Active vs passive voice

[nash.avi]

This is active voice:(1) attributes x to y
and this is passive: (2) x is attributed to y.

How is (2) passive voice?

Thanks in advance.

[nash.avi]

Adding to question above:

[1] For the job, it is required that applicants submit a 100 word essay and a resume.
[2] For the job, applicants are required to submit a 100 word essay and a resume.
[3] For the job, the requirement is a 100 word essay and a resume.

How is [1] and [2] passive voice (while [3] is not)?

Also, is "is" in [3] correct or should it be "are"?

[4] X is useful as a Y
[5] X is used as a Y

While [4] is active voice, how is [5] passive?

[6] Does the usage "have been" make the voice of the sentence passive?

Could you please throw some light on this. I have been searching for notes on Passive voice in the forum.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[RonPurewal]

[1] For the job, it is required that applicants submit a 100 word essay and a resume.
[2] For the job, applicants are required to submit a 100 word essay and a resume.
[3] For the job, the requirement is a 100 word essay and a resume.

these are all badly written sentences.
if you isolate "for the job", then you're implying that the "applicants" already have the job. (this is what it means when you do something "for the job": you already have the job.)

if people are applying FOR the job, then you CANNOT split up the phrase "applicants for the job".

also, there should be a hyphen between "100" and "word".

--

How is [1] and [2] passive voice (while [3] is not)?

do you know what a past participle is?
these are words like taken, broken, sewn, thrown, etc.
any construction with a form of BE + past participle is called a passive voice construction.

this is the answer to any and all of your "how is X passive voice?" questions: if it has this form, then it's passive voice. if it doesn't, then it's not.

it's simply a matter of identification.
your question is similar to asking "how is i saw the bird past tense, but i see the bird isn't?" --> the answer is just "you have to be able to recognize these things."

--

Also, is "is" in [3] correct or should it be "are"?

#3 is HORRIBLY written, especially if it's meant to have the same meaning as do #1 and #2. it doesn't even mention anything about applicants or applying!

it should be "is", since "requirement" is the subject.

[4] X is useful as a Y
[5] X is used as a Y

While [4] is active voice, how is [5] passive?

see above.
the passive voice takes the same form every time: (form of TO BE) + past participle.
"useful" is not a participle; it's an adjective.
"used" is a participle, like "taken", "thrown", etc.

[6] Does the usage "have been" make the voice of the sentence passive?

no.

if it's "have been" + PAST PARTICIPLE, then, yes.

e.g., "have been thrown" is passive voice.
"these have been good in the past" is active voice.