Can't you use the present perfect in the sentence "Richard has shown me a film about Wales"?
If I turn it in the passive voice using the personal construction:
I have been shown a film by Richard
Why shall I use the simple past in the passive voice if the active sentence is in the present perfect?
Thank you for the explanation.
Yes, you can use whatever tense you want. The present perfect reads well, whether active or passive.
In English, verb tenses can be tricky, but they follow certain patterns and rules. Let's break down the example sentence and examine how the tenses are used in both the active and passive voice.
The active voice sentence "Richard has shown me a film about Wales" uses the present perfect tense. The present perfect tense is typically used to describe an action that happened in the past but has a connection to the present. In this case, it implies that the action of showing the film has recently occurred.
Now, when we convert this sentence to the passive voice, it becomes "I have been shown a film by Richard." Here, we use the present perfect tense in the passive voice as well. The verb "have been shown" is the passive form of "has shown." The structure of this construction is: subject of the sentence + have/has/had + been + past participle.
However, you mentioned using the simple past tense in the passive voice. Let's explore that:
To transform the original sentence into the passive voice with the simple past tense, we would say: "I was shown a film by Richard." In this case, the verb "was shown" is the passive form of "has shown." The structure of this construction is: subject of the sentence + was/were + past participle.
So, in summary, if the active sentence is in the present perfect tense, the typical way to transform it into the passive voice is to also use the present perfect tense ("have been" + past participle). However, you can use the simple past tense in the passive voice, but it will reflect a change in the original tense.
It's important to note that the choice of tense can depend on the specific context and the meaning you want to convey. The explanations provided here are based on common usage patterns, but there may be instances where variations are appropriate.
I hope this explanation helps clarify how tenses are used in the active and passive voices. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask!