Pasive voice and relating exercises

To help students understand the form , the way to change from anactive voice to passive one, kinds of passive voice and how to recognize them inmultiple choice sentences an rewriting sen

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

NONG CONG I HIGHSCHOOL

THANH HOA YEAR 2016

1.1.Rationale of the study:

Engish is the most popular language in the world and an important subject

at schools Seeing its importance in international affiliations, the Vietnamministry of Education and Training choose English one of the core subjects.It isnot only the language for tourism,trade, aviation but is also used in exams.2016

is the second year that apply the new method in checking students’understanding, skills and knowledge through a general exam for those who take

it for graduating purpose and a specific exam for students who want to enter acertain university English is still one main subject that students have to take inboth exams In the new kind of english exam, students have to do two mainparts: the multiple choice part and the writing part Among a variety knowledgeand skills students have to prepare for the above exams, passive voice is onemajor part To help students understand the form , the way to change from anactive voice to passive one, kinds of passive voice and how to recognize them inmultiple choice sentences an rewriting sentences,I choose the topic “Passivevoice and relating exercises” in my research

1.2 Aims of the study:

I do this research in order to give some of my opinions on problemsrelating to passive voice in English and provide teacher of English with areference in teaching and reviewing for their students for the coming exams

1.3 Field of the study:

In the curriculumn, passive voice is taught in grade 10,11and 12.I myresearch, I would like to concentrade on some theory issues like the form, theway to change from an active sentence to a passive one, types of passive voiceand on practice issues such as rewrite exercises from active to passive andmultiple choice exercises to help my students consolidate what they have learnt

in order to do different kinds of exercises related to passive from basic toadvantaged ones easily and effectively and to meet the needs of above new theexams

1.4 Research Method

The study of theory construction

II Development

2.1 Scope of the study:

- Passive voice in English 10, 11, 12

-Some relating books(Oxford Practice Grammar, Longman English GrammarPractice, Grammar English in Use) and websites(Violet, Tai Lieu,EnglishGrammar) about passive voice

- My colleges’ shared experience and opinions

- Classes of grade 10 with total students of 120

2.2 Actual state

English grammar has an important role in English language as it is thefoundation skills that many people have to know to develop their other skills in

learning English Passive voice is one of the major problems my students have

to encounter when they study grammar It is true that they can not makedistinction between a passive sentence and an active one As a result they find itdifficult to choose the correct answer in multiple choice tests or writing testsrelated to passive one I am interested in showing theoretical sites backgroundand its applied practice and practical teaching so as to help my studentsovercome problems of learning passive voice

2.3 Research : Theory of the passive voice

A Normal passive voice

S2(O) BE V1PP BY +O(S)

-We say Bell invented the telephone because we are talking about Bell and the

new information is that he invented the telephone When the subject is the

person or thing doing the action(the agent), then we use an active sentence.(1)

- We say The telephone was invented by Bell because we are talking about the

telephone, and the new information is that it was invented by Bell.When the

subject is not agent (is not doing the action)but the thing that the action is

directed at, then we use a passive verb.

II Rules

When we change from an active sentence to a passive one, we need to follow thefollowing steps

1 Identify The subject, main verb and objective of the active sentence.

Active: She arranges the books on the shelves every weekend

S1 V1 O

2 Take object to be subject of the passive sentence, add the suitable verb to be (relating to the tense in the active sentence), move Subject to be Object and put it after by.

 Passive: The books are arranged on the shelves (by her) every weekend

S be Vpp by O

3 Notes:

a when the subject has two persons linked by and or of, we have to identify

clearly the subjects to change from an active to a passive one

Active: Tom and Mary see the film

 Passive: The film is seen by Tom and Mary

Active: He bought a box of chocolates last week

 Passive: A box of chocolates was bought last week

b When the verb of the active sentence is a phrase of phrasal verb(verb +preposition), we have to keep the preposition in the passive

Active: They are looking into my problem now.

