Transcript Passive Voice

Passive Voice
Passive Voice Riddle 1:
Who am I ?
When I am closed, I look like a stick.
When I am opened, I look like a dome.
When I am not being used, I am kept in
a tight cover.
Passive Voice Riddle 2:
Who am I ?
The more I am used,
the shorter I become.
I am loved by teachers.
I shouldn’t be eaten.
I am easily broken.
I leave a powdery streak.
In this lesson, we look at the
form / meaning / use
of the passive:



How do we form the passive?
What does it mean?
When should we use the passive ?
Passive Voice in Rhyme
Solomon Grundy
Born on a Monday
Christened on Tuesday
Married on Wednesday
Took ill on Thursday
Worse on Friday
Died on Saturday
Buried on Sunday
This is the end
Of Solomon Grundy
Exercise 1
Put ‘was’ in the (
) if needed.
Solomon Grundy ( was ) born on a
Monday.
He ( was ) christened on Tuesday.
He (
) married on Wednesday.
He (
) took ill on Thursday.
He ( was ) worse on Friday
He (
) died on Saturday
He ( was ) buried on Sunday
This is the end of Solomon Grundy.
Passive Voice
be + past participle
To make the
past participle:
Regular verbs:
Add –ed.
Irregular verbs:
See Appendix
6 (p. A-10 and
A-11) in the
textbook.
How is the passive formed?
Be + past participle
sell - sold - sold / build – built - built
 Original
are for
soldlots
foroflots of
paintings sell
money.
 Those pyramids built
were built
around 400 AD.
If you want to name who
performed the action (the
agent), use a by-phrase.
I
was given a recipe
by a kind neighbor.
The form of be shows the tense.
The portrait was drawn by a street artist.
The portrait is being drawn by a street artist.
The portrait will be drawn by a street artist.
The form of be shows the tense.

The portrait was drawn by a street artist.
simple past

The portrait is being drawn by a street artist.
present progressive

The portrait will be drawn by a street artist.
simple future
Do Exercise 2, p. 49
1. …had been forgotten
Exercise 2, p. 49
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
was established
is manufactured
is obtained
will be required
will be discovered
is being made
had been left
9. was built
10. is produced
11. will have been sent
12. had been noticed
13. will be needed
14. have been forgotten
15. are being studied
 Active
sentences focus on performing an
action.
My daughter made this painting.
A performer of the action
 Passive
sentences focus on receiving an
action.
This painting was made by my daughter.
A receiver of the action
• He took
this photo.
 This
photo
was taken
by him.

focus on
performing the action.

focus on
receiving the action.
This photo was
He took this photo.
taken by him.
Only transitive verbs have
passive forms
The passive can only be made from a verb
that has an object (a transitive verb—v.t.
in the dictionary).
 On p. 56, there is a list of some words
that never have passive forms.

The civilization was disappeared.
Exercise 2
Read each sentence and state if it’s possible
to make the sentence passive.
 My mother painted this room.

She painted from morning till night.

The room looks bigger and bright.
Exercise 2
Read each sentence and state if it’s possible
to make the sentence passive.
 My mother painted this room.
This room was painted by my mother.
 She painted from morning till night.
No.
 The room looks bigger and bright.
No.
Exercise 3, p. 50
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
are spoken
have been mined
are considered
is eaten
is consumed
were worshipped
has been developed
were both invented
Exercise 7, p 52, No. 1
Active
Pilots discovered the Nazca Lines.
 Passive
The Nazca Lines were discovered by
pilots.

Exercise 7, p 52, no. 2
Active
The ancient Romans could not explain
Stonehenge.
 Passive
Stonehenge could not be explained by
the ancient Romans.

Exercise 7, p 52, no. 3
Active
Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated John
F. Kennedy.
 Passive
John F. Kennedy was assassinated by ‘
Lee Harvey Oswald.

Exercise 7, p 52, no. 4
Active
Beings from outer space visited the
Earth.
 Passive
The Earth was visited by beings from
outer space.

Exercise 7, p 52, no. 5
Active
Parents teach their children good
manners.
 Passive
Children are taught good manners by
their parents.

Exercise 7, p 52, no. 6
Active
Society discriminates against social
minorities.
 Passive
Social minorities are discriminated
against by society.

Why do we use the passive?

The person or thing performing the
action is unknown.
The window was broken.
- A by-phrase is not used.

The person or thing performing the
action is not important.
Too many books have been
written about the Second
World War.

It’s clear to everyone who or what
performed the action.
“I made a tasty dish the other
night. This chicken was baked
in the oven with carrots,
potatoes, and lots of onions.”
-Who did the baking?
We want to avoid saying who or what
performed the action.
“Why is this milk
warm?”
“Because it was
left out for a
while.”
I did it, but I don’t want to admit I’m the one
who forgot to put it away.
We want to highlight someone’s work.
(often artistic or creative work)
“This concerto
was written
by Beethoven.”
Exercise 4
Read each statement and explain why the
passive voice is used.
 Our mail is delivered at the same time every
day.
- It’s clear to everyone who delivered the mail.

Here are my books. They are written for
English language learners.
- It’s clear from the context. I wrote them.

Wife to husband, “Honey, the trash bags
weren’t put in the trash cans. It looks kind
of messy, don’t you think?”
- To avoid accusing the other person.

These jeans were made in Hong Kong.
- We don’t know exactly who made these jeans.
Compare with text, p. 57
When do we use the passive?
If the agent if unknown
 If the agent is not the focus
 If the agent is obvious from the context
 To focus on the receiver
 To make general explanations
 In scientific and technical writing

CAUTION

Be careful: When describing how something is done (rather than how to do it
yourself), passive may be necessary in
English when it is not present in the
Chinese.
Example from the homework

過濾之後的豆渣亦
可煎炸入菜，或餵
給豬吃。
WRONG:
The pulp that remains
after filtering can fry
and add to other dishes,
or they can feed pigs.
Who is feeding the pigs?
Example from the homework

過濾之後的豆渣亦
可煎炸入菜，或餵
給豬吃。
CORRECTED:
The pulp that remains
after filtering can be
fried and added to
other dishes, or they
can be fed to pigs.
As long as we’re being fed,
we don’t care who’s feeding us!