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The passive voice

The passive voice. In English , like in other languages , there are always different sides to a story … . BUT When the focus is on the action and not the person performing it OR If it’s obvious who’s performing the action If you don’t know who’s performing it

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The passive voice

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  1. Thepassivevoice

  2. In English, like in otherlanguages, there are alwaysdifferentsidesto a story…

  3. BUT • Whenthefocusisontheaction and notthepersonperformingit OR • Ifit’sobviouswho’sperformingtheaction • Ifyoudon’tknowwho’sperformingit • Oryoudon’twanttomentiontheperson… In English, we use thepassivevoice.

  4. Form of passive When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following structure: • Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle

  5. Forms • Affirmativesentences (tobe + pastparticiplemainverb) e.g.Thejobwasfinished. • Negativesentences (addnot) e.g.Thejobwasnotfinished. • Questions (questionsstartwithtobe, subjectis placed betweenauxiliaryverb and participle) e.g.Wasthejobfinished?

  6. More types of questions… • Ifthe active questioncontains a modal verboranauxiliaryverb, thepassivequestionwillstartwiththoseverbs, justlike in the active voice. e.g.Willthejobbefinished? • Ifthequestioncontainsaninterrogativeword, wordorder of thesubject and auxiliaryischanged EXCEPT whentheinterrogativewordisthesubject. e.g.Wherewillthe video clip befilmed? e.g.Whowas hit by a car?

  7. How ? • Step 1: Findoutthe tense of the active sentence’s mainverb. • Step 2: Puttheverb ‘tobe’ in thesame tense

  8. Step 3: Takethefirstobject (directorindirect) thatfollowstheverb in the active sentence and use it as a subject. • Step 4: Takethe active sentence’ssubject and place it at theend of thesentence preceded by ‘BY’.

  9. SPECIAL CASES • Verbslikesay, think, believe, know, report, etc. can taketwopassivestructures: 1. Itissaidthatsubject + verb. (Which in spanishwouldbe se dice que…) e.g.Itissaidthat Eric Claptonis ... • Subject + passiveverb + infinitive. (spanish: Se/ todo el mundo/ la gente) e.g. Eric Claptonisconsideredtobe a …

  10. SPECIAL CASES (2) • THE CAUSATIVE Whenwearrangesth. tobe done forus: Subject + have/get + noun + participle. e.g.I’mhaving my haircut. He’sgettinghis car repaired. (get:more informal)

  11. Let’shave a try!

  12. EXERCISE 1 : CHANGE INTO PASSIVE SENTENCES 1. When have they stolen my watch? 2. A piece of string could not hold up his trousers. 3. People play football in most countries of the world. 4. Will the neighbours water our plants while we are away? 5. He broke his leg in a skiing accident.

  13. EXERCISE 2: Reuters News Agency Martin Webb _______________(work) for the Reuters News Agency for ten years. He describes the company. “Reuters is one of the world’s biggest news agencies. It________________(supply) news and stock market prices to media and financial institutions all over the world. It_______________(start) by Paul Reuter in 1849 - with pigeons! Reuter ________(be) born in 1816 in Germany. During the 1840’s he ________ _______________ (employ) as a bank clerk in Berlin. German bankers _______ _______________(need) to know the price on the Paris stock exchange, but the French telegraph system only went as far as Belgium. From there the information _______________(send) to Germany by train. The journey_______________(take) nine hours. The same information _______________(carry) by Paul Reuter’s pigeons in only two hours!” “Reuters _______________(change) a lot since those days. Over the past fifty years, we _______________(open) offices in many different countries and we_______________ still _______________(expand). Now, news and stock market prices_______________(send) all over the world within seconds.”

  14. EXERCISE 3. Rewriteeachsentenceusingtwopassivestructures. (p61, nº5) Theyhaven’tshown me my roomyet. The guide couldhavegivenusbetteradvice. A womanhadjustsoldhimthe ring. Peoplethinkthattheexhibitionisinteresting. Everyoneknowsthat rock singersmake a lot of money. PeoplebelievethattheFrench are thebestcooks.

  15. EXERCISE 4: Use thecorrectcausativeform (p61, nº6) Those are beautifulinvitations. Wheredidyou …….. them ……….? Our TV isn’tworking. We’ll ……..it………. tomorrow. They’renotmakingthefoodthemselves. They’re ……it……..by a professional chef. My washing machine wasn’tworking. I…………….my clothes……………..bythelaundryservice. Yourhairalways looks good. Howoften do you ………..it……….? Maybeyoushouldgotothedentist. ………………you ………………yourteeth …………………thisyear?

  16. Exercise 5: Write a short text about the fallas(some 100 words) using passive structures. Some useful vocabulary: 1) It is generally believed that… 2) It was taken for granted that... 3) It is well known that…. 4) It was widely assumed that… 5) It is hoped that… 6) It has been discovered that… 7) It has been decided that… 8) As has been pointed out… 9) It is expected that… 10) It is said that…

  17. EXERCISE 6: Which of thefollowingsentencesiswrong? Correctifnecessary. 1. My father has been give the sack. 2. It’s expect Peter to pass his exams. 3. Nothing has been done to solve the problem by anybody. 4. Will the project be tackled as soon as possible? 5. She was thought to award the Oscar. 6. Susan is made help at home on Saturdays. 7. Was Tom allow to go to the concert? 8. The party had be organized by the Mayor. 9. A meeting is hold by them every year. 10. Candidates are believed to been honest.

  18. EXERCISE 7: COMPLETE THE SENTENCES (p 60 nº1) Dessert …………… (served) ontheterracenow. Thattype of guitar …………. (notused) sincethe 1970s. In thefuture, ………….. Teenagers………………. (should /put) in jailforshoplifting? Someathleteswereexpelledfromthegamesafterthey …………. (test) fordrugs. Thatwas a dangerousthingto do. You ……………. (could/kill). Howmuchmoney ……………… (spend) onadvertising at thecompanylastyear? Daisywalked in whileherbehaviour ……………. (discuss). Taxes ……………… (haveto/ pay) byeverybody.

  19. EXERCISE 8: Use thecorrect active orpassiveform. (p60, nº2) Theprogramme ………………..(broadcast) onChannel 4 latertonight. Kevin ……….. (must/move) the boxes lastnight. Thedefendantwaitedoutsidewhilehis case ……………. (discuss). We………… (already/pack) most of ourthings. ………… computergames …………...(sell) in this shop? Thebookwaswrittenafteralltheresearch ……..(finish). Thispainting ……….. (might/paint) by Leonardo da Vinci. ……..you ……………(throwaway) allyouroldnotebooksyesterday? At themoment, thecandidates …………… (interview) bythe manager.

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