83 The passive ‘What about this wedding ress? It was designed by Sara O'Nei 1 Forming the passive We use a form of be + past participle (> page 348-350) of the verb. The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb: active verb + object subject + passive verb They buy their clothes in the sales. “Their clothes) are bought in the sale. We don’t usually repeat the same subject and form of be in a sentence: The cars are taken to the port, [the cars are] loaded onto ships und [they are] sent to their destinations. simple They import all the clothes from China. All the clothes are imported from China. tenses __Diid Fabio design her dress? Was her dress designed by Fabio? continuous Somebody's washing her jeans. Her jeans are being washed. tenses They weren't selling those designs __—_‘Those designs weren't being sold last lest year. yer perfect I haven't ironed your shirt yet. Your shirt hasn't been ironed yet. tenses People had seen that design before. ‘That design had been seen before. will and They will post the results tomorrow. The results will be posted tomorrow. infinitives We need to repair your shoes. Your shoes need to be repaired. ‘Tm not going to finish the report today. The report isn’t going to be finished today. -ing forms | hate people shouting at me I hate being shouted at. ‘More on passive infinitives and -ing forms > Units 64.1, 65.2, 75.3 and 76.1 In spoken and informal written English, we sometimes use a form Of get instead ot be to form the passive. We can only do this to describe actions, not states: What happened? Did he get beaten up? We got stuck in the lift for an hour! Other uses of get, e.g. get married > Unit 92.3 If we want to say who or what does an action when using a passive verb, we use by + noun. We usually put this at the end of the clause or sentence: Katie Holmes’ wedding dress was designed by Giorgio Armani. Did you buy that sweater from a shop or was it knitted by your mother? & Verbs with no object (intransitive verbs, e.g. arrive, come, grow up, happen, wait) cannot be made passive: X Livas-grows-up-in-Edinburgh. J Igrew up in Edinburgh, X Aremait- has-beer-arrived. J An email has arrived. Born is always passive: Twas born in 1990. Where were your parents born? 2522. Reasons for using the passive ‘We often use the passive when we want to talk about an action rather than the person or thing that does the action. We do this when © it doesn’t matter who does the action: The votes will be counted at the end of the meeting. Have the parcels been delivered? ‘* we know or can guess who does the action: Here's your skirt. it’s been dry-cleaned. (obviously by the dry cleaner's) I brought my car to your garage yesterday. Has it been repaired yet? (by the garage) ‘* we don't know, or we don’t want to say who does the action: My bicycle has been stolen! (I don't know who stole it.) I see the washing-up hasn’t been done again! (I don’t want to say who hasn't done it.) ‘« we want to talk about general feelings or beliefs (> Unit 86): ‘The building is believed to date from the thirteenth century. (Most people believe this.) © we want to be polite or we are in a formal situation: Have the reports been typed yet? (more polite than Have you typed the reports yet?) Your application will be assessed by the manager. (more formal than The manager will assess your application.) 3> Using passives in writing Passives are more common in writing than in speech. ‘© We usually prefer to start a sentence with known information (something that has already been mentioned) and then put new information at the end. The passive helps us to do thi [known information ——— Uennifer Lopez. wore {an amazing wedding dress designed ‘it.| ‘known information —— 7 Jennifer Lopez wore aS JIE was designed by Wer Wang). ‘* We generally don’t like to put a long subject before the verb, so we often use the passive to move the subject towards the end of the sentence, after the verb: [The low prices on a selection of summer suits in the shop window attracted us.) We were attracted by the low prices on a selection of summer suits in the shop window. ‘More on the use of passives in writing > Units 103 and 105.2 4 Common uses of the passive We often use the passive in these situations: tito earned Cars | ‘This plant needs to be watered daly. = The doors are locked at 10.30 p.m. 253BB ric eassne 254 Practice ‘Complete the second sentence so it means the same as the first, using passive forms. (DEBI Listen and check. ‘They were painting that wall yesterday. That wall Was being painted yesterday. We've tured off the lights. The lights We will send you an email tomorrow You ‘They aren’t making that model any more. That model J Do I have to fill in this form? Does this form... 2 ‘They haven’t repaired your computer yet. Your computer They're going to close the road for 24 hours. The road aueenno ‘Complete the descriptions of the pictures, using passive forms of the verbs in the box. a build count decorate finish repair wash 0 This house .is being decorated. 3. The roof needs 1 The votes . 4 The bridge next year, 2 This castle... in 1250. 5 The dishes on yet. Use the Information in the emall to complete the sentences below. {Wedding plans! ln yu dele what 1 ve 0 busi iy cn dress le ON Thane air i), The shop had reduced the price soit was only afew hundred pounds. ‘Do you remember Aunt Terri? Apparently she's got a fantastic new video camera, so she's going to film the ceremony. We've got a professional photographer as wel. She'll take the formal photos. ‘And Antonio from the Italian restaurant is doing the catering, o the food should be great! | can’t wait to see you there. Its going to be a great day! two © univer tine ae etree by Jake and Lucy. 1 The final invitations _ at the moment. 2 Jane Anderson... 7 soon to the wedding. 3 The deposit for the reception sos Hast WERK. 4 Lucy has bought her wedding dress but it has . 5. The price of the dress by the shop. 6 The ceremony. . by Lucy's aunt. 7 The formal photos ........0ssnmsnee .... by a professional photographer. 