GRAMMAR FOCUS

PASSIVE VOICE
Affirmative Form Object + was / were + verb3 (past participle)
Question Form Was / Were + Object + verb3 (past participle) ?
Example:
Active : The teacher corrected the mistakes.
Passive: The mistakes were corrected by the teacher.
Active : Did the little boy sell all the candy bars?
Passive: Were all the candy bars sold by the little boy?

* Remind yourself why we use the passive voice

We might use the passive voice …
1. when we don’t know who did something YES
2. when who did something is not important YES
3. to confuse others NO
4. for emphasis YES
5. to produce a more formal style YES
*Decide why these sentences have been written in the passive by circling a or b
1. A storybroad is produced with pictures of the action
a. The process is more important than the people who do it.
b. The writer wnats to emphasise how difficult it is.
2. The most famous actors are paid more
a. We are not interested in who pays the money.
b. The writer wants to emphasise that the actors are famous.
3. Computers are you in the ending process
a. The writer wnats to emphasise the computers rather than the people.
b. We don’t know the name of the editor on this film.
4. Mistakes are sometimes made during the filming of a scene
a. The writer doesn’t want to blame an innocent person.
b. There are many different people who might make mistakes.
5. When a film is released, cinemas decide whether to show it.
a. It is important who raleases the film.
b. The writer wants to be more exact.
EXERCISE:

1. She sang a song. =>

2. Somebody hit me. =>
3. We stopped the bus. =>
4. A thief stole my car. =>
5. They didn't let him go. =>
6. She didn't win the prize. =>
7. They didn't make their beds. =>
8. I did not tell them. =>
9. Did you tell them? =>
10. Did he send the letter? =>