GRAMMAR USED IN IELTS WRITING

Passive voice + Relative Clause

I. PASSIVE VOICE

Tense Active Passive

present simple I make a cake. A cake is made (by me).

A cake is being made (by

present continuous I am making a cake.
me).

past simple I made a cake. A cake was made (by me).

A cake has been made (by

present perfect I have made a cake.
me).

A cake will be made (by

future simple I will make a cake.
me).

I will have made a A cake will have been

future perfect
cake. made (by me).

modal verbs (can,

could, may, might,

The door will be locked (by
will, would, must, I will lock the door.
me).
shall, should, ought to,

[be] going to)

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Exercise 1: Turn the following sentences into the passive voice.

1. My father built the house.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

2. The police found him in the forest.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

3. My parents are going to buy a car tomorrow.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

4. He wrote three books in 1867.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

5. Somebody should do the work.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

6. The traffic might delay Jimmy.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

7. People speak Portuguese in Brazil.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

8. They are going to build a new stadium near the station.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

9. The wolf ate the princess.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

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10. Somebody has taken some of my books away.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

11. They did these exercises well.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

12. Somebody took my wallet.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

13. He can write a book in Spanish.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

14. X Company produced sugar in Malaysia.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

15. I sent the report yesterday.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

16. They cancelled all the flights.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

17. They use this road very often.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

18. You must wash this dress in cold water.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

19. The students must do the exercises.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

20. She has made all the arrangements.

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→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Exercise 2: Turn the following sentences into the active voice.

1. These exercises were done well.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

2. This dress must be washed in cold water.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

3. No mistakes have been made in his composition.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

4. This house was built 100 years ago.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

5. These artificial flowers are made of silk.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

6. This job has to be done at once.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

7. These animals at the zoo are fed twice a day.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

8. The operation is going to be performed by French doctors.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

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9. All the arrangements have been made.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

10. The machinery wasn’t damaged by the accident.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

PARAPHRASING PRACTICE
1. Students should study the science of food and how to prepare it.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

2. Some countries allow old people to work to any age that they want.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

3. Children should do organized activities in their free time.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

4. Children should be free to do what they want in their free time.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

5. Young people should follow the traditions of their society.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

6. Many people are working longer hours.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

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7. More tasks at home and work are being performed by robots.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

8. Childcare centers provide the best services for children of preschool.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

9. The use of mobile phones should be banned in public places like libraries

and shops.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

10. Big companies should provide sports and social facilities for the local

community.

→ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

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More techniques
1. Some people think that it is more beneficial to take part in sports which are

played in teams, like football.

it is more beneficial to …

2. Nowadays, some employers think that formal academic qualifications are

more important than life experience or personal qualities when they look for
new employees.

X is / are more important than Y

3. Some people think that the best way to increase road safety is to increase
the minimum legal age, for driving cars or riding motorbikes.

the best way

4. Some people believe that in the modern world, we do not need to use
animals for food, clothing or medicine.

We do not need to … → it is no longer necessary to / we no longer need to

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Practice

a. It is more important to spend public money on promoting a healthy lifestyle

in order to prevent illness than to spend it on treatment of people who are
already ill.

b. It is more important to teach children the literature of their own country than
other countries.

c. A country will benefit greatly if its students study abroad.

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II. RELATIVE CLAUSE

We can use relative clauses to join two English sentences, or to give more

information about something.

Example: I bought a new house. It is very beautiful.

 I bought a new house which is very beautiful.

A. DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

a) The relative pronoun is the subject.

Relative pronouns:

• who (used for people)

• which (used for things)

• that (used for both people and things)

Examples: She has a son. He is a doctor.

 …………………………………………………………………..

We bought a house. It is 200 years old.

 …………………………………………………………………..

Exercise: Using relative pronouns to connect these sentences.

1. I sent an email to my brother. My brother lives in Australia.

2. The customer liked the waitress. The waitress was very friendly.

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 3. We broke the computer. The computer belonged to my father.