8 The catering by Antonio.16 4 Choose the best word in italics. Sometimes both are grammatically correct, but one answer is more suitable. EEE Listen and check. HOW IS PAPER MADE? Everyone enjoys reading fashion magazines and newspapers. But have you ever thought about how the paper (0) we print them / (Goya neon mae! Most paper is (I) made / making from wood. First, (2) they aut the wood / the wood is cut into small pieces. These (3) mix / are mixed with water and heated to produce a kind of thick paste. Then chemicals (4) we add them / are added to clean the paste and make it white. Next the paste is spread on a screen and (5) dried / is dried. The water drains away or evaporates and (6) are left / leaves a thick layer cof paper: (7) We then pass this / This is then passed between two large rollers (circular machines) to make it thinner and flatter. (8) The poper can then be cut / They can then cut the paper into the correct sizes. 5 Three more of these paragraphs would be improved if the second sentence used a passive form. Decide which paragraphs they are and rewrite the second sentence. 0 Philip Green bought the famous British clothes store, Moss Bros, in 2008. Because they ran out of money, the original owners sold it. Tt.was sold by the original owners because, they ran. aut of money. 1 Live Aid was the most successful fund-raising event of the 1980s. A group of well-known British and American musicians organised it in July 1985, 2 The Laurentian Library in Florence is one of the greatest buildings of the Italian Renaissance. Michelangelo designed it in the 1520s. 3. Jeans first became popular when they were worn by film stars and singers in the 1950s. Elvis Presley and James Dean were the two stars who had the most influence on young people's fashion at that time. 4 In recent years several high street stores have started selling copies of designer jeans. People who can't afford to buy real designer clothes often buy them. 6 Rewrite these sentences so they are true for you. Change the underlined part. My watch was made in Australia. My. watch was. made in Switzerland. My school was builtin Une 1960s. My old photos are stored in the garage. My favourite shirt is made of nylon. My hair is usually cut by my mother. Idon’t like food that has been frie 0 1 2 3 4 5 25584 Passives with modal and other verbs Riehek ee aka rete ec) Pear Modal verbs We make the passive form of modal verbs with the modal verb (1 tof) + be 1 past participle. ‘There is a perfect form ~ modal verb (+ not) + have been + past participle. Present You must wash silk by hand. Silk must be washed by hand, You should net iron this jumper This jumper should not be ironed. Perfect They might have turned the electricity off. The electricity might have been turned off. She couldn't have washed it yet. Itcouldn’t have been washed yet. We often use modal present passives for written instructions and rules: Sitk must be washed by hand or dry-cleaned. These lights eaumot be used outside. We often use modal perfect passives to make guesses about the past or to talk about past expectations (> Unit 48.2/3): 1 don’t know why the cake’s burnt. It may have been left in the oven for too long. This computer still isn’t working: it should have been repaired ages ago! Verbs with two objects With these verbs, e.g. give, offer, buy (> Unit 59.5), there are two ways of forming the passive. © The ‘person’ object becomes the subject of the passive verb: subject object ‘Amanda — was given first prize (by the judges). Sylvia is going to be offered anew job (by her boss). The children were bought amewkitten (by their aunt). © The ‘thing’ object becomes the subject of the passive verb, and we put to or forin front of the ‘person’ object: First prize was given to —“Arindl—_(by the jules). A new job is going to be offered to Sylvia (by her boss. Anew kitten — was bought for ‘the children (by their aunt). Verb + adverb/preposition We can usually make passive forms of phrasal verbs (> Unit 91) if they have an object They pulled down the old school in 2005. -* The old school was pulled down in 2005, Sally has given away Kemal’s CDs, -+ Kemal’s CDs have been given away (by Sally). ‘We don't separate the verb and adver: A Kern's old clothes have been given by Sally ava, There are a few prepositional verbs (> Unit 90) that are common in the passive: ‘The old Hoover factory has been used as a supermarket for several years New York is known as ‘The Big Apple’. Coco Chanel was regarded as the best designer of the 1920s,Practice Write the words in the correct order. QEEHA Listen and check. 0 the questions all be answered must All the. questions must. be. answered. 1 down by the committee our proposal been has turned 2 left_was by my grandfather tome that house 3 apay rise hasn’t Geraldine given been 4 be inthe USA can this mobile phone used ? 5 taken couldn’t that photo been at our wedding have Rewrite these historical facts, using passive forms. Begin with the underlined word. 0 The French government gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States in 1886. The, Statue. of Liberty was given, to the United States by the French government in, 1886 1 The Spanish brought potatoes to Europe in the sixteenth century. 2. Neil Armstrong took an American flag to the moon in 1969. 3. Thomas Wolsey gave Hampton Court Palace to King Henry VIII in 1525 4 The South African government sent Nelson Mandela to prison in 1962. France sold Louisiana to the United States in 1803. \d six more mistakes in the conversation and correct them. (QEEE Listen and check. exneer Well, this is an interesting fashion print. Did you buy it? owsn No, it was given to me ef my grandmother just before she died, Exper 90 she was the person who bought 1t? ‘owns Not exactly. She found it. It had left on the side of the road by somebody. rxreer How amazing, Tell me, is this the original frame? ‘owns No, I think it may been changed when my grandparents moved house. They had a really good carpenter and he made new frames for all their pictures. It might have been put into a new frame from him. exreer That's a pity. These prints are always worth more if they’ve been keep in their original frames. It shouldn't have been taken of the original frame out, really But if it was for sale put up I expect it might fetch several hundred pounds .. i practice 257