[Grammar] fun to learn and learning is fun

[Oceanlike]

I am somewhat confused with active and passive voice.

Is this sentence active voice?
- It is fun to learn English

Is this sentence passive voice?
- Learning English is fun

What is the key to differentiating between active and passive voice?

Thank you! :-D

 

[Matthew Wai]

I consider both 'to learn' and 'learning' active, but I am not a teacher.

 

[Oceanlike]

Thank you, Matthew! May I know how to rephrase it in passive voice? :-D

 

[Matthew Wai]

I consider 'to be learnt' and 'being learnt' passive, but I am not a teacher.

 

[Rover_KE]

There is no natural-sounding passive voice version, nor, as I see it, any reason to try to create one.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Are the following natural-sounding?

'The language to be learnt by all is English.'
'The language being learnt is English.'

Not a teacher.

 

[teechar]

They're not passive!

 

[Matthew Wai]

The sentences are not passive, but are the phrases 'to be learnt' and 'being learnt' passive?

 

[teechar]

... are the phrases 'to be learnt' and 'being learnt' passive?

Yes, they can be considered as passive non-finite verb phrases.

The sentences are not passive ...

Correct! The finite verbs in those sentences are in the active voice.

 

[Oceanlike]

Gosh! I'm confused.......There is so much that I don't know

I thought these examples brought up by Matthew were passive....:-(

- 'The language to be learnt by all is English.'
- 'The language being learnt is English.'

 

[Matthew Wai]

I thought these examples brought up by Matthew were passive....:-(

I think the infinitive phrase and the gerund phrase rather than the sentences are passive, but I am not a teacher.

 

[teechar]

I thought these examples brought up by Matthew were passive.

The main clause in both sentences is "The language is English." The reduced relative clauses in the middle of those sentences, just provide extra information.

The language [which is to be learnt by all] is English.
The language [which is being learnt] is English.

You can see that both are active sentences.