Unit5

Passive voice

Kompetensi dasar:
3.5 Menerapkan fungsi sosial, struktur teks, dan unsur kebahasaan teks interaksi transaksional lisan dan
tulis yang melibatkan tindakan memberi dan meminta informasi terkait
keadaan/tindakan/kegiatan/kejadian tanpa perlu menyebutkan pelakunya dalam teks ilmiah, sesuai
dengan konteks penggunaannya. (Perhatikan unsur kebahasaan passive voice)
4.5 Menyusun teks interaksi transaksional, lisan dan tulis yang melibatkan tindakan memberi dan
meminta informasi terkait keadaan/tindkan/kegiatan/kejadian tanpa perlu menyebutkan pelakunya
dalam teks ilmiah, dengan memperhatikan fungsi sosial, struktur teks, dan unsur kebahasaan yang
benar dan sesuai konteks

Materi pembelajaran:
 Fungsi Sosial
Mendiskripsikan, memaparkan secara objektif.
 Struktur Teks
- Memulai
- Menanggapi (diharapkan/di luar dugaan)
 Unsur Kebahasaan
- kalimat deklaratif dan interogatif dalam passive voice.
- Preposisi “by”
- Nomina singular dan plural dengan atau tanpa a, the, this, those, my, their, dsb.
- Ucapan, tekanan kata, intonasi, ejaan, tanda baca, dan tulisan tangan
 Topik
Benda, binatang, tumbuh-tumbuhan yang terkait dengan mata pelajaran lain menumbuhkan perilaku
yang termuat di KI

I. Observation
Look at the following pictures then try to answer the following question about the picture!
Questions!
1. What is the different between the right sentences and the left sentence?
2. What makes them different?
3. Write the pattern as you understand!

Task 1.
Study the following text and then observe the passive sentence
Teenagers Arrested
This afternoon Alex Sandro, Gioffrano Santeira, Rafael Teixeira and Gusttavo Lima got
arrested by three policemen because of drug trafficking – all of them were less than 18 years old.
Rafael owned the cocaine, and sold it to the others. Vodka mixed with Gatorade was also found
in the hideout. Their parents were contacted two hours after they were arrested, and were quite
nervous about their children’s future and health. “I didn’t know what was happening to my little
baby, Gioffrano. He looked pretty well, actually” cried Gioffrano’s mother, Rosangela.
The teenagers might be sentenced 20 years in jail.

A. Write the passive sentences you found in the space below!

1. …………………………………………………………………………………………

2. …………………………………………………………………………………………

3. …………………………………………………………………………………………

4. …………………………………………………………………………………………

5. …………………………………………………………………………………………
6. ………………………………………………………………………………………….

B. Write the pattern of every passive sentence you have written above!

1. ___________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________________________

4. ___________________________________________________________________

5. ___________________________________________________________________

6. ___________________________________________________________________

II. Material
PASSIVE VOICE
FUNCTIONS OF THE PASSIVE VOICE
The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action
rather than the person or object that performs the action. In other words, the the most
important thing or person becomes the subject of the sentence.

Example
The passive voice is used frequently. (= we are interested in the passive voice, not in who uses it.)
The house was built in 1654. (= we are interested in the house, not in who built it.)
The road is being repaired. (= we are interested in the road, not in the people who are doing the
repairs.)

Sometimes we use the passive voice because we don't know or do not want to express who performed the
action.

EXAMPLES
 I noticed that a window had been left open.
 Every year thousands of people are killed on our roads.
 All the cookies have been eaten.
 My car has been stolen!
The passive voice is often used in formal texts. Switching to the active voice will make your writing
clearer and easier to read.
Passive Active
A great deal of meaning is conveyed by a few A few well-chosen words convey a great deal of
well-chosen words. meaning.

Our planet is wrapped in a mass of gases. A mass of gases wrap around our planet.

The city disposes of waste materials in a variety

Waste materials are disposed of in a variety of
ways. of ways.

If we want to say who or what performs the action while using the passive voice, we use the preposition
by. When we know who performed the action and are interested in him, it is always better to switch to the
active voice instead.

Passive Active
"A Hard Day's Night" was written by the Beatles. The Beatles wrote "A Hard Day's Night".

The movie ET was directed by Spielberg. Spielberg directed the movie ET.
This house was built by my father. My father built this house.

FORMING THE PASSIVE VOICE

The passive voice in English is composed of two elements:

the appropriate form of the verb 'to be' + past participle
Affirmative Negative Interrogative Negative Interrogative
The house was built The house wasn't built Was the house built in Wasn't the house built
in 1899. in 1899. 1899? in 1899?
Passive voice with infinitives
The infinitive passive voice is used after modal verbs and other most verbs normally followed by
an infinitive.
Examples
 You have to be tested on your English grammar.
 John might be promoted next year.
 She wants to be invited to the party.
 I expect to be surprised on my birthday.
 You may be disappointed.

Passive voice with gerunds

Gerunds are used after prepositions and verbs normally followed by a gerund.
Examples
 I remember being taught to drive.
 The children are excited about being taken to the zoo.
 The children are excited to be taken to the zoo.
 Most film stars hate being interviewed.
 Most film stars hate to be interviewed.
 Poodles like to be pampered.
 Poodles like being pampered.

Using "to be born"

"To be born" is a passive form and is most commonly used in the past tense. However, in some
cases, the present or future tense is appropriate.

Examples
 I was born in 1976.
 Where were you born?
 Around 100 babies are born in this hospital every week.
 We don't know on exactly which day the baby will be born.

Check your understanding!

