Language Practice

Pre-intermediate

Grammar reference    Basic 11 Healthy nation

The passive
present simple passive past simple passive
Marinara sauce is served with It was created in Naples in the
pasta, meat or fish. 16th century.
Rice, vegetables, and seafood
Modern sushi dishes were
are rolled in sheets of dried
invented about 200 years ago.
seaweed.

Why do we use the passive?

In the passive sentences, the people who do the actions are
not very important, or not important at all.
active passive
People all over the world Italian food is enjoyed by
enjoy Italian food. people all over the world.
People eat sushi in Japan. Sushi is eaten in Japan.
Someone serves the The vegetables are served
vegetables on rice. on rice.
He opened the restaurant The restaurant was opened
in 1979. in 1979.

The passive form

positive negative
past past
verb be verb be
participle participle
Raw fish is placed over rice. Raw fish isn’t placed over rice.
All the All the
are cooked together. aren’t cooked together.
ingredients ingredients
The The
was opened in 1979. wasn’t opened in 1979.
restaurant restaurant
The onions were fried in a lot of oil. The onions weren’t fried in a lot of oil.

question
past
verb be
participle
Is raw fish placed over rice?
all the
Are cooked together?
ingredients
the
Was opened in 1979?
restaurant
Were the onions fried in a lot of oil?

by + agent
When we want to say who does the action in a passive sentence, we use by and the person or people (the agent).
Sushi is enjoyed by people all over the world.
The sushi that we know today was invented by Hanaya Yohei.