CSrammar

The passive: f©rm

We form the passive using the following pattern: subject + be + past participle. The tense of the verb be
each time is the same as the tense o f the verb in the active sentence.

Tense/ Form Passive pat t ern Example: passive Example: act ive
Present simple am/is/are + past Champagne is made in France. They make champagne in
participle France.
Present am/is/are being + The matter is still being They are still considering the
continuous past participle considered. matter.
Past simple was/were + past The date was announced They announced the date
participle yesterday. yesterday.
The school was built by the local The local government built the
government. / school.
The school has built by the local
government.: X
Past continuous was/were being + past Every effort was being made to They were making every effort to
participle end the strike. end the strike.

Present perfect have/has been + past A new stadium has been built in They’ve built a new stadium in
participle London. London.
Past perfect had been + past The work had been finished by They had finished the work by
participle 2011. 2011.
Future simple will be + past You will be examined by Mr Mr Roberts will examine you.
participle Roberts.
Future perfect will have been + past The project will have been They will have completed the
participle completed by June. project by June.
be going to am/is/are going to be A new hospital is going to be built They’re going to build a new
+ past participle here. hospital here.
Modal verb modal + be + past The house must be cleaned. They must clean the house.
participle

» We do not usually use the passive in the • In passive sentences, we place adverbs o f
present perfect continuous, the past perfect frequency, time, etc. (e.g. always, sometimes,
continuous, the future continuous or the future just, etc.) after the first auxiliary verb (is, has,
perfect continuous: will, etc.):
We will be being watched. X It is usually m ade o f wood.
They will be watching us. / They have just been found.
• We form passive questions and negative She will never be forgotten.
sentences in the same way as in the active:
When are im portant subjects usually discussed?
Experiments are not carried out in this room.

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 THE PASSIVE: FORM

o Complet e t he sent ences. Use the correct passive form of the verbs in brackets.
0 The police report that the missing person hd-S Already. .teev\ (already /find).
1 The new s..................... (broadcast) at six o’clock every day.
2 At the moment, the suspect..................... (interview) by the police.
3 The cinem a..................... (close down) four years ago.
4 A new security system ..................... (install) in all our offices in the next few weeks.
5 A new government..................... (elect) by the end o f next month, f
6 There must be a mistake - the hotel b ill..................... (already /pay) by my wife.
7 When we got home, we realised that the hou se.................... (burgle).
8 The second bomb went off while the building..................... (evacuate).
9 The government says tax reform s..................... (introduce) next year.
10 In some countries, newspapers.....................(sell) in kiosks as well as supermarkets.

e Rewrite the sent ences in the passive.

0 We do not add preservatives to our products.
FVe-Seyvat j v es . Aye. wot added .t o owr. p r o d u ct s. ..............................................
1 They are building a new school in West Street.

2 They have just arrested him on suspicion of murder.

3 They will publish her new book next month.

4 They will have completed the new motorway by Christmas.

5 They’ve just cleaned the hotel rooms.

6 Someone stole her bike last night.

7 They’re going to repair the machine tomorrow.

8 They were servicing her car when I called her.

9 They had finished the project by Friday.

10 They may invite him to the wedding.

The service in the hotel was so bad that

when I asked for a hot towel, I was
told to put a cold one on the radiator.
 THE PASSIVE: FORM

Q Complet e the art icle. Use the correct passive form of the verbs in brackets.

Credit card fraud

A type of con trick which (0).* . de.sigv\e<d (design) to skim your credit card
number, PIN and other information when you swipe has been growing in
popularity. The con, which (1)...................(know) as skimming, allows thieves to
steal your information by the use of a device which (2)...................(insert) through
the card slot of an ATM , allowing the data on your card to be read.
The latest European ATM Crime Report (3)...................(just / publish) and it shows
a twenty-four percent increase in card skimming attacks at European ATMs in
the last year. 5,743 at t acks(4)...................(report) for the period January to June
this year. This is the largest number of such attacks which (5)...................(record)
in any six-month period so far. Already, millions of pounds (6)...................(lost)
through skimming and more (7)...................(lose) if effective measures
(8)...................(not take).
The theft of personal details (9)...................(may / avoid) by using secure ATM s or
being very careful when you use an ATM. Anti-skimming measures (10)...................
(already / install) at many European ATMs. Fortunately, in some countries, a drop
in skimming attacks (11)...................(report). Cardholders should know that even if
their card details (12)...................(skim), they will not lose out. This is good news
for members of the public.

