PASSIVE VOICE

PhD José de Jesús Pérez Martínez

ICE BREAKER
• How was the weekend?
• Answer 3 forms of your verbs (table) + -ing
• Narrative forms (simple past vs past continuous)
• Write a memory and ask about it (groups of 4)
VERB FORMS

BASE PAST PARTICIPLE -ING BASE PAST PARTICIPLE -ING

Sleep Drink
Have Watch
Dance Cry
Live Eat
Listen Work
Go See
Do Walk
Study Make
Get Hit
Laugh Like
 NARRATIVE FORMS
(SIMPLE PAST VS PAST PROGRESSIVE)
SIMPLE PAST PAST PROGRESSIVE
Concluded event Not always finished
Important Context / Background
Short Actions Long actions
Structure – Examples - Auxiliaries Structure – Examples - Auxiliaries

I was watching Netflix when he arrived

1 - She ________ (arrive) when I _________ (have) a bath, so I couldn't answer the door!

2 - The computer _________(break down) when I ________ (check) my homework.

3 - I _________ (live) in Cape Town when Michelle Obama ________ (visit).

4 - Who was that woman ________ (speak) with you, when I ________ (enter) to the bar?
 Write a Memory / ask about them
• Make groups of 4 / 5
• Write 3 – 5 lines about a memory you have
• Options:
• - 3 to 5 years old
• - 6 – 10 years old
• - 11 to 15 years old
• Tell your memory to your group, ask them some questions
• Tell some answers or what you remember to get part-point
Identify auxiliaries
Tense Auxiliary Tense Auxiliary
Simple present Present Progressive
Simple Past Past Progressive
Simple Future Simple present - be
Present Perfect Simple Past - be
Present Perfect Progressive Modal Verbs
Future Perfect Imperatives
Future Continuous Future Simple 2
What is the passive voice?
• In general, the active voice makes your writing stronger, more direct,
and, you guessed it, more active. The subject is something, or
it does the action of the verb in the sentence. With the passive voice,
the subject
• While tense is all about time references, voice describes whether the
grammatical subject of a clause performs or receives the action of the
verb. - - - Chester kicked the ball.
• In a passive voice construction, the grammatical subject of the
clause receives the action of the verb. So, the ball from the above
sentence, which is receiving the action, becomes the subject.
• - - - The ball was kicked by Chester.
 PASSIVE VOICE
• The passive voice is used when we want to focus attention on the person or
thing affected by the action. Normally, the performer of the action, or the
agent, comes first and is made the subject of the verb and then we use the
active form of the verb. The other person or thing is made the object of the
verb. Consider these examples:
• 'The boss invited her to the party.'
• 'The construction company employs three hundred people.'
• If you want to focus on the person or thing affected by the action, you make
the person or thing the subject of the sentence and use the passive voice:
• 'She was invited to the party by the boss.'
• 'Three hundred people are employed by the construction company.'
When to use a Passive Voice? CONTXEXTS
• there are times when the passive voice does a better job of
presenting an idea, especially in certain formal, professional, and legal
discussions. We can see it when: Talking about inventions,
Documentaries, News
• Here are three common uses of the passive voice:
• 1 - Reports of crimes or incidents with unknown perpetrators (or
News)
• My car was stolen yesterday.
• If you knew who stole the car, it probably wouldn’t be as big a
problem. The passive voice emphasizes the stolen item and the action
of theft.
• 2 - Scientific contexts
• The rat was placed into a T-shaped maze.
• Who places the rat into the maze? Scientists, duh. But that’s less important
than the experiment they’re conducting. Therefore, passive voice.

• 3 When you want to emphasize an action itself and the doer of the action
is irrelevant or distracting:
• The president was sworn in on a cold January morning.
• How many people can remember off the top of their heads who swears in
presidents? Clearly the occasion of swearing in the commander in chief is
the thing to emphasize here. In each of the above contexts, the action
itself—or the person or thing receiving the action—is the part that matters.
That means the performer of the action can appear in a prepositional
phrase or be absent from the sentence altogether.
How to Use Passive Voice? USES
• 1. We do not know who the agent is:

