Magazines use pop singers as models. Tom write this letter
Pop singers are used as models by magazines. this letter was written by Tom
We use the passive voice when we are more interested in the action
itself rather than in “who” or “what” did the action.
The agent can be:
* unimportant – “These shoes are made in Indonesia.” (the action
is more important than who made the shoes)
* unknown – “The windows were broken yesterday.” (somebody
broke the windows and we don’t know who did it)
* implicit – “He was arrested.” (most certainly by the police)
Basic steps to form the passive voice:
The object of the active becomes the subject of the
passive.
We add the auxiliary “to be” – “is/are” when the main
verb of the active is present, and “was/were” when it
is past.
In negative or interrogative sentences the auxiliary
“to do” is replaced by “to be”:
- do(n’t) / does(n’t) become is(n’t) / are(n’t);
- did(n’t) becomes was(n’t) or were(n’t).
We turn the main verb of the active into the past
participle.
If we need or want to add the agent of the passive,
we must use “by”.
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A. Complete the blanks with is/are + participle.
1) Computers ___are_sold______________ (sell) in many
different stores.
2) English _______is spoken ___________________
(speak) almost everywhere
4) Less ice-cream ____is eaten___________ (eat) in the
winter.
5) Spanish _____is taugth____________ (teach) in my
school too.
6) Fashionable clothes ___are worn________________
(wear) both by boys and girls.
7) Many people _____are influenced_______________
(influence) by the media.
8) Lots of TV _____is watched_______________ (watch)
nowadays.
B. Rewrite the sentences in the passive
1) He takes Linda to school every day.
Every day Linda is taken to school by him
_______________________________________________
2) They closed the shops
The stores were closed by them
_______________________________________________
3) I traveled to Canada
Canada was traveled by me
_______________________________________________
4) Michael won the game
The game was won by Michael
_______________________________________________
5) People invented new things
New things are invented by people
_______________________________________________
6) I prepared the breakfast
The breakfast was prepared by me
_______________________________________________
7) We took some photos
Some photos were taken by us
_______________________________________________
8) He kept his money
The money was kept by him
_______________________________________________
C. Match the sentences with the
pictures.
1) He didn’t find his files.
2) He washed his car on Sunday.
3) I didn’t paint the whole room.
4) My grandfather repaired the old clock.
5) John took a lot of photos at the party.
6) Richard broke the window.
7) The detective solved the case.
8) I didn’t make my bed this morning.
9) They bought the tickets yesterday.
10) The Smith drove the children to school.
11) Someone stole his wallet.
12) Slaves built these pyramids.
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