Task 2.
Complete the text with active or passive form of the verb in brackets!
Basic foods differ throughout the world. Rice and noodles 1) ... (eat) in south-east Asia, while bread 2) …
(be) more common in Arab countries. Europeans also 3) … (eat) a lot of bread, but potatoes 4) … (grow)
everywhere. In Italy, pasta 5) … (use) as the main ingredient of many dishes. In some north African
countries, couscous is very popular. Couscous 6) … (make) from semolina.

Task 3
Read the following passage carefully and fill the box below with the active or passive sentence,
then change into active or passive form!
The Suspicious Suitcase was found near a bus station by a kid who was waiting for the bus alone. The
suspicious suitcase wasn’t opened by the kid on the first moment. He took it to the police station and
when the police officer opened the suspicious suitcase, it exploded!! The kid survived but the other police
officers were killed by the bomb.

Passive Active

Suspicious suitcase was found near a bus station

by a Kid

The suspicious suitcase wasn’t opened by the

kid.
He took the suitcase to the police station.

The police officer opened the suspicious suitcase.

The other police officers were killed by the
bomb

Task 4.
Read the following passage carefully and identify the verbs in passive voice.
Crop Protection Using Chemical Dusts
The problem of applying chemicals for crop protection is greater than of spreading fertilizers. This is
because a very small amount of active ingredient has to be applied to a large crop area, often to a
particular part of the plant where it can be most effective. These active materials are formulated for
application in a number of ways. However, dusting is the method which will be discussed in this passage.
In dusting, the finely ground active ingredient, is blended down with a local filler such as a talc or clay to
give a dust, usually containing 2-4% of active ingredient. This can be applied to the crops by hand
dusters, tractor drawn dusters that blow the dust put through a bomb, aircraft, or by drift dusting. The
characteristics of the finished blended dust should be determined by the method of application. However,
in the tropical area such as Indonesia, there is a limited choice of fillers.

Write the passive sentences you find in the space below!

1. …………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. …………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. …………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. …………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. ………………………………………………………………………………………………….

6. ………………………………………………………………………………………………….

7. ………………………………………………………………………………………………….

8. ………………………………………………………………………………………………….

EXERCISE
Choose the correct answer A, B, C, D, or E

Read the following text carefully.

Bogor is a City in northern Java Island, Indonesia. it is the part of West Java Province. Together with
Jakarta, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi, the City is included in the Jabodetabek metropolitan
area. Bogor has been known as the ‘Rain City’ of Indonesia and ‘Buitenzorg City’. the City
stretches across 118,5 km2 areas. Bogor is World famous for its Bogor Botanical Garden, a
Conservation site for several plants and animals.

The City was Born in June 3rd 1482, when Padjadjaran Kingdom was existed in West Java.
You can see the city’s Landmarks such as Tugu Kujang, Prasasti Batu Tulis, Cimahpar Integrated
Conservation Offices, Telaga Cikeas, etc. Bogor City is surrounded by several Mounts like
Gunung Gede, and Gunung Halimun Salak.

1. The correct active sentence for “Bogor City is surrounded by several Mounts”
a. Bogor city is being surrounded several mounts.
b. Bogor city was suroounded several mounts.
c. several mounts are surrounded Bogor city.
d. several mounts surround Bogor city.
e. several mounts surrounding Bogor city
 Earthquake is one of natural disaster that destroying a certain area the most. It recently happens in
Tasikmalaya, West Java Province. Earthquakes are caused by suddenly breaks of underground
rock along a fault. This sudden release a huge amount of seismic waves Energy. The ground will be
shaken when it happen. When two plates or two blocks of rock are rubbing against each other, they
will be sticked together. But, they don’t slide smoothly.

The rocks are not moving but still pushing against each other. After several times, the rocks will be
broken due to all the pressure that’s built up. When those rocks break, the earthquakes happen.
This is horrible and we have to maintain our Environment, so there will be no earthquakes happen.

2. The correct active sentence for “Earthquakes are caused by suddenly breaks of underground rock
along a fault.”
a. Earthquakes suddenly cause break of underground rock along a fault.
b. Earthquakes suddenly caused break of underground rock along a fault.
c. Suddenly earthquakes cause break of underground rock along a fault.
d. A suddenly break of underground rock along a fault causes earthquakes
e. A suddenly break of underground rock along a fault cause earthquakes.

A. The first sentence is in the ACTIVE VOICE. Choose the most correct way of saying the same thing in
the PASSIVE VOICE:

3. They were interviewing her for the job.

She __________ for the job
f. is being interviewed d. was interviewed
g. were being interviewed e. were interviewed
h. are being interviewed
4. Tom is writing the letter.
The letter _______ by Tom
a. is written d. was written
b. is being written e. are being written
c. was being written
5. Everyone understands English.
English _________ by everyone
a. is understood d. has been understood
b. are understood e. were understood
c. was understood
6. The employees brought up this issue during the meeting.
This issue _______ by the employees during the meeting.
a. has been brought up d. is brought up
b. was brought up e. were brought up
c. is being brought up
7. The Professor told him not to talk in class.
He _______ by the Professor not to talk in class.
a. is told d. were being told
 b. is being told e. were told
c. was told
8. They say that women are smarter than men.
a. were being said d. were said
b. are said e. are being said
c. is said
9. The fire has destroyed the house.
a. has been destroyed d. was being destroyed
b. is destroyed e. was destroyed
c. has destroyed
10.She would have told you.
You _______ by her.
a. would have been told d. would be told
b. were being told e. will be told
c. will be being told
11.She would reject the offer.
The offer ________ by her.
a. will have been rejected d. would be rejected
b. will be rejected e. would have been rejected
c. is rejected
12. This surprises me.
I ________ by this.
a. would have been surprised d. will be surprised
b. am surprised e. am being surprised
c. was surprised