THE PASSIVE VOICE 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 ve
Trang 1THE PASSIVE VOICE
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 subject of the active verb becomes the „agent‟ of the passive
verb The agent is very often not mentioned When it is mentioned it is preceded by by and placed at the end of
the clause
Active: My grandfather planted this tree
Passive: This tree was planted by my grandfather
Short answers To
make short answers:
S we use the verb to be (am/is/are/was/were) for Present Simple, Past Simple, Present Continuous,
PASSIVE VERB TENSES
Present Simple He delivers the letters The letters are delivered
Past Simple He delivered the letters The letters were delivered
Future Simple He will deliver the letters The letters will be delivered
Present Continuous He is delivering the letters The letters are being delivered
Past Continuous He was delivering the letters The letters were being delivered
Going to He is going to deliver the letters The letters are going to be delivered
Present Perfect He has delivered the letters The letters have been delivered
Past Perfect He had delivered the letters The letters had been delivered
Infinitive He has to deliver the letters The letters have to be delivered
Modals He must deliver the letters The letters must be delivered
+S + am/is/are + Ptp S + am/is/are + being + Ptp S + have/has + been + Ptp
PRESENT - S + am/is/are + not + Ptp S + am/is/are + not +being + Ptp S + have/has + not + been + Ptp
? Am/Is/Are + S + Ptp ? Am/Is/Are) + S + being + Ptp ? Have/Has) + S + been + Ptp ?
+S + was/were + Ptp S + was/were + being + Ptp S + had + been + Ptp
PAST - S + was/were + not + Ptp S + was/were + not + being + Ptp S + had + not + been + Ptp
? Was/Were + S +PtpV ? Was/Were + S + being + Ptp? Had + S + been + Ptp
+S + will + be + Ptp
FUTURE - S + will + not + be + Ptp
? Will + S + be + Ptp ?
+S + V to be (am/is/are) + going to +
GOING TO - b + V to be (am/is/are) + not + going
? V to be (am/ i s/are) + S + going to +
Trang 2Past Continuous and Going To questions
S we use the verb have (have/has/had) for Present Perfect and Past Perfect questions
S we use will for Future Simple questions
USE
The Passive is used:
1 when the agent (=the person who does the action) is unknown, unimportant or obvious from the
context
Jane was shot (We don’t know who shot her.) This church was built in 1815 (Unimportant agent)
He has been arrested (Obviously by the police)
2 to make more polite or formal statements
The car hasn’t been cleaned (more polite)
(You haven’t cleaned the car - less polite)
3 when the action is more important than the agent, as in processes, instructions, events, reports,
headlines, new items, and advertisements
30 people were killed in the earthquake
4 to put emphasis on the agent
The new library will be opened by the Queen
AGENT
To say who did the action that we are talking about, ie to refer to the agent, we use the preposition by
and the name (by Peter) , noun (by the teacher) or pronoun (by him) at theend of the sentence
We usually only refer to the agent when it gives us some important information which otherwise would be missing from the sentence
Our house was designed by a famous architect
We don‟t mention the agent:
1 if we don‟t know who has done what we are talking about
Our car was stolen last night (We don’t know who stole it)
2 if we are not interested in who has done what we are talking about or it is not important to mention it
He has been taken to hospital (What we are interested in is the fact that he has been taken to hospital and not who has taken him.)
3 if it is easy to understand who did something without it being mentioned
The murderer was arrested last night (It is not necessary to mention that he has been arrested
by the police because it is self-evident.)
4 if the subject of the active voice sentence is something like somebody, people, they, you, etc
Someone broke the window ^ The window was broken
ACTIVE TO PASSIVE
To change a sentence from the active voice to the passive voice:
Agatha Christie wrote this book
This book was written by Agatha Christie
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HOW TO CHANGE
Step 1: Clarify the part of sentence : S, V, O? ( Xác định thành phần câu)
Step 2: Clarify the tense of the verb ( Xác định thì của động từ)
Step 3: Start to change ( see above diagram ) - Chuyển ( xem sơ đồ bên trên)
Notes: Câu chủ động có bao nhiêu thành phần, câu bị động có bấy nhiêu thành phần, Câu chủ động cấu trúc như thế nào, câu bị động cấu trúc như thế
BY OR WITH?
