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LET’S REVIEW THE VERB TO BE
• The Present Simple Tense
• The Present Continuous Tense
• The Present Perfect Tense –
• The Past Simple Tense
• The Past Continuous Tense
• The Future Tense
• With modals
– AM, IS, ARE
– AM/IS/ARE BEING
HAVE BEEN, HAS BEEN
– WAS, WERE
– WAS/WERE BEING
– WILL BE
– CAN BE, WOULD BE, SHOULD BE, MAY BE, MUST BE…
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FORM
• The passive is formed with the verb to be (in the appropriate tense)
+ past participle (the past participle of the main verb)
The terrorist was arrested early this morning.
Toyota cars are made in Japan.
A new class representative will be chosen on Monday.
NB These examples show that a passive sentence can be in whatever tense you like.
The tense of the verb to be changes to give different tenses in the passive.
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DO THESE SENTENCES HAVE THE SAME MEANING?
• What’s the difference?
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USE
o When we are NOT interested in who did a certain action
o When we do NOT know the person who performed the action
o We use the passive, when we are interested in WHAT happened or happens to
people or objects.
Example:
The apple was eaten.
“Hard times” was written by Charles Dickens.
10. www.atraceofenglish.com
ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE
PRESENT SIMPLE
make
They make cars in Japan
PRESENT SIMPLE
am / is / are made
Cars are made in Germany
PRESENT CONTINUOUS
am / is / are baking
I am baking a cake
PRESENT CONTINUOUS
am / is / are being baked
A cake is being baked by me
PAST SIMPLE
wrote
Shakespeare wrote Romeo & Juliet
PAST SIMPLE
was / were written
Romeo & Juliet was written by Shakespeare
PAST CONTINUOUS
was / were watching
They were watching a film when I got home
PAST CONTINUOUS
was / were being watched
A film was being watched when I got home
PRESENT PERFECT
have / has decorated
We have decorated my bedroom
PRESENT PERFECT
have / has been decorated
My bedroom has been decorated
FUTURE SIMPLE
will write
They will write the essay tomorrow
GOING TO
am / is / are going to
He is going to build a house next week
FUTURE SIMPLE
will be written
They essay will be written by them tomorrow
GOING TO
am / is / are going to be
A house is going to be built by him next week
12. STEPS TO TURN THE ACTIVE INTO PASSIVE
VOICE
• Step one: identify the object of the active sentence.
• Step two: identify the tense of the main verb
• Step three: conjugate verb ‘to be’ in the same tense of the main verb
• Step four: put the object of the active sentence in the subject position
13. 2.- Make the sentences passive. Include the agent only when necessary.
a) Shakespeare wrote 'Hamlet'.
‘Hamlet’ was written by Shakespeare.
b) They have arrested her for shoplifting.
She has been arrested for shoplifting.
c) They are repairing your car now.
Your car is being repaired now.
d) People in Chile speak Spanish.
Spanish is spoken in Chile.
e) Has anybody asked Peter?
Has Peter been asked?
f) My mother made this ring.
This ring was made by my mother.
g) Somebody will tell you where to go.
You will be told where to go.
14. h) The police were following the suspects.
The suspects were being followed by the police.
i) No one has seen Peter since the day of the party.
Peter hasn’t been seen since the day of the party.
j) We put up a notice about the trip on the notice board yesterday.
A notice about the trip was put up on the notice board yesterday.
k) Someone has stolen my bike.
My bike has been stolen.
l) They sent me the letter.
The letter was sent to me. / I was sent the letter.
m)We appointed Mr Evans secretary.
Mr Evans was appointed secretary.
n) The villagers called her a witch.
She was called a witch by the villagers.
o) Everybody considered her strange.
She was considered strange.
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PRACTICE
• Put the verbs in brackets into the correct passive form
Shampoo __________ (test) on animals before it ___________ (sell) in shops.
This house __________ (build) in the XIX century.
Two missing children _____________ (find) safe and well.
A new bridge ____________ (construct) next year.
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PRACTICE – THE KEY
• Put the verbs in brackets into the correct passive form
Shampoo is tested (test) on animals before it is sold (sell) in shops.
This house was built (build) in the XIX century.
Two missing children have been found (find) safe and well.
A new bridge will be constructed (construct) next year.
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ACTIVE → PASSIVE (STEPS)
Example:
(active) The postman delivers the letters at 09.00.
Step 1 – identify the object of the active sentence and place it at the beginning of
the passive sentence. (the letters)
Step 2 – identify the tense of the active verb and put the verb to be into the same
tense. (are)
Step 3 – turn the main active verb into the past participle form. (delivered)
(passive) The letters are delivered at 09.00.
18. PRACTICE - ACTIVE PASSIVE
• The police arrested the suspect late last night.
• ____________________________________
• They found him after an intensive search.
• ____________________________________________________
• Two detectives questioned him and charged him with murder.
• ________________________________________
• They will take him to court later today.
• _________________________________
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19. ACTIVE PASSIVE (THE KEY)
• The police arrested the suspect late last night.
• The suspect was arrested late last night.
• They found him after an intensive search.
• He was found after an intensive search.
• Two detectives questioned him and charged him with murder.
• He was questioned and charged with murder by two detectives.
• They will take him to court later today.
• He will be taken to court later today.
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SUMMARY
• In an active sentence the subject always precedes the action (verb).
S + P + O
In a passive sentence the object becomes the subject i.e. the one that is acted
upon.
The predicate (verb) consists of the verb to be and the past participle of the main
verb.
If necessary, you can use ‘by’ to say who or what is responsible for the action.
It is often used when we do not know or care who performs the action.
