2. TWO OBJECTS IN AN ACTIVE SENTENCES – TWO
POSSIBLEPASSIVE SENTENCES
Passive voice also
known as passive
sentences
contains a direct and indirect object.
two possible active
sentences and two
possible passive
sentences.
Sentence 1: The professor gave the
students the books.
Sentence 2: The professor gave the books
to the students.
Normally the indirect
object is a person, were
the direct object are
things.
Object 1 = indirect object →
the students
Object 2 = direct object →
the books
3. EXAMPLES
Subject Verb direct Object
indirect Object
with to
The professor gave the books to the students.
Subject Verb Object 1 Object 2
Active: Rita wrote a letter to me.
Passive: A letter was written to me by Rita.
Passive: I was written a letter by Rita.
one of the two objects
becomes the subject,
the other one remains
an object
Note: As you can see in the examples, adding by
Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is
usually dropped.
4. ACTIVITIES WITH 2 OBJECTS
Rachel will give you some advice.
→ Some advice will be given to you.
I sent him a letter.
→ A letter was sent to him.
The police officer showed us the way.
→ The way was shown to us.
Our neighbour gave me a lift.
→ A lift was given to me.
We have asked him a favour.
→ A favour has been asked of him.
5. PASSIVE GERUNDS.
use the words being
and the past participle
Gerunds are often confused with verbs. Because
gerunds take an "ing" ending, some students mistake
them for verbs in the continuous form. If you don't see
the verb "be" in front of a word with an "ing" ending, it's
probably a gerund.
1- He thinks that learning English is
important for his career.
2- I like listening to the radio.
3- This morning, they're meeting their
friends at the airport.
If you picked the first
two sentences, you're
correct! The third
sentence is in the
present continuous
tense.
6. EXAMPLES
1- He doesn´t like being told what to do.
He hates people telling him what to do
2- He enjoyed being read to.
He enjoys people reading to him
3- They don’t like being watched.
They don’t like people watching them.
4- Do you remember being paid?
Do you remember somebody paying you?
5- He hates being photographed
He hates people photographing him.
7. MORE EXAMPLES
She enjoys being photographed.
He hates being photographed.
Her baby loves being held.
Poodles like being pampered.
Most film stars hate being interviewed.
8. ACTIVITIES OF PASSIVE GERUNDS
The baby likes by her mother. (hold)
They're afraid of because the neighbourhood
is dangerous. (attack)
The students don't look forward to on their math
skills. (test)
to live in solitary confinement was very difficult.
(force)
Rabbits live in fear of alive by a fox or a large
bird. (eat)
Being held
Being attacked
Being tested
Being forced
Being eaten
9. Passive with to be born
There are certain events in life,
in which the receiver of the
action cannot perform the
action, and therefore it does
not have both an active and
passive verb that can be used
to describe them.
10. EXAMPLES:
She was born in 1971.
Where were you born?
“He was born at eight
o’clock in the morning.”
Mercy was born in Mexico
City.
11. "To be born" is
passive and is usually
used in past.
However, in some
cases, present or
future are appropriate
EXAMPLES
• Around 100 babies are born in this hospital every
week.
• We don't know on exactly which day the baby will be
born.
• They say that in China a new baby is born every five
minutes.
12. ACTIVITY
Is Samantha pregnant? Yes, she is. The
doctor says that the baby in late
July.
.- Both my mother and my father
the same year, in December.
15.- Around 100 babies in this
hospital every week.
Will be born
Are born
Were born
13. GET
Get is often used instead of
be in the passive voice in
informal spoken English.
EXAMPLES:
I got picked up by my brother at the
airport.
The dog gets fed every morning.
She got hired by the company in
2003.
14. When you use "get" to
make the passive voice
and the verb is negative,
don't forget to add "do" or
"did" for the present tense
and the past tense:
He gets paid on Friday. / He doesn't get paid on
Monday.
She got hired for that job. / She didn't get
hired until last week.
They get fed at noon. / They don't get fed in
the afternoon.
15. to refer to an action that
happens by accident or
unexpectedly:
EXAMPLES:
Their car got stolen in front of
their house last night.
Jerry got fired because he
was always late for work.
16. Get expresses action and change and is only
used with action verbs, not state verbs:
EXAMPLES:
Jerry was fired because he was always late for
work.
Jerry got fired because he was always late for
work. (fire is an action verb)
As get in the passive voice expresses action, it
makes it possible to differentiate between an
action and a state if it is not otherwise clear:
EXAMPLES:
The living room window was broken. (state or
action)
The living room window got broken. (action)
The passive with be and the agent mentioned also
makes the distinction clear:
The living room window was broken by the burglar.
(action)
17. Idiomatic expressions with the
get passive ( which are not
passive in meaning)
get dressed
get washed
get engaged
get married
get divorced
get lost
EXAMPLES:
I took a shower and got
dressed.
When did they get married?
Have you ever got lost while
travelling?
18. ACTIVITY
For each sentence, use the passive
with "get" whenever possible.
(pay) for a job you enjoy doing
must be the definition of a happy life!
How did the house so fast? ( build)
Getting paid
get built
