MEETING 3: LESSON 1 PASSIVE VOICE

Normal

verbs are active verbs: they say what the subject of the sentence is doing. In sentences with a passive verb, the subject of the sentence does not do anything. Instead, something happens to it.

Compare these sentences:

Ida ate her breakfast. (Active: Ida did something.) Ida was eaten by a tiger. (Passive: poor Ida did nothing, but something happened to her!)

 Use

be + past participle

be am, is, are, was, were, has been, have been, had been, is being, was being, are being, were being, INCLUDING MODALS will be, would be, shall be, should be, can be, could be etc past participle ( regular and irregular verbs)

Regular walk walked walked Irregular - go went gone

Follow

the rules of context (time, singular/plural)

Present simple active Present simple passive Present continuous active Present continuous passive Past simple active Past simple passive Present perfect active Present perfect passive Future simple active Future simple passive Modals active Modals passive

We find oil and gas beneath the ground. Oil and gas are found beneath the ground. The police are questioning two men. Two men are being questioned by the police. The coach trained the boys to fight. The boys were trained to fight by the coach. Pollution has harmed some countries. Some countries have been harmed by pollution. We will choose a new class representative. A new class representative will be chosen. People can leave the bags here. Bags can be left here.

 Transitive

verbs with objects Intransitive verbs without objects

ONLY TRANSITIVE VERBS CAN BE MADE PASSIVE.

subject verb The coach trained swim object the boys complement to fight. in the sea.

transitive

intransitive

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

The rubbish has been collected. The streets are swept every day. Rice is grown in Kedah. Our house was built in 1950. This olive oil was imported from Spain.
In (1), the rubbish has been collected by people or someone. It is not important to know who has collected the rubbish. (2), (3), (4) and (5) illustrate the most common use of passive voice without the by phrase Be impersonal not mentioning the doer Abundantly used in scientific / technical processes / written report / formal speech and writing

 When

it is important to know the agent or person who performs the action.

Some countries have been harmed by pollution. Life on the Mississippi was written by Mark Twain.

When

it is really necessary

The two men were arrested by the police. The opening ceremony was officially done by the Yang Dipertuan Agong.

 Active:

The police are questioning two men.

subject object

Passive:

Two men are being questioned by the police.

The focus of attention is on two men

 If

we know who performs an action, ususally the active voice is used.

My aunt made this rug. (active)

If

the focus of attention is on the rug, but it is still important to know the agent or person who perfom the action use passive voice with by phrase

This rug was made by my aunt.

 Negative
Affirmative Negative Interrogative

The boys were trained to fight.

Bags can be left here. A new class representative will be chosen

The boys were not trained to fight

Bags can not be left here. A new class representative will not be chosen

Were the boys trained to fight?

Can the bags be left here? Will a new class representative be chosen?

1. 2.

3.
4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Somebody cleans the room every day. They cancelled all flights because of fog. Somebody accused me of stealing money. Someone constructed a hot-air balloon in 1783. Rapid developments have disturbed local wildlife. They are repairing the bridge. People have seen elephants along the highway. People can leave their children at this centre.