Teacher: Lhou Elbourkhissi Ahmad Oubahdou High School Gateway to English 2

Unit 4: Women & Power

Grammar

PASSIVE VOICE
a. Mary helped the boy. (Active)
Both (a) and (b) have the same meaning.
b. The boy was helped by Mary. (Passive)

► In the passive, the object of an active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb: The
boy in (a) becomes the subject of the passive verb in (b).
► The subject of an active verb follows ‘by’ called the agent: Mary is the agent in (b).
However, let’s consider the sentence given below in (c).
c. An accident happened
► Only transitive verbs (verbs that can be followed by an object) are used in the passive. It is
not possible to use intransitive verbs such as, happen, sleep, come, and seem in the passive
(see (c)).
I. Forming the Passive in English
► We make the passive by putting the verb “to be” in to whatever tense used in the active
verb and then adding the past participle.

Form of the Passive: be + past participle

Forming the Passive

Tense Active form Passive form
Present simple Mary makes a cake. A cake is made by Mary.
Present progressive Mary is making a cake. A cake is being made by Mary.
Past simple Mary made a cake. A cake was made by Mary.
Past progressive Mary was making a cake. A cake was being made by Mary.
Present perfect Mary has made a cake. A cake has been made by Mary.
Past perfect Mary had made a cake. A cake had been made by Mary.
Future simple Mary will make a cake. A cake will be made by Mary.
‘be + going to’ Mary is going to make a cake. A cake is going to be made by Mary.
Future perfect Mary will have made a cake. A cake will have been made by Mary.
Present perfect continuous Mary has been making a cake. A cake has been being made by a Mary.

II. Indirect Objects as Passive Subjects: Verbs with two Objects

a. Someone gave Mrs. Lee an award.
b. Mrs. Lee was given an award.
c. Someone gave an award to Mrs. Lee.
d. An award was given to Mrs. Lee.

NB: IO: Indirect Object; DO: Direct Object

► Either an indirect object or a direct object may become the subject of a passive sentence.

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 Teacher: Lhou Elbourkhissi Ahmad Oubahdou High School Gateway to English 2
Unit 4: Women & Power
► Other verbs that can take two objects (ask, offer, teach, tell, lend, promise, sell, throw).
III. Passive in Subordinate Clauses
► You can make the passive in a subordinate clause that has a subject and a normal
conjugated verb. This is really the same as a normal passive. Check the following
examples:

a. I thought that Mary had kissed John. (Active)

b. I thought that John had been kissed by Mary. (Passive)
a. He knew that people had built the church in 1995. (Active)
b. He knew that the church had been built in 1995. (Passive)

► Instead of making a that-clause the subject of a passive sentence, it is normal to use an it-
clause: it + passive verb + that-clause
► This pattern allows us to put important information at the end of the sentence.

a. It is reported that the holidays can not be prolonged. (compare this sentence with: The
holidays cannot be prolonged, according to government sources)
b. It was decided that the meeting should be cancelled. (compare this sentence with: it
was decided to cancel the meeting)
The passive form: Modal + be + past participle
IV. The passive form of Modals
Will

Past participle
Cannot
a. John will invite Tom to the party. (Active) Should
+ be +
Had better
b. Tom will be invited to the party. (Passive)
Ought to
Has to
The past-passive form: Modal+have been+ past particple
past
Should/must/ought to + have been +
participle
V. When should we use the Passive?
► When we want to change the focus of sentence.
a. The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci.
► When who or what causes the action is unknown or unimportant or obvious or people in
general.
a. He was arrested. (obviously, the police performed the action)
b. My bike has been stolen. (unknown)
c. The let-in paper can be obtained from the administration. (general people)
► In formal writing or scientific writing.
► When the subject is too long.
a. I was surprised by how well students did in the test. (How well did in the test in the
test surprised me)

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Teacher: Lhou Elbourkhissi Ahmad Oubahdou High School Gateway to English 2
Unit 4: Women & Power

Exercises
1. Somebody has killed the president.
2. The teacher is going to explain the lesson.
3. Bill will invite Ann to the party.
4. Alex is preparing the report.
5. Two horses were pulling the farmer’s wagon.
6. By this time tomorrow, the president will have made the announcement.
7. It seems that someone cleaned the office on Tuesday.
8. I do not like people seeing in my pyjamas.
9. I think that our grandfather built the house in 1975.
10. Sophia sold the car to a doctor. (start with a doctor)
11. Lucy threw the ball to the child. (start with the ball)
12. The traffic might have delayed Jimmy.
13. The wolf had eaten the princess.
14. By the next year, the students will have studied the passive.
15. Kathy had returned the book to the library. (start with the book)
16. Most activists believe that community service plays an important role in alleviating
poverty.

NB: Verb ‘to be’ in different tenses

Tenses Verb ‘to be’ + past participle (p.p)
Present simple am/ is/ are + p.p
Present progressive is being/ are being + p.p
Past simple was/ were + p.p
Past progressive was being/ were being + p.p
Present perfect has been/ have been + p.p
Past perfect had been + p.p
Future simple will be + p.p
‘be + going to’ is/are/going to be + p.p
Future perfect will have been + p.p
Present perfect continuous* has been being/ have been being + p.p
Past perfect continuous* had been being + p.p

* The progressive forms of both present perfect and past perfect are very rarely used in the
passive.