summary of passive voice

ENGLISH GRAMMAR The Passive Voice 1 THE PASSIVE VOICE INTRODUCTION The passive of an active tense is formed by putting the verb to be into the same tense as the active verb and adding the past participle of the active verb The subject of the active verb becomes the agent of the passive verb The agent is very often not mentioned When it is mentioned it is preceded by by and placed at the end of the clause Active My grandfather planted this tree Passive This tree was planted by my grandfather PASSIVE VERB TENSES ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE Present Simple He delivers the letters The letters are delivered Past Simple He delivered the letters The letters were delivered Future Simple He will deliver the letters The letters will be delivered Present Continuous He is delivering the letters The letters are being delivered Past Continuous He was delivering the letters The letters were being delivered Going to He is going to deliver the letters The letters are going to be delivered Present Perfect He has delivered the letters The letters have been delivered Past Perfect He had delivered the letters The letters had been delivered Infinitive He has to deliver the letters The letters have to be delivered Modals He must deliver the letters The letters must be delivered SIMPLE CONTINUOUS PERFECT S amisare Ptp S amisare being Ptp S havehas been Ptp PRESENT - S amisare not Ptp S amisare not being Ptp S havehas not been Ptp AmIsAre S Ptp AmIsAre S being Ptp HaveHas S been Ptp S waswere Ptp S waswere being Ptp S had been Ptp PAST - S waswere not Ptp S waswere not being Ptp S had not been Ptp WasWere S PtpV WasWere S being Ptp Had S been Ptp S will be Ptp FUTURE - S will not be Ptp Will S be Ptp S V to be amisare going to be Ptp GOING TO - S V to be amisare not going to be Ptp V to be amisare S going to be Ptp

2 Short answers To make short answers we use the verb to be amisarewaswere for Present Simple Past Simple Present Continuous Past Continuous and Going To questions we use the verb have havehashad for Present Perfect and Past Perfect questions we use will for Future Simple questions USE The Passive is used 1 when the agent the person who does the action is unknown unimportant or obvious from the context Jane was shot We dont know who shot her This church was built in 1815 Unimportant agent He has been arrested Obviously by the police 2 to make more polite or formal statements The car hasnt been cleaned more polite You havent cleaned the car less polite 3 when the action is more important than the agent as in processes instructions events reports headlines new items and advertisements 30 people were killed in the earthquake 4 to put emphasis on the agent The new library will be opened by the Queen AGENT To say who did the action that we are talking about ie to refer to the agent we use the preposition by and the name by Peter noun by the teacher or pronoun by him at the end of the sentence We usually only refer to the agent when it gives us some important information which otherwise would be missing from the sentence Our house was designed by a famous architect We dont mention the agent 1 if we dont know who has done what we are talking about Our car was stolen last night We dont know who stole it 2 if we are not interested in who has done what we are talking about or it is not important to mention it He has been taken to hospital What we are interested in is the fact that he has been taken to hospital and not who has taken him 3 if it is easy to understand who did something without it being mentioned The murderer was arrested last night It is not necessary to mention that he has been arrested by the police because it is self-evident 4 if the subject of the active voice sentence is something like somebody people they you etc Someone broke the window The window was broken ACTIVE TO PASSIVE To change a sentence from the active voice to the passive voice the object of the active voice sentence becomes the subject of the passive voice sentence Agatha Christie wrote this book This book was written by Agatha Christie we change the main verb of the active voice sentence into the passive voice The tense remains unchanged the subject of the active voice sentence becomes the agent of the passive sentence It is placed after the past participle and it is preceded by the preposition by

