The Passive

Sample sentences
The window was broken last night. Our IT system is being renewed at the moment. A loan can be arranged within six days. Interest rates were raised by 1%. I have been offered a new job. A new job has been offered to me.

We use the passive:

1. When who does the action is not important.
The new design hasnt been chosen.

2. When who does the action is clear from the situation:

I was being asked some difficult questions at the interview.

3. When who does the action is unknown:

The window was broken last night.

 Passive can be formed ONLY with transitive verbs those that have an OBJECT

Someone is walking in the street.-NO OBJECT

Somebody damaged the goods in transit.

OBJECT

ACTIVE
ACTIVE: Subject

PASSIVE
Object

Mexicans

speak

Spanish .

PASSIVE:

is spoken

in Mexico.

ACTIVE
Subject
Richard Branson

PASSIVE
Object
founded Virgin Records .

was founded

by

Form:

TO BE + past participle

Steps in making an active sentences passive:

Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations. (active)
Find the object of the active sentence. Put the object at the beginning of the passive sentence. Put the verb TO BE in the tense of the main verb of the active sentence. Add past participle of the main verb of the active sentence Add BY + subject of the active sentence (if necessary)

1. The Wealth of Nations 2. The Wealth of Nations 3. was (because of WROTE) 4. written 5. by Adam Smith. The Wealth of Nations was written by Adam Smith. (passive)

ACTIVE
Subject
Shakespeare wrote

PASSIVE
Object
Romeo and Juliet

was written

by

Romeo and Juliet was written by Shakespeare.

ACTIVE
Subject
Our supplier

PASSIVE
Object
is shipping the goods next week.

are being shipped

next week by

The goods are being shipped next week by our supplier.

ACTIVE
Subject
They will not finish

PASSIVE
Object
the project by next month. by next month.

wont be finished

The project wont be finished by next month.

ACTIVE
Subject
We can arrange

PASSIVE
Object
a loan within six days. within six days.

can be arranged

A loan can be arranged within six days.

Verbs with two objects

They promised

me

a better salary.

indirect object

direct object

give, lend, offer, promise, sell, send, take smth. to smbd. book, buy, keep, make, prepare, save smth. for smbd.

ACTIVE
Subject
Indirect object

PASSIVE
Direct object

They
1.

offered

me

a new job

was offered I was offered a new job.

2.

was offered

to

me

A new job was offered to me.

ACTIVE
Subject
Indirect object

PASSIVE
Direct object

They
1.

gave

us

a large order

We

were given We were given a large order.

2.

was given

to

us

A large order was given to us.

THE PASSIVE: USES If we want to mention who performs the action we can use a phrase beginning with by:

The decision was taken by the committee. The missing file has been found by one of the cleaners. The goods are being shipped next week by our supplier in China.

THE PASSIVE: USES Active or passive: If it is important to say who performs an action, we can use the active or we can use the passive and the word by:

ACTIVE: Peter Franks runs the Marketing Department. PASSIVE: The Marketing Department is run by Peter Franks.
Both of these sentences are correct.

THE PASSIVE: USES

If we were already talking about Peter Franks, we would probably use the active: Peter Franks is an old colleague of mine. He works for Butterfield International, and he runs the Marketing Department.

If we were talking about the Marketing Department, we would probably use the passive: The Marketing Department is a large and very successful division that employs over 100 people. It is run by Peter Franks.

THE PASSIVE: USES Systems and processes

The passive is often used to talk about systems and processes, because we are more concerned with the process itself than who carries it out. For example, here is a description of the wine-making process:

Wine is made from the fermented juice of grapes. Grapes are picked at optimum sugar/acidity levels. After picking, the grapes are taken to the winery, de-stemmed and crushed in a variety of presses. The juice is then clarified by settling or by centrifuge, yeast and sugar are added and the wine is left to ferment in tanks. When fermentation is finished the wine is poured into a clean tank to stabilise. It can then be filtered and bottled and left to mature.

Active Passive
Thank you for your order for Pcplus software which we received this morning. Our team is dealing with your order, and we expect that we will deliver the package to you within 10 working days. I have included our current price list as an attachment. Please note we only guarantee these prices until 31 December. Thank you for choosing soft.com.
Thank you for your order for Pcplus software which was received this morning. Your order is being dealt with by our team and we expect that the package will be delivered to you within 10 working days. Our current price list has been included as an attachment. Please note that these prices are guaranteed until 31 December.