PASSIVE VOICE
• When we use an active verb, we say what the subject does:
My grandfather was a builder. He built this house in 1935.
This company employs two hundred people.
• When we use a passive verb, we say what happens to the subject:
This house is old. It was built in 1935.
Two hundred people are employed by the company.
• When we use the passive, who or what causes the action is often unknown or unimportant
A lot of money was stolen in the robbery. (somebody stole it, but we don’t know who)
Is this room cleaned every day? ( it’s not important who does it, but if it’s done)
• If we want to say who does or what causes the action, we use by:
This house was built by my grandfather.
Two hundred people are employed by this company.
• The passive is a form of be + past participle
Somebody cleans this room every day. (active voice)
present simple
This room is cleaned every day. (passive voice)
past participle of clean
present simple of be
Somebody cleaned this room yesterday. (active voice)
past simple
This room was cleaned yesterday. (passive voice)
past participle of clean
past simple of be
We will clean this room tomorrow. (active voice)
future simple
This room will be cleaned tomorrow. (passive voice)
past participle of clean
future of be
When we want to say what was used to do the action we use with:
This cake was made with flour, eggs, sugar and milk.
Remember that the passive is often used in notices or the news:
Animals in cages are not to be fed.
The injured woman has just been taken out of the car.
A preposition is placed at the end of a question when we want to find out who or what did
something:
Who was the telephone invented by?
What was the crash caused by?
For some verbs such as give, offer, lend, promisse, tell, send, teach, bring, show, buy, allow,
award, etc, the passive can be made in two ways:
Active: My uncle Alex gave me a new bike for my birthday.
Passive: I was given a new bike for my birthday by my uncle Alex. (more usual)
A new bike was given to me for my birthday by my uncle Alex.
Note the following impersonal construction (with verbs such as say, think, believe, know,
report, etc.):
This is said to be the most photographed monument in the world.
The arrested criminals are known to support the internacional mafia.
EXERCISES:
1) Match the names to the passive verb forms to the sentences.
1 Going to structure ( ) a) How often is English spoken in the classroom?
2 Future Simple ( ) b) The car is being repaired.
3 Present Perfect ( ) c) Why wasn’t John invited to the party?
4 Present Continuous ( ) d) Has the house been sold yet?
5 Modal structure ( ) e) He couldn’t understand why he hadn’t been chosen.
6 Present Simple ( ) f) Everything will be explained to you shortly.
7 Past Simple ( ) g) All the houses will have been finished by December 2020.
8 Past Perfect ( ) h) Who’s going to be invited to the party?
9 Future Perfect ( ) i) That book should have been checked more carefully before
being published.
2) Transform the sentences into the passive form.
a) The little boy smashed the glass in the window.
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b) Shakespeare wrote an amazing number of plays.
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c) Simon’s attitude really annoyed me.
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d) She had published a lot of books before her death in 1952.
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e) The mechanic is repairing my car.
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f) The police were questioning the man.
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g) People say he is the best player of all time.
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h) A thief has just stolen the old lady’s handbag.
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i) The crowd was watching the tennis player’s every movement.
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j) We will have sold all the clothes by the end of the morning.
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k) I am going to redecorate the house.
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3) Read the sentences carefully and fill the gaps with the passive form of the words below.
Disqualify - injure - refurbish - repair - teach - cancel - promote - clean - inform
a) Spanish ________________ in most schools nowadays.
b) The window ___________________ by the window cleaner right now.
c) The player ______________________ by the empire for his lack of sportsmanship.
d) The door _______________________ when the key broke.
e) The school __________ already _________________ of my intentions.
f) I realized the man ___________________________ quite badly.
g) The flight _______________________ if the weather doesn’t improve.
h) The house __________________________ by the builders.
i) Sally ________________________________ to head of department next week.
4) Link the events to the people and make sentences using the passive of the verb in
parenthesis.
a) Seven Formula 1 titles / Schumacher (win)
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b) St Paul’s Cathedral / Sir Christopher Wren (build)
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c) Mona Lisa / Leonardo da Vinci (paint)
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d) Romeo and Juliet / Shakespeare (write)
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e) The Lord of the Rings / New Zealand (film)
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f) The Nobel Peace prize / Martin Luther King (award)
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g) Good quality shoes / Italy (manufacture)
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h) The mini skirt / 1960s (first wear)
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i) Lottery prizes / charity (often give)
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j) Manchester / Chelsea twice this year (beat)
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k) Hundreds of strawberries / Wimbledon each year (eat)
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