Passive Voice

Passive Voice

by Carlos Prado G.

The passive voice and the agent.

​Students in general try to add the "agent" or doer in every passive sentence. It is necessary to emphasize and practice that this is not necessary. It is not grammatically incorrect, yet stylistically it is unnecessary.

Multiple Select

In which of the following cases can we omit the "agent" or the doer? Choose two options.

• When the agent does not add any important information.

• When the agent is the name of person.

• When the agent is obvious.

Multiple Select

In which of the following cases can we omit the "agent" or the doer? Choose two options.

• When the sentence begins with it, e.g.: "It is said that...".

• When we want to avoid saying who the doer is, e.g. when we don't want to blame someone specially.

• Whenever we want to.

​Verbs with two passive voice forms

​Mark gave some flowers to Lucinda for her birthday.

​

​The sentence above has two versions in the passive voice.

​

​a) Some flowers were given to Lucinda for her birthday.

​b) Lucinda was given some flowers for her birthday.

​

​The order highly depends on what you want to emphasize: Claire or the flowers.

Multiple Select

Which verb is not used as in the examples shown in the previous slide, that is, verbs with two forms for the passive voice?

• allow

• award

• cook

• give

• grant

Multiple Select

Which verb is not used as in the examples shown in the previous slide, that is, verbs with two forms for the passive voice?

• hand

• hire

• lend

• offer

• put

Multiple Select

Which verb is not used as in the examples shown in the previous slide, that is, verbs with two forms for the passive voice?

• pay

• send

• show

• teach

• throw

​It is said that...

​We can use the it (or a subject) + passive verb + clause with verbs or reporting- We use this structure when we cannot say and do not need to say who the speaker is, for example, in gossiping or a news report.

​

​"It is said that Mark is interested in Lucinda."

​"Mark is said to be interested in Lucinda."

​

​Some of the verbs used for this structure are: agree, allege, announce, believe, consider, decide, explain, hope, know, report, say, suggest, suppose, think and understand.

Fill in the Blanks

What would you rephrase the following sentence using the it (subject) + passive voice form?

"People say he resigned to follow his acting career."

It

that he resigned to follow his acting career."

Fill in the Blanks

What would you rephrase the following sentence using the it (subject) + passive voice form?

"They explained the new measures to deal with the outbreak."

The

to deal with the outbreak.

Fill in the Blanks

What would you rephrase the following sentence using the it (subject) + passive voice form?

"They suppose the burglars fled to another state to hide".

The

to have fled to another state to hide

Fill in the Blanks

What would you rephrase the following sentence using the it (subject) + passive voice form?

"They believed the cause of the fire was a spark from an appliance."

It

that the cause of the fire was a spark from an appliance.

Fill in the Blanks

What would you rephrase the following sentence using the it (subject) + passive voice form?

"We all think John will climb the career ladder very quick."

John

to climb the career ladder very quick.

Thank you!​