Unit 4 Passive Voice Pretest Circle the letter of the best answer. Some of the problems May require active voice rather than Passive voice. 1. “The longest fish in the contest was eighteen inches long." “It —_____ by Thelma Rivers.” a. was catching ©. was caught b. caught d. catch 2. “I heard you decided to take up tennis.” “Yes, I have every day.” a, been played . playing b. been playing d. play “Are we about to have dinner?” “Yes, it —______ iin the dining room.” a. is serving . is being served b. serves d. served 4. “Why is Stantey in jail?” “He of robbery.” a, has been convicted ~ ©. has convicted b. has been convicting 4. convicted 5. “Where are Jack and Jan?” “They the boxes you asked for into the house,”” a. have been bringing ©. have been brought b. bringing d. to bring Explanation In passive voice, the subject does not perform the action of the verb, but instead is acted upon by someone or something. In other words, the subject is passive. Mary was given a ticket by the police, 24Passive Voice In this sentence, the police gave the ticket to Mary. Mary did not give the ticket to the police. Notice that by is used to indicate who (or what) is performing the action In passive voice, it is not always obvious who is performing the action. The story was told over and over again. In this sentence it is uncertain who told the story and the information is not assumed to be of han Primary importance. Forming Sentences in the Passive Ics relatively uncomplicated to form a passive sentence. If you find it confusing, the following steps may help you. Exampies of each step are given in parentheses, 1, Choose the passive subject. (The table) 2. Choose the tense. Decide whether the sentence will be in the simple or progressive. (past Progressive) 3. Put the verb be in the tense you choose. (The table was being) 4. Put the verb you want to use in the past participle. (The table was being stolen) 5. Add the person or thing that is performing the action. Use Ly. (The table was being stolen by the thieves) 6. Complete the sentence. (The table was being stolen by the thieves when the watchman arrived.) A sentence in the passive always contains the verb be. The museum has started by Henry Ford. In addition, the past participle, not the present participle (verb + -ing) is always used. Com- are the next two sentences. The man was eating (when a friend came). (active voice) The man was eaten (by cannibals). (passive voice) Itis considered incorrect to use any other form but the past participle. 4 The jewelry was remove, from the safe in the bank. sent The table was-sending-from California to New York by plane. Some verbs, such as fall and die, do not occur in passive voice. Thus, while it is correct to S2y The tree was blown over by the wind, itis incorrect to say The tree was fallen by the wind. Likewise, The deer was died by the hunter is incorrect, but The deer was killed by the hunter is correct.Passive Voice Practice Exercise I Circle the letter of the best answer. Some of the problems may require active voice rather than | passive voice. 1. “Where's the old chicken coop?” “It by a windstorm last year.”” a. destroy c. was destroyed b. is destroyed d. destroyed 2, “We're still looking for Thomas.” “Hasn't he —______ yet?" a. been found c. found b. to find d. being found 3. “Whatever happened to that fortune-teller?” “I don’t know. She _________. around here in a long time." a. hasn't seen c. hasn’t been seeing b. didn’t see d hasn’t been seen 4, “Diana is a wonderful ballet dancer.” “She since she was four.”” a. has been dancing . is dancing , has been danced 4. was danced 5. “What a beautiful dress you're wearing!" “Thank you. It _______ especially for me by a French tailor.” a, is made c, made b, has made d. was made 6. “Those eggs of different colors are very artistic.” “Yes, they —_______ in Russia.” a. were painted c. were painting b. were paint 4. painted 7. “Homer is in jail for smoking marijuana.” “He ——______ that it was against the law.”” “sa, is telling c. told b. was told 4. tells 8, “The maintenance people didn’t remove the chairs from the ballroom. “Don't worry. They ______ them before the dance begins. a. will have been moved . were moved b. will have moved d. moved 26Passive Voice 9. Gold in California in the nineteenth century, a. was discovered . c. Was discover b. has been discovered d. they discovered 10: —___ that military spending is extremely high. a, We are felt c. It is felt b. It feels d. We fee! that it is 11. All planes ____ before departure. a, will checked ¢. will be checked d. will has checked 4d, will been checked 12, Twanted ___ by the head of the company, but it was impossible. a. to see c. seeing b. to be seen d. being to see 13. Katherine at Bob's house every night this week. a. has been eaten c. is being eating b. has eating d. has been eating . “Where did you get these old dresses?” “We them in the old trunk." a. were found ©. found b. finding d. have been found . “What happened to the old mail carrier?” “He to a new neighborhood to work."” a. has sent c. was sent b. was send d. sent Final Test Study the following sentences. Decide if the italicized portion of the sentence is correct (©) or incorrect (1). Circle your answer. 1. Changes in the schedule have been indicate on the bulletin board. C1 2. The piano concerto was beautifully performed by a sixteen-year-old. C1 3. The University of Michigan, which was found in 1817, is located in Ann Arbor, Mich- igan. C 1 4 Mail is send daily to all parts of the United States not only by the government but also by private carriers. C1 5: It recognized that insulation containing formaldehyde can cause serious health prob- lems for certain people. C 1 6. The caves of Altamira, which were discovered in northern Spain, contain interesting paintings by early cave dwellers. C IPassive Voice \ 7. While some people say that a lot of time ix wasting in shopping for clothes, others fee! \ that it is a relaxing activity. C 1 \ 8. Grandma Moses is thought of as one of America’s greatest primitive artists. C 1 9. Lung cancer and other illnesses can be ‘raced to cigarette smoking. C 1 10. The first census carried out during Roman times for the purpose of taxation. C I 28 i