The Passive Voice

I. Which sentence in each pair below sounds more natural and why?
1a. We hold group meetings every other Friday.
1b. A group meeting is held every other Friday.
2a You promised us another month to finish the study.
2b We were promised another month to finish the study.

II Can you rephrase each of these sentences in two different ways, using two
different passive sentences? The words in bold should be the subject in one.

1. They believe the senator is well over seventy.

2. People thought the old lady had been living in an abandoned shack.

.III Change the sentences from active to passive.

1. If they had built the new stadium, this would have greatly improved the club’s
reputation.
2. The aid agency has issued a statement saying that they are sending food to the famine-
stricken area.

3.
1)The club’s reputation would have been greatly improved if they had build a new stadium.
2) A statement saying that food is going to be sent to famine-stricken area , was issued by the aid
agency.

2.
1) The senator is believed to be well over seventy.
2)The old lady was thought to have been living in an abandoned shack.

1)That he is over 70 is what they believe about him.

2)To have been living in an abandoned shack is what people thought about the old lady.

1.
1-a-It is more natural because it implies action and it best expressed by present simple.
2-b-It is a natural way of talking because the speaker is expressing politely that a promise was made
to them.It’s a polite statement.