PASSIVE VOICE

PASSIVE VOICE

usage

• We use the passive, rather than the active, to show that we are more interested in a certain part of the sentence. The passive is usually formed by the verb to be + past participle.

Examples of Active andpassive voice

Here’s a passive sentence:

My room is being cleaned.

'My room' is the main focus of the sentence. The active form would be 'The cleaners are cleaning my room'. This sounds strange because it is obvious that, if you are in a hotel, cleaners would clean your room. So we sometimes use the passive to avoid stating the obvious.

Are there any other uses?

• use the passive when we don’t know who did something, or when it isn’t important.

  It’s the biggest outdoor elevator in the world, so I’ve been informed.

  It doesn’t matter who told me.

  I think loads of films have been made there.

  The important thing is the films, not the film-makers.

Can you use a passive and also say who did the action?

We use by

For example:

Avatar was made by James Cameron.

Is the passive formal?

No, not necessarily. It can be formal or neutral or informal.

I hope to find everything clean and tidy … you’ve been warned!

But we often avoid the passive in very informal spoken language, for example, by using they.

They based the scenery in Avatar on the landscape here.

We don’t know exactly who they are, but we can guess that it’s the people who made the film.

what about the passive with get? Is that informal too?

when we’re speaking informally we also often use get rather than the verb be.

He was sacked from his job. = He got sacked from his job.

But be careful, not all verbs can be used in the passive with get - only verbs for talking about an action or a change.

Another example is:

She was knocked off her bike by a bus. = She got knocked off her bike by a bus.

Charlie Chaplin was loved by millions. Charlie Chaplin got loved by millions.

Multiple Select

1. We use the passive when we don't want or need to specify who did the action.

• True

• False

Multiple Select

2. We use the verb 'have' and the past participle to form the passive.

• True

• False

Multiple Select

3. You can't say who did the action when you're using the passive.

• True

• False

Multiple Select

4. The passive is not always formal.

• True

• False

Multiple Select

5. In some contexts we can say 'they' or 'you' instead of using the passive.

• True

• False

Multiple Select

6. We also use 'get' instead of 'be' to form the passive sometimes.

TrueFalse

• True

• False

Acivity

Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first, using the passive. You should choose the correct answer.

Multiple Choice

1. The theatre has cancelled by the play.

• has been cancelled

• had cancelled

• was cancelled

• had had cancelled

Multiple Choice

Did someone tell the students about the trip?

• Have the students tell about the trip?

• Were the students told about the trip?

• Had the students tell about the trip?

• Was the students told about the trip?

Multiple Choice

They haven't announced the opening date yet.

• The openning date hadn`t been announced yet.

• The openning date wasn`t been announced yet.

• The openning date hasn`t been announced yet.

• The openning date haven`t been announced yet.

Multiple Choice

4. A car hit my dog.

• My dog get hit by a car

• My dog has hit by a car.

• My dog has been hit by a car.

• My dog was hit by a car.

Multiple Choice

5. Someone had burgled his house.

• His house has been burgled.

• His house was burgled

• His house was burgle

• His house have burgled.

Multiple Choice

6. Students will organise the party themselves.

• The party would be organized by the students themselves.

• The party will be organized by the students themselves

• The party could be organized by the students themselves.

• The party can be organized by the students themselves.

Multiple Choice

7. Clare didn't write that note.

• That note hasn`t written by Claire

• That note weren`t written by Claire

• That note haven`t written by Claire

• That note wasn`t written by Claire

Multiple Choice

8. Someone is painting our classroom.

• Our classroom was being painted.

• Our classroom has being painted.

• Our classroom is being painted.

• Our classroom isn`t being painted.

Multiple Choice

9. People saw a meteorite over the North Pole.

• A meteorite has seen over the North Pole.

• A meteorite was seen over the North Pole.

• A meteorite will seen over the North Pole.

• A meteorite can seen over the North Pole.

Multiple Choice

10. The organisers will divide the prize money between the two winners.

• The prize money was be divided between the two winners.

• The prize money could be divided between the two winners.

• The prize money won`t be divided between the two winners.

• The prize money will be divided between the two winners.

Q&A

Ask your questions.