THE PASSIVETHE PASSIVEMónica Redondo AriasMónica Redondo Arias

Examples Stonehenge was built in prehistoric times

It was probably constructed as a place of worship

Many of its stones have been stolen over the years

It is visited by a lot of tourists every year

FORMto be + past participle

PRESENT SIMPLE

am/is/are + ppShe writes the

reportsThe reports are

written twice a year

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

am/is/are being+ pp

She is writing the reports

The reports are being written now

PAST SIMPLE was/were +ppShe wrote the

reportsThe reports were

written last month

PAST CONTINUOUS

was/were being+ppShe was writing

the reports

The reports were being written when I

went to the office

PRESENT PERFECT

have/has been + pp

She has written the reports

The reports have already been written

MODALS modal + be+ ppShe must write

the reports todayThe reports must be

written today

1. when the person who carries out the action is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from the context

Mrs. smith’s ring was stolen from her house last night (unknown)

Rolls Royce are made in England (not important)

The cows are milked once a day (Obvious: farmers)

USES:

2. When the action itself is more important than the subject (news headlines, newspaper articles, etc)

Two teenagers Two teenagers werewere arrestedarrested in a in a robbery last night. robbery last night.

teenagers teenagers

Two teenagers Two teenagers werewere arrestedarrested in a in a robbery last night. robbery last night.

teenagers teenagers

3. When we want to make statements more polite.

My new blouse is ruined!

(more polite than: YOU ruined my blouse!)

1. The OBJECT of the active sentence becomes the SUBJECT of the passive

sentence

My father built this house in 1935.

This house was built in 1935 by my father.

From active to passive

2. The active verb remains in the same tense, but changes into a passive form.

✴ My father built this house in 1935

✴ This house WAS BUILT by my father

From active to passive

3. The SUBJECT of the active sentence becomes the AGENT (introduced by the preposition BY or

omitted)

My father built this house in 1935

This house was built by my father

3. Somebody cleaned this room yesterday

4. This room was cleaned (XXXX) yesterday

5. NOTE: only transitive verbs (followed by an object) can be changed into passive. (They leave very early= no passive)

From active to passive

4. Some verbs can have 2 objects:

Jessica showed Ted some photos

Ted was shown some photos by Jessica

Some photos were shown to Ted by Jessica

1 2

From active to passive

You can use GET instead of BE in the passive (More informal use)

There was a fight at the party, but nobody got hurt = nobody was hurt

I don’t often get invited to parties (I’m not often invited)

Passive “GET”

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Let’s practice!!!

lada cars made in Russia

lada cars are made in Russia

A new motorway is being build at the moment

A new motorway is being built at the moment

This programme were watched by millions of people

This programme was watched by millions of people

I couldn’t send you an email because my computer was repairing

I couldn’t send you and email because my computer was being repaired

Seat belts must wear at all times

Seat belts must be worn at all times

Correct the mistakes

They sell Cold drinks here.

Cold drinks are sold here

They subtitle a lot of foreign films

A lot of foreign films are subtitled.

Some people are painting my house

My house is being painted

Somebody must pay this bill tomorrow

This bill must be paid tomorrow

Someone threw the letters by mistake

The letters were thrown by mistake

Write the passive form mistakes