ENGLISH 2º BACHILLERATO THE PASSIVE VOICE

1. INTRODUCTION

➔ The passive of an active tense is formed by putting the verb TO BE into the same tense as the active verb
and adding the past participle of the active verb.

➔ The direct / indirect object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.

➔ The subject of the active verb becomes the agent of the passive verb, although very often it is not mentioned;
when it is mentioned, it is preceded by the preposition BY and placed at the end of the clause.

2. VERBAL TENSES

➔ PRESENT SIMPLE They clean this room every day - This room is cleaned every day

➔ PRESENT CONTINUOUS They are cleaning this room now - This room is being cleaned now

➔ PRESENT PERFECT They have just cleaned this room - This room has just been cleaned

➔ PAST SIMPLE They cleaned this room yesterday - This room was cleaned
yesterday

➔ PAST CONTINUOUS They were cleaning this room yesterday at 5 p.m. - This room was
being cleaned yesterday at 5 p.m.

➔ PAST PERFECT They had cleaned this room when we arrived – This room had been
cleaned when we arrived

➔ FUTURE SIMPLE They will clean this room tomorrow – This room will be cleaned
tomorrow

➔ “GOING TO” FORM They are going to clean this room – This room is going to be cleaned

➔ MODAL VERBS They should clean this room – This room should be cleaned

3. USES
We use the passive when...

➔ The action is more important than the agent (the person who does it). Thus, we change the focus of the
sentence: “Don Quixote” was written by Cervantes (we are more interested in the book than the writer).

➔ Who or what causes the action is unknown, unimportant or it refers to “people in general”:

• My bike has been stolen (unknown agent).

• The road is being repaired (unimportant agent).

• The form can be obtained from the post office (people in general).

➔ The agent is obvious: He was arrested by the police. English is taught in this school by teachers.

➔ The passive is more common in writing, although it can also be used in speech. We can see it especially in
textbooks and reports, in news reports, in factual or scientific writing to describe activities in industry,
science and technology, as well as for official rules. In these situations, it is often not important to say who
is doing the action, or it is difficult to say: The chemical is placed in a test tube.

➔ In order to improve style: The books were written by Dr. Bell (“Dr. Bell wrote the books” sounds odd and
clumsy).

➔ When the subject is very long: I was surprised by how well the students did in the test (more natural than
“How well the students did in the test surprised me”).

4. THE PASSIVE AND THE AGENT

In a passive sentence we mention the agent only if it is important for the meaning of the sentence.

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ENGLISH 2º BACHILLERATO THE PASSIVE VOICE

Sometimes we do not mention it:

➔ When it does not add any new information: A man was arrested last night.

➔ If the agent is not important: Oil has been discovered at the North Pole.

➔ It is sometimes difficult to say who the agent is: A number of attempts have been made to find the Loch Ness
monster.

➔ When in the active sentence we have an “empty subject” such as THEY, PEOPLE, SOMEONE,
SOMEBODY, YOU (impersonal), ONE, which can be used in speaking or informal writing: People use this
footpath all the time (active, informal) VS This footpath is used all the time (passive, formal).

5. VERBS WITH TWO OBJECTS

Some verbs can have two objects, for example: GIVE, OFFER, ASK, TELL, SEND, SHOW, TEACH, PAY,
LEND, OWE, PROMISE, SELL. It is quite normal in English for a person to be the subject in a passive
sentence:

• They gave some flowers to Claire – Some flowers were given to Claire.

• They gave Claire some flowers – Claire was given some flowers.

• They gave her some flowers – She was given some flowers.

6. IT IS SAID THAT...
We can turn an active sentence with a reporting verb into the passive. We use this structure when we
cannot say or do not need to say who the speaker is, for example in news reports:

➔ People say that... - It is said that...

➔ People believe that... - It is believed that...

➔ People consider that... - It is considered that...

➔ People expect that... - It is expected that...

➔ People hope that... - It is hoped that...

➔ People know that... - It is known that...

➔ People report that... - It is reported that...

➔ People suggest that... - It is suggested that...

➔ People suppose that... - It is supposed that...

➔ People think that... - It is thought that...

➔ People understand that... - It is understood that...

We can also use SUBJECT + PASSIVE VERB + TO-INFINITIVE, which is also used in news reports. Have a
look at these examples:

• (1) People say that the Prime Minister IS in favour of the new law.

• (2) It is said that the Prime Minister IS in favour of the new law.

• (3) The Prime Minister is said TO BE in favour of the new law.

