PASSIVE VOICE

The Passive is formed by using the appropriate tense of the verb to be+ past participle.
Present Perfect Continuous, Future Continuous,Past Perfect Continuous are not
normally used in the Passive.

Note: Get is used in colloquial English instead of be to express something happening by

accident.
He got hurt last Monday

The Passive is used

 When the agent (the person who does the action) is unknown, unimportant or
obvious from the context.
The door had been locked ( Who did it? We don’t know)
Repairs are being made on the runway (by the builders? It’s obvious)

 When we are interested more in the action than the agent, such as in news
reports, formal notices, instructions, processes, headlines, advertisements etc
The whole area was evacuated (news)
Breakfast is served from 6.00 to 10.00 (formal notice)

 To make statements more formal or polite (less personal)

My new dress has been ruined (more polite than saying ‘you ruined my dress’)

 To put emphasis on the agent

The Pyramids were built by the Egyptians

 Sometimes we use with+ instrument or material to say what the agent used
She was hit on the head by the burglar with a piece of wood

 With verbs that take two objects is more usual to start with the person
They offered Ann a job
‘Ann was offered a job’ rather than ‘A job was offered to Ann’

 With verbs like believe, expect, feel, hope, know, report, say, think, etc we can
use personal or impersonal constructions

Subject (person)+ passive+ to infinitive (personal contruction)

It+ passive+ that –clause (impersonal construction)
People believe he is a liar

He is believed to be a liar
It is believed that he is a liar

 In passive questions
Who gave you this book? Who were you given this book by?
Who signed the letter? Who was this letter signed by?

Have/get something done

We use this structure when we want to express that somebody does a service for us, we
don’t do it ourselves.
We had new windows installed last week.
I’m having my hair cut this afternoon.

Another use is to express that something bad happened to you

He got his nose broken in a fight/ She got her bag stolen
 PRACTICE

1.- Passive.Underline the passive verbs. Then rewrite the sentences in the active.
A valuable painting was stolen from the Louvre last night.
Someone stole a valuable painting from the Louvre last night.
1 The World Cup is watched by millions of football fans.
Millions of football fans ……………………
2 The film premiere will be attended by lots
of stars.
Lots of stars …………………………………
3 The first movie camera was invented by William Dickson in 1891.
William Dickson ……………………………
4 The new Virgin Megastore will be opened by Robbie Williams.
Robbie Williams ……………………………

2.- Complete the sentences with the correct form of the passive.
1 The leather jacket ……………… (design) by a famous designer. It cost £3,500.
2 The new Boyzone album ……………… (not release) until September.
3 A lot of computer games ……………… (make) in Taiwan these days. Most of the
games ……………… (export) to America and Europe.
4 Madonna is a very popular singer. Every week millions of her CDs ………………
(sell) around the world.
5 Romeo and Juliet ……………… (perform) at the Globe Theatre next Saturday.

3.- Complete the article with the correct form of the passive.

Stunts
Nowadays, action films are getting more and more spectacular. Many special effects are
added (add) to make the action more realistic.
  It’s impossible to control the weather during filming. As a result, weather effects
1
……………… often ……………… (create) for the film. For example, the winter
scenes in Young Sherlock Holmes 2……………… (not film) in winter, but in the middle
of summer. The snow 3……………… (make) from polystyrene!
  Car chases, high-speed crashes, or falls from high buildings 4……………… (not play)
by the stars themselves – they 5……………… (do) by stuntmen. In Volcano, stuntmen
6
……………… (set on fire). However, the actors 7……………… (protect) by several
layers of special clothing, so nobody 8……………… (injure).
  In the future, many stunts 9……………… (not need). Most effects 10………………
(generate) by computer, so action films should be safer and easier to make.

4.- Rewrite the following sentences using the passive.

a. They showed us around Luxor while we were in Egypt.

