Module 5 Language summary Passive forms @ Passive forms with be 4 lu passive sentences, the subject uf dhe seutences is not the doer of the verb (the agent) ~ unlike active sentences, Someone] stole my purse. (Active) (S087 My purse |was stolen. (Passive) ‘sux 2 Normally the agent is not included in a passive sentence because itis unimportant or obvious who the agent is, or because we want to avoid saying who is responsible ‘Amon ls being interviewed in connection withthe ottack several people were injured inthe explosion. The relevant documents have been lost But if the agent is of particular interest, we use by: oper money was invented by the Chinese 3 Note the passive of -ing forms. Don't you ever worry about being attacked? He wos upset at having been omitted from the finalist. 4. The passive infinitive form (without 10) is often used after modal verb There's no limit to what can be achieved. very much doubt whether he wil be allowed to continue, | real thnk he should be given another opportunity. 5 Some verbs are not usually used in the passive form, ‘Some of the most important are: 2) intransitive verbs suchas arrive happen. come al He sas arrived late ') state verbs such as consist, belong, have, seem, be, depend, exist. ‘The Battle States consis ereomsianee uf Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, > Fvercice 1 9136 6 Some verbs are most often found in common passive phrases. Chilren aren't allowed to smoke in school ‘Some pupil inthe school are involved in crime. We're supposed to hand in our projects today. hm not used to late nights any more. 132 @ Using passive forms 1 Norn de begining of sentence teil us wht the topic is, and new information is added atthe end When the topic of the sentence isnot the agent, the ue The Guggenheim Museum in New York was designed by Frank oye rire curently stuoted nth Avenue, but there re plo to move to Wo set the top isthe Gaggencim Museu) Frank Loyd Wright designed severa! wellknown buildings, including the imperial Hotel in Tokyo and the Guggenteim ‘Museum in New York. He died in 1959. [the topic is Frank Lioys wright), > Exercise 2 p.134 2. We often use the passive when we want a style that impersonal and objective. For this reason, the ‘passive is common in academic writing and ‘newspaper reports. Water is released fram the reservoir to the turbine. (scientinc text, Italian singer Mortina Borrtt has been cleared of tox ‘evasion non tealon cour (nenspaper article) ‘The passive is often avoided in less formal contexts, (see below), 3. The passive is often used with reporting verbs like believe anid dink. These cousuctivus are eum i formal writing. ‘People believe thot Bil Gotes is the richest man in the US. lective) il Gotes Is believed to be the richest man nthe US lpassive) leis beloved that Bl Gates i the richest man in the US Ipassive) ‘Other verbs commonly used in this way are: allege, assume, consider, expect, intend, rumour, know, report, suppose, think, understand. (tis rumoured that the President s about to resign. The mutt-miltonaie businessman was alleged to hove commited frou ele mat yot mown whether thore are any survvars af the attack. > exercise 39.134 @ Passive forms without be 1. Beis often omitted in newspaper headlines, ENGLAND iS BEATEN AT FOOTBALL > exercise 49.1342 In relative clauses using passive constructions, the relative pronoun and verb to be can be omitted, This is known as a ‘reduced relative clause’ the people jwho were) chosen to appear onthe show (= the people chosen to appear on the show! sr beer writen lay wich os ever written) the best play > Exercise 5 p.135 3 Passives are often used as adjectives at the beginning of a sentence. This is fairly formal usage, and is ‘more common in writing. Locked ssa in hi pri nel room, ho gradually flint Released in wo days tne, The South's Gorcirs most ambitious fim so Tor © Verbs with two objects 1 Some verbs have two objects, indirect and direct. OBlecT OBker ably Manvel {In the passive form, the indirect or direct object can become the subject of the sentence. [lane] wos given [frst price] First prize wos given to [Jane 2. Gome other verbs which follow this pattem: ash, give ‘hard, lend, offer, pay, promise, show, teach, tel. > Brercise 6.135 @ Passive forms with get and have 1 We often use have + past participle to talk about services which we arrange and which are paid for, or for things you experience. which may be unpleasant. Ie eally cheap to have your ears pierced inthis shop. {had my bog stolen while wos onthe Underground, 2 We can use get + past participle for actions which are accidental or unexpected Unfortunately fol asleep inthe sun and my shoulders got burned. 1 vue at Sure igs et ren when you rome 3. We can also use get + past participle when the process is in some way dificult. It's token a ong time, but Christopher rally got Wis nove! published. Passive forms 4 There are also a large number of idiomatic expressions where get + past participle is used to mean ‘yoursell”, eg. ‘get dressed (= dress yourselt), get undressed, ‘get changed. get engaged. get lost. gt started. Passives with get are generally more colloquial than. passives with be ‘The couple were marred in Rome. (= more Formal) ‘The couple got marred in Rome. > Exercises 7-8 p135 ore informal) @ Avoiding the passive In conversation and other informal contexts, people ‘often avoid the pacsive, because it sounds more formal ‘Active verbs with ‘impersonal’ pronouns like you, we and they are preferred. Compare the examples: + They arrested him this morning. (caloqual sve; they = “the authorities) He was arrested this morning (more formal style) ‘+ They say he's 0 mult milionaie. (usual in conversation — \we also use peape asthe subject here) a ie end tn be: mulimilionsire formal cata any) + We use the possve les in conversation. (ess formal) The passive Is used les in conversation. (more formal) + You should replace the cartridge every three mort (verbal instructions) The cartriage should be replaced overy three months (owitten instructions) Notice! ‘The pronoun one also exists in English, but is considered excessively formal by most younger ‘speakers, and is therefore avoided, ‘@ne You have to be careful ‘ofter dark 133 ES ° a = ® w a EI og (= Cy cc) LJ wu i= S E] 2 B <Module 5 Grammar practice Passive forms 1 Correct the forms in bold. «) You're late - what was happened? ') That contract isn't worth the paper it's write on. ©) She must get tired of following everywhere by the paparazzi 4) My car was broken down on the way to the airport ‘and I missed my plane. ©) Do you think Sophie should be tell about the accident? 