passive voice structures, Guías, Proyectos, Investigaciones de Inglés

¡Descarga passive voice structures y más Guías, Proyectos, Investigaciones en PDF de Inglés solo en Docsity!

B2 GRAMMAR

Passive

Structures

Infinitives · Gerunds · Perfect Forms

EOI · English Department

Why Use the Passive?

Unknown agent

We don't know who did it It was delivered yesterday.

Obvious / clear agent

The agent is understood from context The man was arrested^ yesterday.

3 People in general No specific agent needed English is^ spoken around^ the world.

Same subject

Passive keeps the same subject

They ordered six chairs but they were sent only

five.

Avoid blame

We avoid admitting wrongdoing A glass was broken.

Passive -ing Forms

Passive -ing Form

being + past participle

Used after verbs like avoid, keep, enjoy; after prepositions; and as a subject. I avoid being tagged in photos. I'm looking forward to being taken on a tour of the city.

Perfect -ing Form (Gerund)

having been + past participle

Refers to a past action. Also used as a participle clause. I resent having been ignored. Having been awarded a prize, Sally was delighted.

U S A G E S U M M A R Y

Form Structure Trigger words / contexts Passive infinitive to be + pp modals, need, want, hope, appear… Perfect infinitive to have been + pp seem, appear + past ref.; modals + past Passive gerund being + pp avoid, enjoy, keep; prepositions; subject Perfect gerund having been + pp resent, mind, deny; participle clauses

Practice Choose the correct verb form

1 We appear to ______________. have misled / have been misled ✔ have been misled

2 You may ______________ an interesting email later. be sent / to send ✔ be sent

3 I should ______________ an apology yesterday. be given / have been given ✔ have been given

4 I don't enjoy ______________ in the middle of the night. being called / to call ✔ being called

5 I might ______________. I don't remember. have told / have been told ✔ have been told

6 He denied ______________ the job by mistake. to be / having been ✔ having been

Rewrite Practice Rewrite the second sentence so it means the same as the first

It's possible I was sent the wrong shirt, because it didn't fit. I might _______ the wrong shirt. ✔ have been sent We won't need to do any more work on the project. No further work _______ on the project. ✔ will need to be done It's possible for the customer to request a refund. A refund _______ by the customer. ✔ may be requested

I possibly sent our client the wrong information. The wrong information may _______ to our client. ✔ have been sent I'd worked hard for weeks, so I was disappointed with my grade. I was disappointed with my grade, after _______ hard for weeks. ✔ having worked I'm looking forward to the HR manager showing me around the building. I'm looking forward to _______ around the building by the HR manager. ✔ being shown

Key Takeaways

1 Focus, not agent The passive shifts focus to the action or receiver, not who did it.

2 After modals Use be + pp (simple) or have been + pp (perfect) after modals. No 'to'.

3 After verbs + to-inf Hope, want, need → to be + pp or to have been + pp.

4 After verbs + -ing Avoid, enjoy, keep → being + pp for present; having been + pp for past.

5 Participle clauses Having been + pp can open a sentence referring to a prior event.