______________________________________________________________
b. A chimpanzee has done this painting.
______________________________________________________________
c. We have to print this book in Italian too.
______________________________________________________________
d. People must park their bicycles outside the centre.
______________________________________________________________
e. The white-fly is destroying melon crops in the USA.
_________________________________________________________
5.- Rewrite the following sentences using the passive.
a. We don’t sell alcoholic drinks to children under 16.
_______________________
b. Did they build this bridge a long time ago?
__________
c. Children mustn’t use these machines.
___________
d. Tourist activities will reduce the number of turtles.
___________
e. They offered the workers more money.
________________
f. Someone has left a disk in the disk driver.
__________________
g. The police arrested her for stealing money from shops.
______________

6.- Rewrite these sentences using the structure have/ get + something+ done.

a. The decorators painted our house white.

_________________________________________________
b. My computer is being fixed at the moment.
_________________________________________________
c. They’re going to cut his hair tomorrow.
_________________________________________________

7.- Fill in the spaces by inserting the correct form of HAVE. Use am/is/are having as a
future form. (get can be used instead of have but is more colloquial)

1. I _____________ the house painted. That’s why there is all this mess.
2. I know my hair looks dreadful but I __________ it set tomorrow.
3. The hall was dark so last year we __________another window put in.
4. The dead tree is dangerous. I _________ it cut down tomorrow.
5. The house was damp so last winter we ___________ central heating installed.
6. I can’t read Greek so I _____________ the documents translated.
7. Our swimming pool is too small so we __________ anew one made.
8. Why he ____________ all his shoes especially made?
9. You _________ your milk delivered or do you go to the shop for it?
10. If you hate cleaning fish why you __________ them cleaned at the fishmonger’s? (neg.)

8.- Fill in the spaces by inserting the correct form of HAVE, the PAST PARTICIPLE the
verbs in brackets, and where necessary, a pronoun.

11. We must _________ the grass ________. It is far too long. (cut)
12. Your roof is leaking, you should _________ it ___________ (repair)
13. My skirt is too long, I must ___________ (shorten)
14. No one will be able to read your notes.
I know I __________ them __________. (type)
15. That’s a good piano but you should _________ it ___________ (tune)
16. I’ve got paint on my coat; now I’ll have to _____________ (clean)
17. He didn’t like the colour of the curtains so he ____________ (dye)
18. He went to a garage to ___________ the puncture ___________ (mend)
19. His arm was broken so he went to hospital to ___________ (set)
20. That tooth is giving you a lot of trouble; you should _____________ (take out)

9.- Rewrite the sentences using a have+object+past participle construction and omitting
the words underlined.

Ejemplo: I employed a plumber to examine my boiler.

I had my boiler examined.
1. I pay a garage to grease my car.
2. I paid a watchmaker to clean my watch.
3. The shoe-mender is repairing my shoes for me.
4. They employed builders to put a new roog on the house.
5. I pay a window cleaner to clean my windows every month.
6. I went to an oculist and he tested my eyes for me.

10. Look at these sentences. If the by phrase is unnecessary, put it in brackets.

0) Millions of Euros have been stolen (by thieves) this morning.

1) Two atomic bombs were dropped by American planes on Japan in 1945.
2) The Everest can be seen by people from that window.
3) The first books were printed by someone in the 15th century.
4) That planet was discovered by a famous astrophysicist last month.
5) The stolen painting has been recovered by the police this week.
6) This book may be read by people in many different languages.
7) Have your clothes been designed by Dior?
8) These diamonds couldn’t be bought by the poor.
9) New roads are being built by them all over the country.

11. Make these active sentences passive, without using a by phrase.

0) She took pictures of the disaster for a British newspaper.

Pictures of the disaster were taken for a British newspaper.
1) They’ve repaired that car twice this year.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2) I’m going to design a new type of chair.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
3) We’ve packed all the books.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
4) Someone sent my picture to the newspaper.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
5) Bill had paid the bill.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
6) They were building a new skyscraper.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
7) Someone might steal my wallet.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
8) Someone has to mend my glasses.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
9) They have offered us a better room.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

12. Make the following passive sentences active. If a subject is needed, use they
or someone.
0) Queen Elizabeth was crowned in 1953.
They crowned Queen Elizabeth in 1953.
1) John F Kennedy was killed in Dallas.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2) The dinosaurs were destroyed by a meteorite.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
3) They have just been brought dinner.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
4) The decision has already been taken.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
5) The repairs must be finished by tomorrow.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
6) She’s been lent a fur coat.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
7) A faster computer has been invented in Japan.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
8) I was promised a new computer by my parents.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….