PASSIVE 2

VERBS WITH TWO OBJECTS

Some verbs can have two objects.
give, lend, offer, promise, sell, send, take , buy, keep, make, prepare, save

They can be made passive in two ways:

Peter gave Karen a present.
1 2

Karen was given a present by Peter.

OR

A present was given to Karen by Peter.

 TO BE BORN

To be born is a passive form but does not have an obvious passive meaning. (was /were + born)

I was born in America.

You were born in Uruguay.
HAVE SOMETHING DONE
When a professional person e.g. a mechanic, a plumber, etc. does some work for us, we can use
Have /get something done.

The tense of have can be changed

according to the tense of the main
verb Done = past participle of the main
(have, has, had, am /is/are having, verb
was/were having, have had, has had,
had had, will have…)

• The hairdresser is cutting my hair this afternoon.( present continuous)

I am having my hair cut this afternoon.

have something done

• They have just painted our room. (present perfect)

We have had our room painted.

have something done

• Someone stole my bike (past simple)

I had my bike stolen.

have something done

We also use have / get something done for unpleasant happenings.

• They had broken into her house. (past perfect)

She had had her house broken.

have something done

• Yesterday they stole my car. (past simple)

I had my car stolen.

have something done

 PASSIVE + INFINITIVE
The verbs believe, expect, know, report, say, think, suppose, understand are often
used in the present simple passive followed by infinitive
(is / are + past participle) + (to verb \ to be ing)

• They say he is making a new movie.

He is said to make / to be making a new movie

• Lots of people believe the criminals are living abroad.

The criminals are believed to live / to be living abroad.