Passive
Active: Business writing students write reports every week.
Passive: Reports are written by business writing students every week
Structure:
VERB `TO BE + PAST PARTICIPLE
Use
- not interested in `who` does the action
- to describe a process
- to sound impersonal, perhaps more formal
| Tense | Example |
| · Present simple | English is taught every day. |
| · Present continuous | Dinner is being prepared in the mensa. |
| · Past simple | This college was founded as the HTL in 1965. |
| · Past continuous | This handout was being prepared when the phone rang. |
| · Present perfect | Passive has been explained many times before. |
| · Past perfect | The dictionary had been recommended by the bookshop. |
| · Future | Your English will be improved through reading. |
| · Modals | English can be studied without a teacher! |
Note:
- Intransitive verbs cannot be used in the passive.
An intransitive verb is one that does not have an object. Dictionaries show this with an I or a T. Some verbs can be both.
- John drove (T) a car. The car was driven by John.
- The train arrived (I) on time. No passive form.
- The `agent` is added to the sentence with the word `by`.
The `agent` is not used:
– when it is not important / when it is obvious who it is:
She was told to do her homework.
- when the agent is unknown: The door had been opened.
- when the agent has already been referred to Ford‘s first cars were made in the 20‘s. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Contact bank to arrange loan ✓ order equipment – in progress
Find office space ✓ quotation for leaflets ✓
Decorate office – finish end of month part-time staff?
- B. Helen is starting her own business. Here is an extract from her notes:
- 5. We do not assemble all the components here in the factory.
- 4. The new students attended the introductory week.
- 3. Do they use LEDs in the alphanumeric displays on things like clocks?
- 2. The phosphors in the diode absorb the radiation.
- 1. They interview the candidates on three separate occasions.
- A. Rewrite each sentence using the passive voice.
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Passive exercises
Click on the link Passives