PASSIVE VOICE(Present & Past Tenses)

When do you use the Passive Voice?How do you form Tenses in the

Passive?Is the Agent (BY) necessary?

Examples and Activities

HOUSE

Peter, the builder

Bricklayers and other workers

When do you use the PASSIVE VOICE?

(Present & Past Tenses)

-We are interested in the object -or We don’t know who caused the action

Ex.: My bike was stolen.

- There must be an object in the active sentence

Active: Peter built a house. Passive: A house was built by Peter,

- Sometimes only the passive voice is possible:

Ex.: I was born in Madrid.

How do you form Tenses in the PASSIVE VOICE? (1)

(Present Tense)

ACTIVE Peter builds a house

PASSIVE A house is built by Peter

How do you form Tenses in the PASSIVE VOICE? (2)

(Past Tense)

ACTIVE Peter built a house

PASSIVE A house was built by Peter

Is the AGENT (BY) necessary in the PASSIVE VOICE?

(Present & Past Tenses)-We are normally not interested in the "doer" of an action in a passive sentence. So there is NO AGENT in the passive voice.

- When we do not know who was the "doer", we use someone or somebody in the active sentence. So there is NO AGENT in the passive voice.

- When we want to mention who was the "doer" of the action, we use the preposition by. The whole phrase is called by-agent in English.

EXAMPLES AND ACTIVITIESWrite complete passive sentences

1. What do these expressions mean?2. Where can you find these notices?

No smoking

Children under 16 not admitted to this club

Money returned if not

satisfied

English spoken

Rubbish cleared on Mondays

All cars checked before sale

Washing machines repaired

Book bought and sold

EXAMPLES AND ACTIVITIESWrite complete passive sentences

-Complete the sentences using one of these verbs in the correct form: CAUSE DAMAGE HOLD INCLUDE

INVITE MAKE OVERTAKE SHOWTRANSLATE WRITE

1. Many accidents ____________ by dangerous driving.2. Cheese ________________ from milk.3. The roof of the building _________________ in a storm a few days

ago.4. There’s no need to leave a tip. Service ________________ in the bill.5. You ______________ to the wedding. Why didn’t you go?6. A cinema is a place where films ________________ .7. In the USA, elections for President _______________ every four

years.8. Originally the book __________________ in Spanish and a few years

ago it _________ into English.9. We were driving along quite fast but we ______________ by lots of

other cars.

EXAMPLES AND ACTIVITIESWrite complete passive sentences

-CHOOSE between present simple or past simple / active or passive1. Five hundred people _______________ (employ) in that big factory.2. Water ____________ (cover) most of the Earth’s surface.3. Most of the Earth’s surface _____________ (cover) by water.4. The letter ____________ (post) one week ago and it ____________

(arrive) yesterday.5. I was born in London but I _____________ (grow) up in the North of

England.6. While I was in London, my camera ______________ (steal) from my

room.7. While I was in London, my camera ______________(disappear) from

my room.- REWRITE using passive sentences1. Somebody cleans the room every day. - …2. They cancelled all flights because of fog. – All …3. People don’t use this road very often. - …4. Somebody accused me of stealing money. – I …5. People advised us not to go out alone. - …