ENGLISH GRAMMAR The Passive Voice 3 Agatha Christie wrote this book This book was written by Agatha Christie Leslie took this photograph yesterday SUBJECT ACTIVE VERB OBJECT TIME COMPLEMENT This photograph was taken by Leslie yesterday SUBJECT PASSIVE VERB AGENT TIME COMPLEMENT BY OR WITH In the passive voice we use by with the agent to refer to by whom the action is being done The door was opened by Mr Black Mr Blak agent with to refer to the instrument object or material that was used for something to be done The door was opened with a key a key the object that was used The omelette was made with eggs cheese and peppers eggs cheese and peppers the material that was used DOUBLE OBJECT VERBS When we have verbs that take two objects like for example give somebody something we can convert the active sentence into a passive one in two ways a by making the indirect animate object the subject of the passive voice sentence which is also the way that we usually prefer b By making the direct inanimate object the subject of the passive voice Rick gave me indirect object this book direct object I was given this book by Rick This book was given to me by Rick Some of the verbs that take two objects are give tell send show bring write offer pay etc When the indirect object is alone after the verb in the passive voice sentence it needs the preposition to If the indirect object of the active voice sentence is a personal pronoun it has to be changed into a subject pronoun to be the subject of the passive voice sentence SUBJECT OBJECT I me SUBJECT OBJECT You you We us He him You you She her They them It it BIBLIOGRAPHY - A J Thomson and AV Martinet A Practical English Grammar Oxford University Press 1986 - V Evans Round-Up English Grammar Practice Longman 1995 - M Carling and S Jervis Grammar Time 4 Longman 2003 - S Jervis Grammar Time 5 Longman 2003 - M Carling Grammar Time 6 Longman 2003

4 EXERCISES 1 Complete the sentences with the correct passive form of the verbs in brackets Use the Present Simple a English speak in many countries b The post deliver at about 7 oclock every morning c the buildinguse any more d How often the Olympic Gameshold e How your namespell f My salary pay every month g These cars not make in Japan h The name of the people who committed the crime not know i His travel expenses not pay by his company 2 Complete the sentences with the correct passive form of the verbs in brackets Use the Past Simple a My car repair last week b This song not write by John Lennon c the phoneanswer by a young girl d The film make ten years ago e When tennisinvent f The car not damaged in the accident g The original building pull down in 1965 h Where this potmake i When this bridgebuild 3 Choose the correct form of the verbs in brackets FIAT Fiat 0 was started startedwas started by a group of Italian businessmen in 1899 In 1903 Fiat 1 producedwas produced 132 cars Some of these cars 2 exportedwere exported by the company to the United States and Britain In 1920 Fiat 3 startedwas started making cars at a new factory at Lingotto near Turin There was a track on the roof where the cars 4 testedwere tested by technicians In 1936 Fiat launched the Fiat 500 This car 5 calledwas called the Topolino the Italian name for Mickey Mouse The company grew and in 1963 Fiat 6 exportedwas exported more than 300000 vehicles Today Fiat is based in Turin and its cars 7 soldare sold all over the world 4 Change the following sentences into passive sentences using the words in brackets a We sell tickets for all shows at the Box Office Tickets for all showssellat the Box Office b Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb The electric light bulbinventby Thomas Edison c Someone painted the office last week The officepaintlast week d Several people saw the accident The accidentseeby several people e Where do they make these video recorders Wherethese video recordersmake

ENGLISH GRAMMAR The Passive Voice 5 5 Rewrite these sentences in the passive voice a Someone built this house 200 years ago b A thief stole my purse c The police will arrest the robbers d They produce cars in this factory e They serve breakfast at eight oclock every day f People throw away tones of rubbish every day g They make coffee in Brazil h Someone stole Jims bike lat night 6 Rewrite these sentences in the passive voice a They will build a new bridge next year b Brian Brody directed The Ultimate Space Adventure c Pierre Matie will design her costume d Someone found my wallet e One of the students broke the window f They will deliver my computer on Monday g Mary invited Paul to her birthday party h British astronomers discovered a new planet 7 Form the question a Paper is made from wood Is paper made from wood b The telephone was invented by Mr Bell c This picture was painted by Peter d The thieves will be arrested by the police e Champagne is made in France f The letters will be sent next week g The animals are fed three times a day h This article was written by Stanley

6 i CDs are made of plastic j The party was organised by Paul 8 Read and complete Use Past Simple a The toothbrush invent in the 15th century b The first public basketball game play in 1892 c The first eyeglasses wear in the 1200s d The first bicycle ride in 1791 e The first hot dog eat in the 1860s f The first CDs sell in the 1980s g The first electric guitar play in 1923 h The first computer mouse use 1964 9 Complete with the passive Use Present Simple a This programme watch by millions of people b Paper make from wood c Hundreds of people kill in accidents every year d London visit by thousands of tourists every year e The biology class teach by Mr Green f English speak all over the world g Lunch serve at twelve oclock h Books write by authors 10 Put the verbs in brackets into Past Simple Passive Two men see breaking into a house in my street last night The police call and they arrived very quickly One man catch immediately The other escaped but he find very soon Both men take to the police station where they question separately by a police officer The two men charge with burglary 11 Rewrite the following passage in the Passive Somebody has stolen a bus from outside the school Some children saw the thief The police are searching for the bus now They will use the childrens descriptions to catch the thief

