Touchstone 2nd Edition • Language summary • Level 3

Unit 12 • Lesson A: Local news

Vocabulary
In the news
police (n)
police raid (n)
because of (prep)
Is that all?

Verbs commonly used in the passive

break into / be broken into (v)
delay / be delayed (v)
find / be found (v)
hit / be hit (by) (v)
injure / be injured (v)
steal / be stolen (v)

Grammar
Simple past passive
In sentences with active verbs, the subject is the "doer" or cause of an action. The object is
the "receiver" of the action. Use active verbs to focus on the "doer" or cause:

A student found a bag on a bus.

The sentence has a subject (a student), a verb (found), and an object (a bag). The subject
(a student) "does" the action.

In sentences with passive verbs, the subject is the "receiver" of the action. Use passive verbs
to focus on the "receiver" or when the "doer" or cause is not known or not important. In
sentences with passive verbs, the subject is the "receiver" of the action:

A bag was found on a bus.

© Cambridge University Press 2014 Unit 12, Lesson A Page 1

Touchstone 2nd Edition • Language summary • Level 3
Use subject + was / wasn't / were / weren't + past participle for the simple past passive:

The authorities closed the airport. (simple past active)

The airport was closed. (simple past passive)

The people who closed the airport are not important, so you don't need to mention
them in the sentence with the passive verb.

The accident didn't injure the passengers. (simple past active)

The passengers weren't injured. (simple past passive)

© Cambridge University Press 2014 Unit 12, Lesson A Page 2