I can understand why passive sentences can be confusing for some people. They are taught the whole "was" and "by" thing, and just when they're getting a handle on it, they encounter a sentence like:
Joe was tired by noon.
Goodness gracious, that's the same structure as "The ball was thrown by Joe," which is passive. So "Joe was tired by noon" should be passive too, right?
Uh no . . .
Joe was tired by noon.
Goodness gracious, that's the same structure as "The ball was thrown by Joe," which is passive. So "Joe was tired by noon" should be passive too, right?
Uh no . . .