_ _ _ .

! Most o f the staff had been poorly trained.

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e
¥[he passowe- ageing
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Use
We often use the passive in the following situations:

Use Example
f.
when it is obvious or not important to say who did He has just been arrested.
the action A cure has just been found.
to avoid using a vague subject (e.g. they, someone) The job will be finished by tonight.
to describe a process The beans are separated from the shells and then they are
put into sacks.
in official announcements Fees must be paid in advance.
in scientific texts The liquid is heated to a temperature of 90°C.
in written reports The meeting was held on 21 January.

« We often use the passive with verbs like Agent

think, suggest, believe, expect, know, etc. in the
following patterns: ° In passive sentences, we often don’t mention
the doer o f the action (the agent). We are more
♦ it + passive + that clause
interested in the action itself. If, however, we
It was reported that five people died in the
want to mention the agent, we use by:
accident.
This book was written by Christopher Wallace.
♦ subject + passive + fo-infinitive
o If we want to mention a tool or instrument
She is thought to be one o f the world’s finest
that was used for the action, we use with:
cellists.
The victim was killed with a knife.
° The structure be supposed to has a different
« We only mention the agent when it adds
meaning from be thought to:
important information to the sentence. If the
She’s supposed to be your friend. (= but she
agent is unknown, unimportant or obvious, we
isn’t behaving like a friend)
omit it:
o When an active verb has two objects, either
He was fin ed fo r driving without a licence. (It
object can be the subject of the passive sentence:
is clear who fined him: the police. We do not
They gave him some money. (= active)
mention the agent.)
He was given some money.
The suspect was interviewed by Detective Smith.
Some money was given to him.
(The agent adds important information to the
» It is, however, more common for the indirect sentence.)
object (usually a person) to become the subject
° We also omit the agent when we want to avoid
o f the passive sentence:
saying who was responsible for an action:
They gave us more time to finish the project.
I ’ve been told not to say anything.
We were given m ore time to finish the project.
M ore time was given to us to finish the project.
(= possible but less common)
° Intransitive verbs (verbs that do not take an
object) are never used in the passive:
The .job seemed easy at first. S
The jo b was seemed easy at first: X
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 THE PASSIVE: USE, AGENT

Q Complet e the sent ences. Use by or with.

0 This church was designed ...k y .... Christopher Wren.
1 The dog had been sh o t.............. a hunter.
2 A decision to strike was taken.............. some of the workers.
3 The poor man had been stabbed.............. a penknife.
4 The candidates’ essays will be m arked.............. Professor Richards.
5 The room was filled..............smoke.
6 I think all the pictures were taken.............. a professional photographer.
7 The man was beaten..............a stick.
8 The walls were covered..............posters of her favourite singers.

Q Rewrite the sent ences in the passive in two ways.

0 They sent him a letter.
He.m s ,sey+.a .Jef+ejr...................................................................
/v let+eyr. m s .3ey\+. .Wiyyy........................................................
1 They gave each o f the children a bottle o f milk.

2 They will pay the workers £50.

3 They may offer her the job.

4 They teach the students French.

5 They showed us the sights.

6 Someone’s telling the children a story.

7 Someone gave them a lot o f money.

8 They’ve just sent me an email.

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 THE PASSIVE: USE, AGENT

Complet e the second sent ence so that it has a similar meaning to t he first
sent ence, using the word given. Use between two and five words. Do not change
the word given.
0 Reports say that the plane has landed safely,
is
It .is. r e p o r t e d the plane has landed safely.
1 They say the country is on the verge of civil war.
SAID
The country...................... on the verge o f civil war. '
2 People thought that the President was ill.
BE
The President...................... ill.
3 tThe architect received £50,000 for his work.
WAS
£50,000 ...................... for his work.
4 People believe that he escaped.
HAVE
He i s ...................... escaped.
5 They thought that he was the best actor for the part.
CONSIDERED
H e ...................... the best actor for the part.
6 People thought she was very good at maths, but she failed her last test.
SUPPOSED
S h e ...................... very good at maths, but she failed her last test.
7 They decided to discuss the matter at the next meeting.
AGREED
I t ...................... the matter would be discussed at the next meeting.
8 They showed the new science lab to the students.
WERE
T h e ........................the new science lab.
9 Everything I know about art, I learnt from Mrs Robinson.
TAUGHT
I ........................about art by Mrs Robinson.
10 They used a digital camera to take these photos.
WITH
T h ese........................a digital camera.