 Passive: My problem is being looked into now

c In the passive sentence, by O stands after adverbs of place and before adverbs

of time

Active: Mr Ha arranged the books on the shelves every weekend

 Passive: The books are arranged on the shelves (by Mr Ha ) every weekend

adv of place by O adv of time

d In the passive sentence, we can omit by O when the subject ia a personal

pronoun like I, you, we, they etc or “vague subjects” like one, someone, people.Active: They have built a new bridge across the river

 Passive: A new bridge has been built across the river

e We use By + agent to tell the doer who does the action

Active: John made the kite

 Passive: A kite was made by John

We use With + instrument / material / ingredient to tell how the agent is

used

Active: Paper, paint and string made it

 Passive: It was made with paper, paint and string

*Some common phrases:

- be covered with / in + N: che phủ, bao bọc + danh từ chỉ chất liệu.

This box was covered with paper

- to be filled with: lấp đầy, tràn đầy

The room is filled with smoke

* The agent in some special cases

- So / sth + surprise so  So surprised at / by + sth / so (ngạc nhiên)

Active: The news surprised him

 Passive: He was surprised at / by the news

- So / sth excite so  so be excited about sth (háo hức)

Active: The match excited the children

 Passive: The children were excited about the match

- be worried / upset about sth: lo lắng, đau khổ

- so / sth interest so  so be interested in so / sth quan tâm đến

- so / sth tire so  so be tired of / from so / sth (chán cái gì, mệt mỏi bởi).

f When there are modals or auxiliaries in the verb of the active sentences

Active: S + Aux /Modals+ V + O + ……

 Passive: S + Aux/Modals + be + Vpp+ (by O) + ……

Active: My students have to do a lot of homework every day

S Aux V O

 Passive: A lot of homewok has to be done by my students

S Aux BE VPPActive: Every one can answer that easy question

S Modal V O

 Passive: That easy question can be answered

g Here is the table for different verb tenses in active and passive equipvalents

Tenses in active sentences Tenses in passive

(Present Perfect) HAVE / HAS + V3 HAVE / HAS + BEEN + V3

(Past

(Simple future) SHALL / WILL + V SHALL BE / WILL BE + V3

(Near future) AM / IS / ARE + GOING

TO + V

AM/ IS / ARE + GOING TO

BE + V3

(Future

(Future Perfect) WILL HAVE+ V3 WILL HAVE BEEN + V3

MODAL + HAVE BEEN +

V3

B Special passive voice

I Verbs with two objects

1 Verbs followed by preposition TO: give, lend, send, show, allow,…

Active: John will give me this book

 Passive1: I will be given this book by John

In this sentence, The subject is I and it tells us what i will be given(I- indirectobject)

 Passive2: This book will be given to me by John.

In this sentence, The subject is the book, and it tells who will be given it.(thebook- direct object)

2 Verbs followed by preposition FOR: buy, make, get, pay…:

Active: He bought her a rose (= He bought a rose for her.)

 Passive1: She was bought a rose

 Passive2: A rose was bought for her.

II Verbs of opinion with the subject They / People + say / think / believe… that …:

1.Form:

Verbs of opinion such as think, believe, say, report, know, expect, consider,

understand,find, think is often used in structrures with personal / impersonal

constructions

Active: S 1 + V1(say, believe, …) + (that) + S 2 + V 2 + …

Passive1: It + Be + V1pp (said, believed …) + that + S 2 + V 2 (1)

Passive2: S 2 + Be + V1pp (said, believed …) + V2to (2)

Or S2 + Be + V1pp (said, believed…) + Vto have +V2pp (3)

- We can use the structure It +passive verb + clause with verbs of reportingwhen we can not say or do not need to say who the speaker is, for example innew reports

Eg: Active: They think that the company is planning a new advertisingcampaign

 Passive1: It is thought that the company is planning a new advertisingcampaign(1)—impersonal construction

- If the action in that clause(V2) happens at the same time or after the action inthe main clause (V1), we use Vto when taking S2 to be the subject of the passivesentence

