Activity 2

Study the following materials

LANGUAGE FOCUS
PASSIVE WITHOUT AGENT/DOER

EXPLANATION
To make an active sentence into passive, pay attention to that chart.
 The object (this tree) at the active sentence becomes the subject
of the passive one.
 To be ‘was’ is used because the subject is singular.
 Verb-2 changes into verb-3.
 While the subject of the active sentence changes the position into
the object (doer/agent) of the passive one.
 Before ‘doer’ we need the word ‘by’.
 Adverb of time should be written at the end of the sentence.
EXPLANATION
To make an active sentence into passive, pay attention to that chart.
 The object (books) at the active sentence becomes the subject
of the passive one.
 To be ‘are’ is used because the subject is plural.
 Verb-1 (reads) changes into verb-3.
 While the subject of the active sentence changes the position into
the object (doer/agent) of the passive one.
 Before ‘doer’ we need the word ‘by’.
 Adverb of time should be written at the end of the sentence.

NOTE:

Whatever the tenses is, whatever the form of the verbs used in the
active sentences, they will change into the third form when they
are applied in passive ones.
The following is the important things to remember before using passive voice.

Activity 3

Based on the above explanation, change the following sentences into passive.
1. Amira makes writes some business letters every week.
2. My mother gave me some money yesterday morning.
3. Natalie visited me last week.
4. Mr. Danang gives assignment to us every weekend.
5. Mrs. Mawar will send an email this afternoon.
 Activity 4

Study the following sentences.

1. The watch was stolen.

2. The thief was arrested
3. The Chief Minister is expected to come tomorrow.
4. My purse has been stolen.
5. Our army had been defeated.
6. Letters are delivered twice a day.
7. The rules should be obeyed.
8. He was dismissed from service.
9. Water needs to be boiled.
10. The books are arranged neatly on the shelf.

Explanation:

All off those sentences do not contain by phrase (by…). The noun or pronoun following the
preposition 'by' is called 'the agent/doer'. The agent or doer is the same person as the subject of
an active sentence.

Compare the following groups of sentences.

 He was shot by a policeman.

 The parcel was sent by me.
 "Mona Liza" was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.

The agent/doer denotes the person or thing that performs the action of the verb:

 He was met at the airport.

 He was shot yesterday.
 A new bridge has just been built.

The agent/doer is only expressed when it is important to say who or what something is done
by. In most passive sentences, there is no agent.
NOTE:
a. that future continuous and perfect continuous passive tenses are very uncommon; since
we avoid saying 'be being' and 'been being'.

b. The Passive Voice is used when we are more interested in the action than in the agent or
when the doer of the action is unknown.

 The film is being discussed by everybody.

 I felt as if I was being watched.
 Has Sam been told?
 After the actors had been chosen the work on the film began.
 You will be told in advance.
 Everything will have been done by the 1st of April.