GESTIÓN DE FORMACIÓN PROFESIONAL INTEGRAL

PROCEDIMIENTO DESARROLLO CURRICULAR

GUÍA DE APRENDIZAJE

THE PASSIVE VOICE

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.

GFPI-F-019 V3
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Short answers
To make short answers:
 We use the verb to be (am/is/are/was/were) for Present Simple, Past Simple, Present Continuous, Past
Continuous and Going To questions.
 We use the verb have (have/has/had) for Present Perfect and Past Perfect questions.
 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 the end 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:
 The object of the active voice sentence becomes the subject of the passive voice sentence.
Agatha Christie wrote this book.
This book was written by Agatha Christie.
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 We change the main verb of the active voice sentence into the passive voice. The tense remains unchanged.
 The subject of the active voice sentence becomes the agent of the passive sentence. It is placed after the past
participle and it is preceded by the preposition by.

BY OR WITH?
In the passive voice, we use:
 By with the agent to refer to by whom the action is being done.
The door was opened by Mr Black. (Mr Blak = agent)
 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)

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. If 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.
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1. Complete the sentences with the correct passive form of the verbs in brackets. Use the Present Simple.
A. English …………………………………. (speak) in many countries.
B. The post…………………………………. (deliver) at about 7 o’clock every morning.
C. …………………………………. (The building/use) any more?
D. How often …………………………………. (the Olympic Games(hold)?
E. How …………………………………. (your name/spell)?
F. My salary …………………………………. (pay) every month.
G. These cars …………………………………. (not make) in Japan.
H. The name of the people who committed the crime ………………………………….not know).
I. His travel expenses …………………………………. (not pay) by his company.

2. Complete the sentences with the correct passive form of the verbs in brackets. Use the Past Simple.
A. My car …………………………………. (repair) last week.
B. This song …………………………………. (not write) by John Lennon.
C. …………………………………. (the phone/answer) by a young girl?
D. The film …………………………………. (make) ten years ago.
E. When …………………………………. (tennis/invent)?
F. The car …………………………………. (not damaged) in the accident.
G. The original building …………………………………. (pull) down in 1965.
H. Where …………………………………. (this pot/make)?
I. When …………………………………. (this bridge/build)?

3. Choose the correct form of the verbs in brackets. FIAT

Fiat was started (started/was started) by a group of Italian businessmen in 1899. In 1903, Fiat,
1 ……………………………… (produced/was produced) 132 cars. Some of these cars
2 ……………………………… (exported/were exported) by the company to the United States and Britain.
In 1920, Fiat 3 ……………………………… (started/was started) making cars at a new factory at Lingotto, near Turin.
There was a track on the roof where the cars 4 ……………………………… (tested/were tested) by technicians. In 1936,
Fiat launched the Fiat 500. This car 5 ……………………………… (called/was called) the Topolino – the Italian
name for Mickey Mouse. The company grew, and in 1963 Fiat 6 ………………………………(exported/was
exported) more than 300,000 vehicles. Today, Fiat is based in Turin, and its cars 7 ……………………………… (sold/are
sold) all over the world.

4. Change the following sentences into passive sentences using the words in brackets.
A. We sell tickets for all shows at the Box Office. (Tickets for all shows/sell/at the Box Office)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
B. Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb. (The electric light bulb/invent/by Thomas Edison)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

C. Someone painted the office last week. (The office/paint/last week)

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

D. Several people saw the accident. (The accident/see/by several people)

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

E. Where do they make these video recorders? (Where/these video recorders/make)

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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5. Rewrite these sentences in the passive voice.

a. Someone built this house 200 years ago.
b. A thief stole my purse.
c. The police will arrest the robbers.
d. They produce cars in this factory.
e. They serve breakfast at eight o’clock every day.
f. People throw away tones of rubbish every day.
g. They make coffee in Brazil.
h. Someone stole Jim’s bike lat night.

6. Complete with the passive. Use Present Simple.

A. This programme ……………………………… (watch) by millions of people.
B. Paper ……………………………… (make) from wood.
C. Hundreds of people ……………………………… (kill) in accidents every year.
D. London ……………………………… (visit) by thousands of tourists every year.
E. The biology class ……………………………… (teach) by Mr Green.
F. English ……………………………… (speak) all over the world.
G. Lunch ……………………………… (serve) at twelve o’clock.
H. Books ……………………………… (write) by authors.

7. Put the verbs in brackets into Past Simple Passive.

Two men ………………………. (see) breaking into a house in my street last night. The police ……………………….
(call) and they arrived very quickly. One man ………………………. (catch) immediately. The other escaped, but he
………………………. (find) very soon. Both men ………………………. (take) to the police station where they
………………………. (question) separately by a police officer. The two men (charge) with burglary.

8. Rewrite the following passage in the Passive.

Somebody has stolen a bus from outside the school. Some children saw the thief. The police are searching for the bus
now. They will use the children's descriptions to catch the thief.

9. Rewrite the following passage in the Passive.

Someone broke into a local jewellery shop yesterday. The owner had just locked up the shop when a robber with a
gun threatened him. The robber told him to unlock the shop and give him all the diamonds in the safe. Then the
robber tied him up. The police have organized a search for the robber. They hope they will find him in a few days.
Doctors are treating the owner of the shop for shock.

10. Rewrite the following passage in the Passive.

My uncle painted this picture. Someone has offered him a lot of money for it. He will deliver the painting tomorrow.
When they give him the money, he will tell them the truth. He painted it one night while he was sleepwalking!

11. Rewrite the following passage in the Passive.

Our school is organizing a contest. The teachers will choose the best project about the environment. The students
must include pictures and drawings in their projects. The students will also have to do all the writing themselves.
The school will give the winner a set of encyclopaedias.
12. Rewrite the following passage in the Passive.
Some people saw a UFO in the sky above London last night. They reported it to the police. The army sent a helicopter
to look at it more closer. The UFO shot the helicopter down and killed both men in it. People have given photographs of
the UFO to the police. Experts are looking at them now.
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