 Passive2:The company is thought to be planning a new advertising compaign

- Personal construction.(2)

- If the action in that clause (V2) happens before the action in the main clause(V1), we use perfect infinitive(to have +Vpp) when taking S2 to be the subject

of the passive sentence.(3)

People think that he left the country last night

S1 V1 S2 V2

 Passive1: It is thought (that) he left the country last night.(1)

 Passive2: He is thought to have left the country last night.(3)

III Verbs of perception: see, watch, hear,…(V*)

1.Form

Active: S + V* + O + bare infinitive / Ving

Passive: S + Be + V*pp + to-infinitive / Ving

2 If we mention a complete action, we use verb bare infinitive after the verb

IV Causative verbs:

1 With the verb HAVE:

Active: S + Have + O1(person)+ V +O2(thing)

Passive: S + Have + O2 + Vpp + (by + O1)

When we want to ask somebody to do something for us, we can use the structure

in the active form and if we want to emphasize something which is done we usethe passive structure

Active: I’ll have John repair my bicycle

S have O1 V O2Passive: I’ll have my bicycle repaired by John

S have O2 Vpp by + O1

2 With the verb GET

Active: S + Get + O1(person) + Vto + O2(thing)

Passive: S + Get + O2 + Vpp + (by + O1)

This structure is used the same as with the verb Have above

Active: She got her neighbour to decorate the kitchen

S get O1 Vtoinf O2 Passive: She got the kitchen decorated by her neighbour

S get O2 Vpp by + O1

3 There are some structures that we can use causative form in pasive when

we want to rewrite sentences so as to keep its original meaning.

tell / ask / order + sb + to do sth

pay + sb + for doing sth

Active: get / hire / employ + sb + to do sth

arrange + for sb + to do sth tip + sb + for doing sth prepare + for sb + to do sth

Passive: Have / Get + sth + Vpp

Active: He is employing a boy to pick up apples

 Passive: He is having apples picked up by a boy

Active: The Browns have prepared for a man to fix the conditioner

air- Passive: The Browns have had the air-conditioner fixed

4 With the verb MAKE:

Active: S + Make + O + V

 Passive: S + Be + made + Vto

In active sentence, the verb after make must be in bare form while in passive one it is used in to infinitive.

Active: They made him work hard

S make O Vbareinf

 Passive: He was made to work hard

S be made VtoinfActive: The news has made me laugh

S make O Vbareinf

 Passive: I have been made to laugh

S be made Vtoinf

V With the verb NEED:

Active: S (person) + Need + Vto + O (thing)

Active: John and his brother need to paint the house

S need Vtoinf O(thing)

- In the passive sentence, the subject is thing (O in active one) and must be follwed by either Ving or to be Vpp

 Passive1: The house needs painting

 Passive2: The house needs to be painted

Active: The floor is dirty

 Passive1: It (the floor) needs to be cleaned

 Passive2: It (the floor) needs cleaning

VI With Negative indefinite pronouns: No one, Nobody, Anyone, Anything (dạng Any + / No +):

Because these pronouns have negative meaning themselves so when we change from an active sentence to a passive one, we must add “not” after modals or auxiliaries and vice-versal.

Active: No one can answer this question ( Affirmative verb)

 Passive: This question can’t be answered ( Negative verb)

Active: They haven’t done anything (Negative verb)

 Passive: Nothing has been done (Affirmative verb)

VII With the structures of request and imperative:

1.Request sentences

a Affirmative sentence:

Active: Imperative (V) + O + Vto

 Passive: Let + O + Be + Vpp + Vto

-In active sentence, we use verb bare +Object and Verb to infinitive

Active: Tell him to wait

Active: Negative imperative (Don’t let V) + Operson + Vbareinf + Othing

 Passive: Don’t Let + Othing + Be + Vpp + by +Operson

- In active sentence, we use Don’t let + Objectperson +Vbareinf +Object thing

Active: Don’t let the children tease the dog

S Operson Vbareinf Othing

- In passive sentence,we put the Object thing before verb be + Vpp and by +Operson

