to have" plus the past participle:
Mavis had eaten the whole cake.
The zebra had been eaten by the lion.

[Fazzu]

Sorry for the delay,can I also say this way in (Passive voice):

French is spoken by many people?

Also, Passive voices should not be always in past tense?

[Fazzu]

Anyone for help?It seems everyone is busy with their work.

[Tdol]

Yes, you can say that and the passive can be used in most forms- present tense, past tense, etc. The present and past perfect progressive forms are raely seen (It has been being done), because having the two forms of 'be' together is rather clumsy.

[Fazzu]

Thanks tdol.
That really helps.

[Tdol]

You're welcome, Fazzu.