The passive (present and past simple)

Complete the sentences with the present or past simple passive of the
verb in brackets.
Use contractions where possible.
How many newspapers (print) in Britain every day?
1. Who (this play / write) by?
2. German (speak) in Germany, Austria, and part of Switzerland.

3. The royal wedding (watch) by millions of people in 2011.

4. Nowadays, a lot of computers (make) in Korea.

5. The Harry Potter films (not direct) by Steven Spielberg.

6. How much (paper / recycle) in Poland each year?

7. In the UK, alcohol (not sell)to anyone under 18. It's against
the law.

Complete the sentences with the present simple or past simple

form of the verb in brackets.

1. Tennis on a clay, grass or hard court. (PLAY)

2. In this hospital small injuries by assistant
doctors. (TREAT)
3. The wheel thousands of years ago (INVENT)
4. English in many countries all over the
world. (SPEAK)
5. India independence after the end of World War
II (GIVE).
 6. The goals in the first 15 minutes of the
match (SCORE).
7. New medicine for many diseases every year. (FIND)
8. America by Christopher Columbus in
1492 (DISCOVER)
9. Breakfast from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. (SERVE)
10. The thief to the nearest police station. (TAKE)
11. Every day CNN by millions of
people . (WATCH)
12. Coffee to Europe by the Turks (BRING)
13. In Britain, tons of litter away every
day. (THROW)
14. Many houses by the flood last
week. (DESTROY)

English Grammar Exercises for A2 – The passive (present simple and past
simple)
English Grammar Exercises for A2
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1. Complete the sentences below with the present simple passive form
of the verbs in brackets.
1 Millions of mobile phones ………………………….. every year. (sell)
2 American football ………………………….. very much in the UK. (not
play)
3 ………………………….. tablets ………………………….. in your
school? (use)
4 Most crimes ………………………….. in big cities. (commit)
5 Rubber trees ………………………….. in cold countries. (not grow)
6 ………………………….. Samsung televisions
………………………….. in Korea? (make)
Answer
2. Make the active sentences passive. Include the word by.
1 Millions of people watched the 2014 World Cup Final on TV.
 The 2014 World Cup Final was watched by millions of people on TV.
2 Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin.
……………………………………………………..
3 Rafa Nadal didn’t win the watch.
……………………………………………………..
4 Robots made that car.
……………………………………………………..
5 Did Suzanne Collins write the Hunger Games books?
……………………………………………………..
6 Peter Jackson directed the Hobbit films.
……………………………………………………..
Answer
3. Put the words below in the correct order. (Remember where to put
the adverb.)
1 satnavs. / are / Phones / used as / sometimes.
……………………………………………………..
2 Was / Bob Dylan? / Make you feel my love / first / by / sung
……………………………………………………..
3 invented / The wheel / about 5,000 years ago. / probably / was
……………………………………………………..
4 quickly / was / The suspect / arrested.
……………………………………………………..
5 the missing jewellery / ever / found? / Was
……………………………………………………..
Answer
4. Complete the fact file below with the past simple passive form of the
verbs in brackets.
COMPUTERS: a short history
– The first computer 1…………………………… (invent) by Charles
Babbage in the early 19th century. It 2…………………………… (not
power) by electricity – it was mechanical.
– The first electronic digital computer 3……………………………
(build) in 1943 in Britain. It 4…………………………… (call) ‘Colossus’
and it 5…………………………… (use) for decoding enemy messages in
the war.
– Businesses began to use computers in the 1950s, but
computers 6…………………………… (not sell) in shops until the early
1970s.
– The first desktop computers 7…………………………… (develop) in
the late 1970s.
– Internet access via a modem 8…………………………… (add) in the
1990s, but wireless access 9…………………………… (not add) to most
computers until about 2000.
– For the first time, in 2015, more tablets and
smartphones 10…………………………… (sell) than laptops and
desktops. Will computers eventually disappear from our homes and
schools?
Answer
5. Rewrite the active sentences in the passive. Make any necessary
changes. Use the present simple or the past simple.
1 Every year, my school holds a competition for ‘best inventor’.
……………………………………………….
2 They give you materials and ask you to design something.
……………………………………………….
3 My school encouraged me to take part this year.
……………………………………………….
4 A group of five teachers make the final decision.
……………………………………………….
5 They test the inventions for usefulness.
……………………………………………….
6 They give a prize for the best invention.
……………………………………………….
7 They gave the prize for the ‘best inventor’ to my friend Jo.
……………………………………………….
8 They present the prize at the end of school ceremony.
……………………………………………….