In the passive voice, we use:
S by with the agent to refer to by whom the action is being done
The door was opened by Mr Black (Mr Blak = agent)
S with to refer to the instrument, object or material that was used for something to be done The door was opened with a key (a key = the object that was used)
The omelette was made with eggs, cheese and peppers (eggs,cheese and peppers =
the material that was used)
DIFFERENT TYPES OF PASSIVE VOICE
1 DOUBLE OBJECT VERBS
When we have verbs that take two objects like, for example, give somebody something, we can convert the
active sentence into a passive one in two ways:
a by making the indirect (animate) object the subject of the passive voice sentence, which is also the
way that we usually prefer
b By making the direct (inanimate) object the subject of the passive voice
Rick gave me (indirect object) this book (direct object)
I was given this book by Rick
This book was given to me by Rick
Some of the verbs that take two objects are: give, tell, send, show, bring, write, offer, pay, etc
When the indirect object is alone after the verb in the passive voice sentence, it needs the preposition to To : GIVE, SEND, SHOW For: BUY, MAKE, GET
SUBJECT ACTIVE VERB ACTIVE
VERB
Trang 4If the indirect object of the active voice sentence is a personal pronoun it has to be changed into a subject pronoun
to be the subject of the passive voice sentence
2 PASSIVE WITH WH QUESTION
1 When did you see him in that bank?
3 HAVE SOMETHING DONE
Take a look at these two sentences What is the difference in meaning between them? “ I
cut my hair”
“ I have my hair cut”
“ I cut my hair” means that I do it myself
“ I have my hair cut” means someone cuts my hair for me ( in this case it‟s probably a hairdresser)
I < > me You < > you
He < > him She < > her
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We use have something done to mean another person does a service for us
The grammar for this is pretty simple
Have somebody do something ^ HAVE SOMETHING DONE Get
somebody to do something ^ GET SOMETHING DONE
Let‟s take a look at a few more examples”
We did not want to cook so we had a pizza delivered
I had my car washed at that new place by by the station
4 PREDICA TE OF THE PASSIVE VOICE
If the predicate of the passive sentence is a verb transitive like: believe, think, find, say, report, consider,
understand, expect, tell, know the you can change the active sentence into passive using two ways Look at the examples:
a) People say that he is handsome ( in the present)
^ It is said that he is handsome
^ He is said to be handsome
b) They knew he stole my handbag
^ It was known that he stole my handbag
^ He was known to steal my handbag
These are formal structures They are often used in news reports and on TV
PRACTICE
9 They didn‟t pay me much for that job
10 Have they offered him a better job?
1 They sell oysters in the shop next door
2 They haven‟t delivered the food yet
3 Shakespeare wrote King Lear
4 They have to answer the questions on this sheet
5 Has anybody put the cases upstairs?
6 Someone should take this rubbish away
7 They‟ll ask you a lot of questions
8 Someone‟s going to send her some flower
Trang 631 Have they offered him a better job?
11 They told us a secret
12 Would they lend me their car?
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2 Rewrite these sentences in the passive or the active voice
e.g.: She was shocked by the accident The accident shocked her
a My father will buy a new car next year
b The students were given 15 minutes for the test
c This restaurant is owned by English people
d The children were given some toys by their parents
e His girlfriend is going to buy him a car
f Tourists are paying a lot of money
g They built this house in 1900
h Parents always love their children
i The film was produced by Spielberg
j Nobody told me the truth
3.Use the words in brackets to complete these sentences Use the structure “to
have something done”
We are going to have our house painted next summer (our house / paint) next summer
a I have lost my key I‟ll have to
b Your hair is a mess You should………
c The floor is very dirty Why don‟t you
d My father‟s car is not working very well He
e Many young people today
f She has got a bad toothache She
g Summers are very hot in Spain Many people
(another key made) (your hair / cut)
(it/ cleaned) (it / service) tomorrow
(their nose / pierce)
(it / remove) in a week
(swimming pools / build) in their garden
Trang 8HOMEWORK
Choose a correct option for each sentence
1 Judy (implied / was implied) that she was treated unfairly by management recently
2 Sales (expect/are expected) to decrease as a result of the recession
3 The budget director (rejected/was rejected) the plan to cut back on spending
4 The business owner was (frustrating/frustrated) by the lack of adequate capital to make investments
5 Artists (have painted/have been painted) a large mural on a wall in the conference hall
6 The plans for the merger (will take/will be taken) at least a month to evaluate
7 Jason was (exciting/excited) to learn that he was being considered for a promotion