• (1) People know that Henry WRITES poetry.

• (2) It is known that Henry WRITES poetry.

• (3) Henry is known TO WRITE poetry.

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ENGLISH 2º BACHILLERATO THE PASSIVE VOICE

• (1) People believe that he STOLE $100.

• (2) It is believed that he STOLE $100.

• (3) He is believed to HAVE STOLEN $100.

7. THE CAUSATIVE STRUCTURE (HAVE SOMETHING DONE)

We use the causative structure to say that we arrange for someone else to do something for us, usually a
professional service or something we cannot do by ourselves.
Structure:
SUBJECT HAVE SOMETHING PAST PARTICIPLE
I had my hair cut yesterday
Jill has had the roof repaired recently
My father will have his car serviced next month
We are having the house painted at the moment
“Get something done” is also possible, but mainly in informal spoken English.
This causative structure sometimes means “to experience something”, often something unpleasant: “We had
all our money stolen” doesn't mean that we arranged for somebody to steal our money, but simply that something not
nice happened to us.

TURN THESE SENTENCES INTO THE PASSIVE VOICE:

(1) People steal things from supermarkets every day.

(2) You can't wash this dress; you must dry-clean it.

(3) Dogs guard the warehouse.

(4) They are demolishing the entire block.

(5) Passengers shouldn't throw away their tickets.

(6) They invited Jack but they didn't invite Tom.

(7) They ate all the sandwiches and drank all the beer. They left nothing.

(8) Has someone posted my parcel?

(9) Why did nobody inform me of the change of plan?

(10) Tom Smith wrote the book and Brown&Co published it.

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ENGLISH 2º BACHILLERATO THE PASSIVE VOICE

(11) We will have to tow the car to the garage.

(12) We will prosecute trespassers.

(13) Fog held up the trains.

(14) You are to leave this here.

(15) They didn't look after the children properly.

(16) Everyone looked up to him.

(17) All the ministers will see him off at the airport.

(18) They threw him out.

(19) They will have to adopt a different attitude.

(20) They ought to lock him up, because he's a dangerous maniac.

(21) Her story didn't take them in.

(22) Burglars broke into the house.

(23) Students must hand in their tests.

(24) People often take him for his brother.

(25) No one has taken out the cork.

(26) Who wrote it?

(27) He expected us to offer him the job.

(28) They didn't offer Ann the job.

(29) They didn't offer the job to Ann.

(30) They don't pay Jim very much.

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ENGLISH 2º BACHILLERATO THE PASSIVE VOICE

(31) They will ask you a lot of questions at the interview.

(32) Nobody told me that George was ill.

(33) His colleagues gave him a present when he retired.

(34) They asked me my name.

(35) They should have offered Tom the job.

(36) They told everybody Joanna's secret.

(37) They told Joanna's secret to everybody.

GIVE TWO PASSIVE SENTENCES FOR EACH ONE OF THESE ACTIVE STRUCTURES:

(38) They say that the quiz champion has lost his memory.

(39) People expect that the soap opera will end next year.

(40) People suppose that the footballer Wayne Johnson is earning $10 million a year.

(41) People believe that the Prime Minister and his wife have separated.

(42) They report that two people were killed in the explosion.

(43) People hope that the strike will end tomorrow.

(44) They say that many people are homeless after the floods.

(45) They think that the prisoner escaped by climbing over the wall.

(46) People say that he is a spy.

(47) People say that he was a spy.

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ENGLISH 2º BACHILLERATO THE PASSIVE VOICE

READ ABOUT EACH SITUATION AND WRITE SENTENCES WITH “HAVE SOMETHING DONE”:

(48) David went to the hospital. A nurse bandaged his arm.

(49) Daniel is going to the dentist. The dentist is going to fill his tooth.

(50) Melanie is paying the man who has repaired her bicycle.

(51) Last week Mike went to the hairdresser. She cut Mike's hair.

(52) At the moment Melissa is at a photographer's studio. He is taking a photo of Melissa.

(53) David has a broken arm. Yesterday someone cleaned his house.

(54) Rachel is at the optician. He is testing Rachel's eyes at the moment.

TURN THE FOLLOWING INTO THE ACTIVE:

(55) Byron is said to have lived on vinegar and potatoes.

(56) This notice has been altered.

(57) The damaged ship was being towed into harbour when the towline broke.

(58) The ship was put into quaratine and passengers and crew were forbidden to land.

(59) Someone will have to be found to take her place.

(60) This rumour must have been started by our opponents.

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