THE PASSIVE VOICE
Let’s look at this sentence:
I drank two cups of coffee.
This is an active sentence and it has the subject
first (the person or thing that does the verb), followed by the verb, and
finally the object (the person or thing that the action happens to).
So, in this
example, the subject is 'I', the verb is 'drank' and the object is 'two cups of
coffee'.
But, we don't
always need to make sentences this way. We might want to put the object first,
or perhaps we don't want to say who did something. This can happen for lots of
reasons (see the explanation further down the page). In this case, we can use a
passive, which puts the object
first:
Two cups of coffee were
drunk
(we can add 'by me' if we want,
but it isn't necessary).
➤➤ How to make the Passive in English
We make the
passive by putting the verb 'to be' into whatever tense we need and then adding
the past participle. For regular verbs, we make the past participle by adding
'ed' to the infinitive. So ‘play’ becomes ‘played’.
|
Tense |
Active |
Passive |
|
present
simple |
I make a
cake. |
A cake is
made (by me). |
|
present
continuous |
I am making
a cake. |
A cake is
being made (by me). |
|
past simple |
I made a
cake. |
A cake was
made (by me). |
|
past
continuous |
I was
making a cake. |
A cake was being made (by me). |
|
present
perfect |
I have made
a cake. |
A cake has
been made (by me). |
|
present perfect continuous |
I have been making a cake. |
A cake has
been being made (by me). |
|
past perfect |
I had made a
cake. |
A cake had been made (by me). |
|
future
simple |
I will make
a cake. |
A cake will
be made (by me). |
|
future
perfect |
I will have made a cake. |
A cake will
have been made (by me). |
➤➤ Verbs
with two objects
Some verbs that
have two objects can make two different active sentences, and so two different
passive sentences too.
For example, the verb ‘give’ is like this:
Active: He
gave me the book / He gave the book to me.
You can
choose either of the two objects to be the subject of the passive sentence.
Passive: I was given the book (by him)/
The book was given to me (by him).
➤Other verbs like this are: ask, offer, teach, tell, lend, promise,
sell, throw.
➤➤ The passive in subordinate clause
You can make the
passive in a subordinate clause that has a subject and a normal conjugated
verb. This is really the same as a normal passive.
Active: I thought that Mary had kissed John.
Passive: I thought that John had been kissed by Mary.
Active: He knew that people had built the church in 1915. Passive: He knew that
the church had been built in 1915.
You can also make the passive using a passive gerund
or a passive infinitive in the same place as a normal gerund or infinitive.
The child loves being cuddled. She would like to be
promoted.
➤➤
When should we use the passive?
1)
When we want to change the focus of the sentence:
The Mona Lisa was painted by
Leonardo Da Vinci. (We are more interested in the painting than the
artist in this sentence)
2) When who or what causes the action is unknown or unimportant
or obvious or 'people in general':
He was arrested (obvious agent, the police).
My bike has been stolen (unknown agent).
The road is
being repaired (unimportant agent).
The form can be obtained
from the post office (people in general).
3)
In factual or scientific writing:
The chemical is placed in a
test tube and the data entered into the computer.
4) In formal writing instead of using someone/ people/ they
(these can be used in speaking or informal writing):
The brochure will be finished next month.
5)
In order to put the new information at the
end of the sentence to improve style:
Three books are used
regularly in the class. The books were written by Dr. Bell.
('Dr. Bell wrote the books' sound
clumsy)
6)
When the subject is very long:
I was surprised by how well the
students did in the test. (More natural than: 'how well the students did in the
test surprised me')
 |
➤➤Exercise 31. The Passive: Mixed Tenses
Change these sentences from
active to passive:
1.
People speak Portuguese in Brazil.
2.
The Government is planning a new road near my house.
3.
My grandfather built this house in 1943.
4.
Picasso was painting Guernica at that time.
5.
The cleaner has cleaned the office.
6.
He had written three books before 1867.
7.
John will tell you later.
8.
By this time tomorrow we will have signed the deal.
9. Somebody should do the work.
10.The traffic might have delayed Jimmy. 11.Everybody loves Mr Brown.
12.They are
building a new stadium near the station. 13.The wolf ate the princess.
14.At six
o’clock someone was telling a story. 15.Somebody has drunk all the milk!
13. I had
cleaned all the windows before the storm.
17.A workman will repair the
computer tomorrow.
18.By next year
the students will have studied the passive. 19.James might cook dinner.
20.Somebody must have taken my wallet.
➤➤Exercise 32. The Passive: Verbs with Two Objects
This time there are two
answers:
1.
John gave a bar of chocolate to Jill.
a:
b:
2.
I lent a pencil to Graham.
a: _b:
3.
Fiona told the truth to Julian.
a:
_ b:
4. They
offered the job to Simon.
a: _b:
5.
The boss showed the new computer to Anna.
a:
b:
6. Julie
taught the grammar to the students.
a:
_ b:
7. I sent
the email to John.
a:
_ b:
8. Lucy
threw the ball to the child.
a:
_ b:
9.
Sophia sold the car to a doctor.
a:
_ b:
10.
I asked the question to David.
a:
_ b:
➤➤Exercise 33. The Passive in Subordinate Clauses
1.
I like someone looking after me when I’m ill.
2.
She hates people laughing at her.
3.
It seems that someone lost the papers.
4.
He thinks that someone is teasing Lucy.
5.
I hope someone will examine me soon.
6.
John would like someone to promote him.
7.
The cat enjoys someone tickling him.
8.
They claim that someone stole the money.
9.
We imagined that the storm damaged the car.
10. I
believe that some is preparing food.