8 Our appliances will (be serviced, service) for free
9 We (convey, are conveyed) gratitude to loyal customers
10 The CEO (was paid, paid) a bonus to the employees at the end of the quarter
11 Scientists (argue, are argued) that greenhouse gas emissions are a major cause of global warming
12 Management (required, were required) to develop a good relationship with the new partners
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13 The process of filling prescriptions should (change, be changed) to prevent mistakes
Decide whether each of the sentences below is correct or incorrect If it is correct, write “correct”; if It is Incorrect, point out the mistake(s) and provide (a) correction(s)
14 Employee motivation is closely relating to the success of a company
15 The building will be undergoing renovation for the next three weeks
16 A proposal for a partnership offered to an Italian firm last week
17 This product made for busy working mothers who need help in the kitchen
18 All assembly line workers are advised wearing protective eyewear and gloves while working
19 A lifelong honorary membership in the firm has granted to the retired CEO
20 The company is dedicated to its goal of introducing products that are modern, functional, and affordable
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1.The e-mail addresses and telephone numbers should be…… carefully in the blanks provided
2.The mailing of the package, you will need to add five dollars more to the shipping fee
(A) To expedite (B) Expedited (C) To be expedited (D) Will expedite 3.You must fill out the tax form, a copy of which is……… to the contractual agreement you received on the first day
4.Ray Murphy submitted a requisition form yesterday to make certain
he………given a projector for today’s presentation
5.Though somewhat new at making presentations Paul Blakely is……… the best public speaker of the team
6.Young businessmen who set up venture companies should guard against being……… during the first year of operations
(A) disappoint (B) disappointed (C) disappointing (D) disappointment 7.When he took up cooking, Jerry Porter was……… to learn how easy it was to make inexpensive, great-tasting meals
fascinated
(D) fascinated 8.The manager……….her staff with news of an upcoming bonus if sales figures reached company goals by the end of the quarter
9.The accounting team is……….to providing accurate billing statements and resolving all customer enquiries within twenty-four hours
10.As a member of our office, you are invited……… the annual charity auction
11 We are truly……….with the positive consumer response to our new marketing strategy
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12 A replacement for the outgoing advertising manager has not yet been……… ,but the possibilities have been narrowed down to five applicants
13 Each year, Gibbins Foods, a local food manufacturer,……….five thousand cans of vegetables to the city's homeless shelters
14.The contract stipulates that an employee is………to do overtime during weeks that presentations or special reports are being prepared
15.The campaigns that……… assigned to the broadcasting division have
been scrapped due to lack of support
16 The announcement in the newsletter is meant to……… Mr.Meyer‟s remarks
on the merger between the two communications firms
17 First-class seats are……….with Internet hook-ups, global telephones and faxing capabilities for all of your airborne professional needs
Morgan & Co will be giving stock options to interested employees
19 After today‟s planning session is completed the members of each group will
be………… a report of their team‟s objectives for the next three years
20 We would like you……….by our assistant manager who will give
you a tour of the company‟s offices and facilities
21 Harwood Department Store will be……… later this weekend to allow our shoppers to take advantage of our end-of-season clearance sale
22 To meet the special needs of our branches in Asia, a total of twenty-four trained
staff will………to Japan, Hong Kong, and Thailand
Trang 12(A) send (B) be sent (C) be sending (D) have sent
23.Membership at the exclusive sports club……… benefits ranging from the use
of all sports equipment to discounted rates at the club‟s restaurant and bar
24 If the director………that the top candidate was still a consultant for Master Lines, Inc., he could have given others greater priority
25 ……….The machine‟s continued operation, a thorough check by maintenance personnel should take place bimonthly
27 The winners of the logo contest are……… to be at the dinner this evening, which will begin at 8:00 p.m at the International Plaza Hotel's Blue Room
28 Participants in the seminar were……….to make hotel reservations
by the date indicated on the list of hotels
29 Before structural renovations take place, all businesses must……… the building as indicated in the official notice issued last month
30 Access to the computer terminals……….during evening hours, so it is necessary for us to finish the work during the day
(A) restrict (B) to restrict (C) is restricted (D) has restricted