• 'I don’t know who did it, but my pet rabbit has been let out.'
• 'I had the feeling that I was being followed.'
• instead of:
• 'I don’t know who did it, but someone has let out my pet rabbit.'
• 'I had the feeling that somebody was following me.'
• 2.When it is obvious to the listener or reader who the agent is:
• 'I had been instructed to remove all the ash trays.'
• 'She discovered that she was being paid less than her male
colleagues.'
• instead of:'My boss had instructed me to remove all the ash trays.'
• 'She discovered that the firm was paying her less than her male
colleagues.‘

• 3. When it is not important to know who the agent is:

• 'Do you want a lift?' 'No thanks, I’m being collected.'
• instead of:'Do you want a lift?' 'No thanks, someone is collecting me.'
• 4. When the agent has already been mentioned:
• 'In the next session of parliament, new laws will be introduced aimed
at stopping domestic violence.'
• instead of:'In the next session of parliament, the government will
introduce new laws aimed at stopping domestic violence.

• 5. When people in general are the agents:

• 'All the Beatles records can be borrowed from the central library.
• instead of:'You can borrow all the Beatles records from the central
library.
 Passive Voice Structure
Verb form Construction Example
Present simple am/is/are + pp How is this word pronounced?
Present continuous am/are/is being + pp The house is being redecorated.
Present perfect simple has/have been + pp He's just been sacked!
All his credit cards were stolen last
Past simple was/were + pp
week.
He was being treated for depression
Past continuous was/were being + pp
when he won the lottery.
The vegetables had been cooked for far
Past perfect simple had been + pp
too long, but we had to eat them.
The house contents will be auctioned a
Future simple will be + pp
week on Saturday.
There’s no point in hurrying. It will all
Future perfect simple will have been + pp
have been eaten by now.
Exams have to be taken almost every
year you are at school.
Infinitive (to) be + pp
Do you know who is going to be invited?
Advise!
• It is possible to form the passive with other verb forms, such as the
perfect continuous ones, but usually it is better to avoid these forms
because of their complicated and inelegant structure e.g.

• 'The factory has been being built for 10 years!

• Note that it is only transitive verbs which can have passive forms.
Intransitive verbs, like cry, die, arrive, disappear, wait, which often
describe physical behaviour, cannot be used in the passive voice. They
have no objects, so there is nothing to become the subject of a
passive sentence.
Activities
• Example sentencies – identify auxiliaries
• Same sentences for change to passive voice

• 4 teams – choose a country (not MX) and explain their achievements

in passive voice

• Next presentation for next week – speak about an important

invention (3 to 4 persons)
 Change the sentences (a)
• 1 - John collects money. - _________________________.
• 2 - Anna opened the window. - ___________________________.
• 3 - We have done our homework. - _____________________________.
• 4 - I will ask a question. - _____________________________.
• 5 - The police found the thief in that house. -
____________________________________.
• 6 - You should repair the stairs. – ______________________________.
• 7 - We do not clean our rooms. - _____________________________.
• 8 - William will not repair the car. - ____________________________.
• 9 - Did Sue draw this circle? - ___________________________
• 10 - Could you feed the dog? - ___________________________
• 11 - Many people speak french in Canada. ___________________________
• 12 - A local radio station is reporting the event. __________________________
 Change the sentences (b)
• 1 - John collects money. - Money is collected by John.
• 2 - Anna opened the window. - The window was opened by Anna.
• 3 - We have done our homework. - Our homework has been done by us.
• 4 - I will ask a question. - A question will be asked by me.
• 5 - The police found the thief in that house. - The thief was found in that house by
the police.
• 6 - You should repair the stairs. – The stairs should be repaired.
• 7 - We do not clean our rooms. - Our rooms are not cleaned by us.
• 8 - William will not repair the car. - The car will not be repaired by William.
• 9 - Did Sue draw this circle? - Was this circle drawn by Sue?
• 10 - Could you feed the dog? - Could the dog be fed by you?
• 11 - Many people speak french in Canada. Frnch is spoken by many people in Canada
• 12 - A local radio station is reporting the event. The event is being reported by a local
 Mexico

• Mexica Empire was founded by Aztecs in Texcoco

• Mole is cooked by peolpe from Oaxaca, Puebla and Michoacán
• Several self portraits were painted by Frida Kahlo
• The day of the dead is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd
• Silver is exported from mexican mines
• Cactus and plants are used as medicine by some health specialists
• Telephone coverage has been improved in communities
Listening
• British council
• We are the champions