1) used to love been taken to the cinema by my elder brother. 4) Twas terrified - we could be killed! 1) The cat was disappeared one moming and we Ihnven't seen him ince 2 Rewrite these encyclopedia entries so thatthe topic i at the beginning of each sentence. You will need to change some active forms into the passive, and some passive forms into the activ. ) Agatha Christie was an English detective novelist. People know her best for her ingenious plots and for the creation of Hercule Poirot. ‘More than 70 novels were written by her, and they have filmed a number of her books. ) Florida is the southeasternmost state of the USA. People nickname it the Sunshine State. Florida joined the Union in 1845 as the 27th US. state. ICis popular with tourists and has a thriving eosmopolitan community. Georgia and ‘Alabama border it to the north. ©) Coco Chanel was a French fashion designer and trendsetter. Chanel perfumes and ‘the litle black dress" ‘were created by her, and people have copied her ‘designs all over the wort, Her wish for simple, practical clothes inspired her designs ‘and her ‘ook’ was widely influential for many years. BA ) The London Eye is a huge vertical wheel situated by the River Thames in London. The architects designed it to symbolise the turning of the century. Passengers are taken on a 30-minute fight with views as far as Windsor castle. British Airways sponsored the wheel, but ‘Gue fo technical problems they could nat open iton December 31st 1999. They finally opened itto the public on March 1st 2000, 134 Rewrite these sentences using reporting verbs and passive structures. Example: Everyone knows that the couple ate in Mexico, Ik Us known that the couple ope in Mexico The couple are knoun Lo be in Mexico, 4) There are rumours that Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow are among the guests at the Versace show. >) We understand that the Princess is expecting her first aby. ‘© We have reports that an anonymous telephone buyer paid over £2 million for one of Diana's dresses. 4) Some people allege that the minister for transport ‘accepted bribes in excess of €15,000. ©) Experts think that a recently discovered portralt of, Picasso is a fake. 1) Organisers expect over 5,000 people to attend the ‘world music festival this weekend, ‘The headlines below come from an online news site, Put a suitable past participle into each headline, so that its passive in meaning. Use one of the verbs in the box. name leave deliver fine arrest find Example: Prisoner by accident Prisoner released by accident. «) Criminal during visit to accomplice in prison ») Robber’s address .. at erimo eeenc 9 Man ......... $1000 for late library book @) Letter ......... 100 years late © First town company .. after Internet ) Pinger .......... in bag of popcornMatch the headlines in Exercise 4 to the sentences below, then join the pairs of sentences using a reduced relative clause. Example: A prisoner was released accidentally 12 days ‘ago, Ile has been recaptured A prisoner released accidentally (2 days ago has been recapeured. €) A letter was posted 100 years ago. Ithas lust arrived ‘at its destination, ) A town was known as Halfway. It has changed sts name to ‘Half.com’ ‘© Aman was fined $1,000 for returning a library book 4 year late. He nas described the amount as “impossible 4) Aman was wanted for armed robbery. He was ‘arrested when he went to visit his accomplice in prison. ©) A finger was found in a bag of popcorn. Laboratory tests have confirmed that t was human. 1) A piece of paper was left at the scene of a crime. It had the robber’s name and adaress on it 6 Revive these sentences nthe passe, «) Oh, sorry ~ someone told me that Mr Heaney lived here 1) We will glueicididatet ton minting tx rand thinsiigh the exam paper before the exam starts, ©, They sent the wrong phone bill to thousands of people because of a computer error, 4) Did anyone pay you forall the overtime you did? ©) Although they offered me a pay rise, I still decided to leave the company. 1) I wish they had taught me how to cook when T was tech 4) The company shouldn't have promised those people ‘compensation. 1h) What kind of questions did they ask you at the interview? Passive forms 7 Explain how these sentences ar similar or different in meaning. «@) I'm afraid the email was deleted, I'm afraid the email got deleted. ) We had to have the locks changed atter the burglary. ‘We had to change the locks after the burglary. 9 ve got my finger stuck in the tapl My finger’s got stuck in the tap! 4@) Did you finish your project in time? Did you get your project finished in time? ©) The suspect's gitfriend got arrested. ‘The suapect got his giefriend arvested. ) Our house was broken into last night. ‘We had our house broken into last night. Complete the gaps in this article using an appropriate active or passive form of the verb in brackets. op superstar Britney Spears 1) (appear) ona live op show last night and BD eneree « (praise) for not making any unreasonable demands Her fellow American ‘star J-Lo apparently has an entourage of 40 NA 8) enn (HOE GOSS FOOMS/ retlecorato) before she will set fot in them. Spears ) (surround) by a team of giant minders throughout her two-day visit to Britain, Her visit also includes an interview today on The Frank Skinner Show, which De owe (ereen) later this month. A ‘source on the show said “The audience 6) vss (VE) strict security checks to stop them smuggling cameras in.” ‘Skinner 7). (know) for his direct, nearthe-knuckle questioning and ®. seve (not/tell) to tone down his ‘approach for the singer. A spokesman for the programme said ‘Britney Spears 9) (not/place) any conditions on her forthcoming, Interview with Frank’ (Adie from the Day eeeraph Jan 18 202) 135 = ° 2 = o a) (9) S o =) E! rT s be) Ki a fa] 4 a Cd