STRUCTURE:

OBJECT + AUXILIARY + MAIN VERB

to be

Past Participle

TENSE CHANGES to be
It is the auxiliary the element in the Passive Voice that changes its tense form.

o
o

EXAMPLES:
Tina is tightening the nuts and bolts herself. (ACTIVE VOICE)
The nuts and bolts are being tightened by Tina. (PASSIVE VOICE)

TENSE
OBJECT
*AUXILIARY to be
PRESENT SIMPLE
The nuts and bolts
are
PRESENT CONTINUOUS
The nuts and bolts
are being
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE
The nuts and bolts
have been
PAST SIMPLE
The nuts and bolts
were
PAST CONTINUOUS
The nuts and bolts
were being
PAST PERFECT SIMPLE
The nuts and bolts
had been
FUTURE SIMPLE
The nuts and bolts
will be
*The verb to be is the element in the Passive Voice that indicates the Tense of the Sentence.

MAIN VERB
tightened.
tightened.
tightened.
tightened.
tightened.
tightened.
tightened.

Study the following sentences:

PRESENT SIMPLE:
George paints his house every year.
Georges house is painted every year by him.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS:
The mechanic is repairing moms car right now.
Moms car is being repaired right now by the mechanic.
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE:
Someone has broken the bathroom window.
The bathroom window has been broken.
PAST SIMPLE:
A locksmith replaced the front-door lock last week.
The front-door lock was replaced last week by a locksmith.
PAST CONTINUOUS:
At this time yesterday, Sam was repairing Susans blender.
At this time yesterday, Susans blender was being repaired by Sam.

Teacher Martha Bocanegra

 PAST PERFECT SIMPLE:

Joe had never riveted the wings to the body of the plane.
The wings had never been riveted to the body of the plane by Joe.
FUTURE SIMPLE:
Bob will scrape the old paint off the bathroom wall later.
The old paint will be scraped off the bathroom wall later by Bob.

STUDY THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLES:

When we change a Passive Voice back to Active Voice, we must focus on the verb to be to know the
verb tense.
PASSIVE VOICE ACTIVE VOICE
That shelf had been bolted before by someone.
Someone had bolted that shelf before.
The kitchen floor is being sanded now by dad.
Dad is sanding the kitchen floor now.

To talk about what something is for, its function or purpose.

We can use different connectors to express the same idea when talking about purposes or functions.

Study the following examples:

Dilan bought a new monkey wrench
Dilan bought a new monkey wrench
Dilan bought a new monkey wrench
Dilan bought a new monkey wrench

for tightening those nuts.

so as to tighten those nuts.
in order to tighten those nuts.
so that he can tighten those nuts.

STRUCTURE:

MAIN SENTENCE
Hank will hire a carpenter
Hank will hire a carpenter
Hank will hire a carpenter

MAIN SENTENCE
Hank always uses gloves
Hank always uses gloves
Hank always uses gloves

AFFIRMATIVE FORM
CONNECTOR
VERB FORM
for
making
so as to/in order to
make
so that
he can make

NEGATIVE FORM
CONNECTOR
VERB FORM
for not
hurting
so as not to/in order not to
hurt
so that
he does not hurt

COMPLETEMENT
new shelves for the kitchen.
new shelves for the kitchen.
new shelves for the kitchen.

COMPLETEMENT
his hands.
his hands.
his hands.

Teacher Martha Bocanegra

LOOK AT THESE EXAMPLES:

Gina has hired a landscape gardener so that he can design a special garden.
Tom and I will pay someone for painting our house next week.
We need to buy another scraper so as to scrape that old paint off the floor.
I needed to talk to the handyman so that he did not forget to come back later.
You should be there early so as not to miss the bus again.

We use two different structures to talk about repairs and improvements.

When something needs repairs, maintenance, correction or improvements.

EXAMPLES:
These nuts are loose, they need tightening.
These nuts are loose, they need to be tightened.

STRUCTURE:
MAIN SENTENCE
Your composition has lots of mistakes,
These walls look terrible,

MAIN SENTENCE
Your composition has lots of mistakes,
These walls look terrible,

SUBJECT
it
they

SUBJECT
it
they

NEED / NEEDS
needs
need

NEED / NEEDS
needs
need

TO BE
to be
to be

-ING
correcting.
repainting.

PAST PARTICIPLE
corrected.
repainted.

Teacher Martha Bocanegra