Cc h
T am informed from many quarters
that a rumour has been put about
that I died this morning. This is
quite untrue.’ W in s t o n C h u r c h il l
J
 Tb e eatusatiwe

O
h a v e/ g et so m et h in g done
• The pattern for the causative form is have/get + object + past participle:
I ’m having my house decorated at the moment.
You ought to get your blood pressure checked.
« We use the causative form when we arrange for somebody else to do something for us:
We’ve just had the air-conditioning installed. (= We didn’t do it ourselves. Somebody
else did it for us.)
» We also use the causative form to talk about something unpleasant. In this case, we
use have but not get:
I had my wallet stolen last night. /
I got my wallet stolen last night. X
H e had his house broken into last week. /
H e got his house broken into last week. X
• Sometimes, have/get something done suggests the need to deal with a difficulty:
I ’m afraid you ’ll have to get the whole house rewired.

have so m eb o d y do so m et h in g , g et so m eb o d y t o do so m et h in g
We use the following patterns to mean ‘make, persuade or cause someone to do
something’:
• have + sb + infinitive
Shall I have my secretary send you the details?
I ’ll have my assistant bring you a copy.
° get + sb + to-infinitive
Shall I get my secretary to send you the details?
I ’ll get my assistant to bring you a copy.

g et + past participle
We often use get + past participle to mean ‘become’:
She got dressed and went downstairs.
My dog got run over by a van.

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 THE CAUSATIVE

Q Complet e the conversat ions. Use the causat ive form of have and the verbs in bracket s.
0 A: Your hair looks nice. 6 A: Why aren’t you wearing your watch?
B: Thanks, I kaye jw .s t. .tad . .'«+. c u f . . B: Actually, I .............. (it /repair) at the
(just /it /cut) moment.
1 A: I’m finding it difficult to read small print 7 A: Oops! Sorry, I’ve just spilt my coffee on
nowadays. the tablecloth!
B: Why don’t you go a n d .............. (your B: Don’t worry. I was going t o ..............
eyes /test)? (it /dry-clean) anyway.
2 A: What a lovely dress! 8 A: That tree is blocking the view from my
B: Thanks, I .............. (it /make) for my front window.
birthday last year. B: Well, you don’t expect me t o ..............
3 A: My car’s been making some funny noises (it /cut down), do you?
lately. 9 A: I’ve got a terrible toothache!
B: You should..............(it /service). B: Well, you really should..............(that
4 A: I’m freezing! cavity /fill).
B: We really need t o .............. (central 10 A: W e ............. (a swimming pool /build) last
heating /install). weekend.
5 A: The living room looks lovely. B: Really? How much did it cost you?
B: I’m glad you like it. W e ..............
(just /it /redecorate).

Q Complet e the text. Use one word in each gap.

Well, we (0). . .t a d . . our house broken into last week. It was awful - they wrecked the place.
Not only did we (1).............. things taken, not only did I have my beautiful iPhone and
camera (2).............. but a lot o f things also (3)............... broken as they searched the house. Some
of the windows (4).............. smashed as they tried to break in, so now we’ve got to get all the
damage (5).............. ..
So we’ve decided to give the house a complete makeover. W e’re going to (6).............. the
whole house redecorated. The first place we’re going to start is the living room. W e’re going
to have (7).............. repainted. I want to have one o f the walls (8)............... green, something I’ve
always wanted. I’ll also get my housemate (9).............. build a new TV stand and CD tower -
both green, o f course!
Since the burglary, I’ve also become more active in the community and have campaigned
to (10).............. new surveillance cameras installed in our street. This means a lot of trees will
(11).............. chopped down to make people’s houses visible to the camera but it is a small
sacrifice compared with the safety and security o f our homes.

W a it e r : H o w would you like to have your eggs cooked, sir?

C u st o me r : Is there any difference in the price?
W a it e r : No, sir.
C u st o me r : Then please have the chef cook them with ham,
potatoes and sausages.
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