 Passive: Don’t let the dog be teased by the children

-In affirmative sentence, we use verb bare infinitive + Object

Active: Close your book

b Negative sentence

Active: Negative Imperative (Don’t V) + O + Vto

 Passive: S + mustn’t + Be + Vpp

-In affirmative sentence, we use Don’t + verb bare infinitive + Object

Active: Don't touch this button

Don’t +Vbare O-In passive one, we use Object as the subject of the sentence and add musn’t be+ verb in the past participle form

 Passive: This button mustn't be touched

S musn’t be + Vpp

VIII With other verbs:

1 begin / continue:

- In active form the verb used after begin/continue is to infinitive/Ving while

in the passive form it is to be + Vpp/being +Vpp

Active: People begin to explore the internet

 Passive: The internet begin to be explored

Active: We continued rehearsing the play after the break

 Passive: The play continued being rehearsed after the break

2 like/ love/ expect/ want/ wish:

- In the active sentence, we use Verb to infinitive after V*(like, love, want, wish) + Othing while in the passive form we use V* + Othing + Vto be + Vpp

Active: S +V*( like/ love/ expect/ want/ wish) + Vto +Othing

 Passive: S + V*+ Othing + to be +Vpp

Active: He likes to take away the books

 Passive: He likes the books to be taken away

Active: They expect people to dig the garden

 Passive: They expect the garden to be dug

3.If the subject and the object denote the same person then we have the following structure:

Active: S + V*(like/ love/ expect/ want/ wish )+ Vto + O (S = O)

Passive: S + V*+ to be Vpp

Active: He likes people to call him Proffessor

 Passive: He likes to be called Proffessor

IX With other special structures:

1 Active: It is/ (im)possible Vto sth

 Passive: Sth can / can’t be done.

Active: It is possible to type the letter now

 Passive: The letter can be typed now

Active: It was impossible to start the machine by electricity then

 Passive: The machine couldn't be started by electricity then

Note: You must pay attention to the verb to be If it is in the simple present form

in the active sentence, we use can(can’t with negative) If the verb to be is in thepast form then we use could(couldn’t with negative)

2 Active: It is + one's duty + Vto sth

Passive:  S + be + supposed + Vto sth

Active: It is your duty to clean the room

 Passive: You are supposed to clean the room

3 Active:

It is/was adj*(important/necessary/essential/crucial/advisable/better/only right) + Vto sth

 Passive: It is/was + adj* + that sth should be + Vpp

Active: It is necessary to repaint the door

 Passive: It is necessary that the door should be repainted

4 Active: S+ V*(Advise / beg / urge / order)+ sb + Vto + sth

 Passive: S +V* + that sth should be + Vpp

Active: I advised her to make artificial flowers

 Passive: I advised that artificial flowers should be made

5.Active: S +V*(Agree/ arrange/ determine/ decide/ demand/ be

anxious/ be determined) + Vto+ sth

 Passive: S + V* + that sth should be + Vpp

Active: We agreed to cut the cake in half

 Passive: We agreed that the cake should be cut in half

6Active: S +V*(Insist on / suggest / propose / recommend / advise) + V-ing

+ O

 Passive: S + V*+ that S should be + V3

Active: She suggested taking photographs by the lake

 Passive: She suggested that photographs should be taken by the lake

7.Active: S +V*( love / enjoy / like / hate / mind )+ people + V-ing + O

 Passive1: S + V*… + being + Vpp (S = O)

 Passive2: S + V*… + having + O + Vpp (S  O)

Active: I love people admiring me

 Passive1: I love being admired

Active: I love people admiring my house

 Passive2: I love having my house admired

2.4 Research application: Some basic and advanced types of exercises

- Here are some basic and advanced types of exercises I apply after teachingtypes of passive I teach my students With different levels of students, I givethem different kinds of exercises from easy to hard ones so that I can check theirunderstanding about passive voice