ENGLISH GRAMMAR The Passive Voice 7 12 Rewrite the following passage in the Passive Some people saw a UFO in the sky above London last night They reported it to the police The army sent a helicopter to look at it more closer The UFO shot the helicopter down and killed both men in it People have given photographs of the UFO to the police Experts are looking at them now 13 Rewrite the following passage in the Passive Someone broke into a local jewellery shop yesterday The owner had just locked up the shop when a robber with a gun threatened him The robber told him to unlock the shop and give him all the diamonds in the safe Then the robber tied him up The police have organized a search for the robber They hope they will find him in a few days Doctors are treating the owner of the shop for shock 14 Rewrite the following passage in the Passive My uncle painted this picture Someone has offered him a lot of money for it He will deliver the painting tomorrow When they give him the money he will tell them the truth He painted it one night while he was sleepwalking 15 Rewrite the following passage in the Passive Our school is organizing a contest The teachers will choose the best project about the environment The students must include pictures and drawings in their projects The students will also have to do all the writing themselves The school will give the winner a set of encyclopaedias 16 Turn from Active to Passive in two ways a He gave me a present b The waiter will bring us the bill c Her mother bought Mary some sweets d Bob has sold Ted a second-hand car

8 e Larry is going to send a letter to Tom 17 Turn from Active to Passive a Someone is helping her with the housework b The mail-order company sent Mrs Green a parcel c My friend sent me an invitation d The secretary has given Mrs Jones some letters e The traffic warden had already given him a ticket for illegal parking f John gave Elizabeth that beautiful ring g Her students have sent her flowers h He must give the message to the right person i We teach our students English and French j Someone bought flowers for the bride k They showed the tourists the sights of Athens l They pay her an excellent salary m They paid the artist 1000 for his painting 18 Rewrite these sentences in the passive voice 1 They sell oysters in the shop next door 2 They havent delivered the food yet 3 Shakespeare wrote King Lear 4 They have to answer the questions on this sheet 5 Has anybody put the cases upstairs 6 Someone should take this rubbish away 7 Theyll ask you a lot of questions 8 Someones going to send her some flowers

ENGLISH GRAMMAR The Passive Voice 9 9 They didnt pay me much for that job 10 Have they offered him a better job 11 They told us a secret 12 Would they lend me their car 13 People should send their complaints to the head office 14 They had to postpone the meeting because of illness 15 They are going to hold next years congress in San Francisco 16 The bill includes service 17 People dont use this road very often 18 They cancelled all the flights because of fog 19 Somebody accused me of stealing the money 20 They are building a new ring-road round the city 21 I didnt realize that someone was recording our conversation 22 They have changed the date of the meeting 23 Brian told me that somebody had attacked and robbed him in the street 24 You should open the wine about three hours before you use it 25 Somebody had cleaned my shoes and brushed my suit 26 We use this room only on special occasions 27 In some districts farmers use pigs to find truffles 28 John gave Elizabeth that beautiful ring 29 They have offered Sarah a very good job 30 The estate agent showed the house to the young people 31 We will pay the gardener a lot of money 32 Someone is going to repair the roof next week

10 33 They cant find Joanna 34 They should decorate the room with flowers 35 Archaeologists have discovered an ancient temple 36 We will put all these things into boxes 37 The firefighters rescued the teenagers from the burning building 38 The youngest student in the class has written the best composition 39 The children send me messages every day 40 The villagers gave the travellers food and water 41 A very talented young girl wrote the story 42 They are going to finish the new road in a few days 43 They cancelled the match because of the rain 44 You must not cross this line 45 They had picked the oranges before the storm 46 Professor Smith should write the book 47 Mr Elliot will pay the workers 48 Two men were following Tom 49 Millions of people use the Internet every day 50 They gave Bob a CD player for his birthday 51 The prime minister will give a medal to the winners 52 She is telling the children a story 53 Theyve offered Sally a job 54 Poisonous chemicals have polluted the river 55 Doctor Simms is examining her 56 You must stop him now 57 Someone gave them free tickets for the concert