Unit 11 passive voice

1. A2 – UNIT 11
PASSIVE VOICE

2. THE STOLEN FERRARI
Two football fans were arrested last night near the stadium. The suspects were
taken to the police station for further investigation. They allegedly stole a brand
Ferrari. The owner of the car told the police that the thieves were wearing a
football team jersey. After the suspects were caught, the owner of the car was
called to identify the thieves. However, the owner of the car said that he had
made a huge mistake because the car hadn’t been stolen; the car had been taken
by his wife to go to a concert because her car was broken.
An apology was offered to the two football fans; besides, the owner of the car
offered to give them 5000 dollars to compensate his mistake. The money was not
accepted. The two football fans will be released tomorrow morning.

3. PASSIVE VOICE
In the active voice, the subject of
the sentence DOES the action.
Subject / verb / object
Jonathan painted the house last
week.
In the passive voice, the subject of the
sentence RECEIVES the action.
Subject / to be verb/
participle
The house was painted last week.

4. THE PASSIVE VOICE IS USED WHEN:
We do not know who did the
action
The documents were stolen.
(We don’t know who stole the
documents)
The receiver of the action is more
important
The pyramids were built nearly
5.000 years ago by the ancient
Egyptians.
(We want to emphasize “pyramids” more
than “ancient Egyptians”)

5. TO FORM THE PASSIVE VOICE
it’s necessary to mix to be + past participle
Active Voice
1. People drink champagne on New
Year’s Eve.
2. Chefs use these machines to mix
the ingredients.
3. They renovated the restaurant in
2004.
Passive Voice
1. Champagne is drunk on New
Year’s Eve.
2. These machines are used to mix
the ingredients.
3. The restaurant was renovated in
2004.