The passive form

The Passive Form

By Maria Mammoli

Multiple Choice

They are paid on Fridays

• Passive

• Active

Passive vs Active

​She reads a book (P) The book is read by her ( A)

The passive voice is a grammatical structure that puts the recipient of an action before the verb. It's used to focus on what happens to someone or something, rather than who or what does the action. 

The Active voice is when the grammatical form in which the subject performs the action of the verb

Multiple Choice

I ate a piece of chocolate

• Passive

• Active

Multiple Choice

The money was stolen

• Passive

• Active

Multiple Choice

I washed my car three weeks ago.

• passive

• active

How do we form the passives?

A lot of olive oil is produced in Italy. Present Simple of the verb to be + Past Participle
This book was written by Angela Davis. Past Simple of the verb to be + Past Participle

The suspect will be released tomorrow. Future of the verb to be + Past Participle

This product has not been tested on animals. Present Perfect of the verb to be + Past Participle

Multiple Choice

Your letter ___ within 28 days.

• will be answer

• will be answered

• will answer

Multiple Choice

The Egyptian pyramids ___ built thousands of years ago.

• are

• were

• been

Multiple Choice

Chocolate ___ for over 4,000 years.

• has produced

• was produced

• has been produced

Multiple Choice

I don't know who ___ my bike.

• stole

• has stolen

• was stolen

Multiple Choice

Not enough of our rubbish ___.

• recycles

• is recycled

• is recycle

When do we use the passive?

We use the passive voice to change the focus of the sentence.

My bike was stolen. (passive – focus on my bike)
Someone stole my bike. (active – focus on someone)

We often use the passive:

• when we prefer not to mention who or what does the action (for example, it's not known, it's obvious or we don't want to say)

• so that we can start a sentence with the most important or most logical information

• in more formal or scientific writing.

Open Ended

All our lamps ___________here ( produce) - Present Tense

Open Ended

Mistakes ___, but we're working on a solution now. ( make) -Present Perfect

Open Ended

My phone ___ last week, so I didn't get your message until today. ( fix) - Past Simple