4. I dropped a glass. The glass was new.

5. She loves books. The books have happy endings.

6. My sister has three children. My sister lives in Australia.

7. The waiter was rude. The waiter was wearing a blue shirt.

8. The money is in the kitchen. The money belongs to John.

9. The table got broken. The table was my grandmother's.

10. The television was stolen. The television was bought 20 years ago.

11. The fruit is on the table. The fruit isn't fresh.

b) The relative pronoun is the object.

When the relative pronoun (who/which/that) is the object of the clause, we can

drop the relative pronoun if we want to.

Example: She loves the chocolate. I bought that chocolate.

 …………………………………………………………………..

 …………………………………………………………………..

 …………………………………………………………………..

Exercise: Connect these sentences as many ways as possible.

1. He lost the money. I had given him the money.

2. John met a girl. I used to employ the girl.

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3. Lucy called the doctor. My mother knows the doctor.

4. He brought a woman. I used to often meet the woman.

5. The fruit is on the table. I bought the fruit.

6. The wallet belongs to John. Lucy found the wallet in the garden.

7. The food was delicious. David cooked the food.

8. The car was stolen. My father gave me the car.

9. The man was arrested. I reported the man to the police.

10. The doctor was right. Lucy asked the doctor about her problem.

11. The waitress was very pretty. My brother dated the waitress.

12. The secretary is in the office. The boss likes the secretary.

13. We ate the fruit. I bought the fruit.

PRACTICE DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE

Exercise: Using relative clause to connect these sentences. If possible,

drop the relative pronoun.

1. I broke the plate. The plate was a wedding present.

2. The police arrested the man. I saw the man steal a handbag.

3. The Queen fired the chef. We had met the chef.

4. She wrote to her friend. Her friend lives in Vietnam.

5. Jill ate the sandwich. The sandwich had tomato and cheese inside.

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6. His friend lives in Scotland. His friend is a lawyer.

7. The CD is in my bag. The CD has Spanish music.

8. The book is very interesting. The book is about Japanese culture.

9. The bag was stolen. I bought the bag yesterday.

10. He likes films. The films come from Asia.

11. My nephew broke the plate. I received the plate as a present.

12. The chocolate was very delicious. We bought the chocolate at the

supermarket.

13. The TV programme was very funny. Lucy recommended the TV

programme.

14. The girl is on TV tonight. I met the girl yesterday.

15. They found the money. I dropped the money.

16. The doctor was sick. I wanted to see the doctor.

17. The accountant was arrested. The accountant works for my father's

company.

18. I wrote to the friend. You met the friend last week.

19. The mobile phone can't be fixed. The mobile phone is broken.

20. I met a girl. The girl was a doctor.

21. We called a doctor. The doctor works at a hospital in London.

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 22. We like the actor. The actor was in a famous film.

23. I went to the restaurant. I read about the restaurant in the newspaper.

24. She bought a car. Her sister liked the car.

25. I often buy cheese. The cheese is imported from Paris.

26. The hairdresser was very good. The hairdresser has red hair.

27. The child is playing in the garden. We see the child often.

28. The nurse is in the office. The nurse treated my grandmother.

29. The car is in the garage. The car broke down.

30. The man was late. Julie invited the man.

B. NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

• A non-defining relative clause gives us extra information about

something. We don't need this information to understand the sentence.

• We don't use 'that' in non-defining relative clauses, so we need to use

'which' if the pronoun refers to a thing, and 'who' if it refers to a person.

We can't drop the relative pronoun in this kind of clause.

Examples:

• Relative clause comes after a subject:

+ My boss, who is very nice, lives in Manchester.

+ My sister, who I live with, knows a lot about cars.

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• Relative clause comes after an object:

+ Yesterday I called our friend Julie, who lives in New York.

+ I really love the new Chinese restaurant, which we went to last night.

C. RELATIVE CLAUSE REDUCTION (Using present participle phrase – past

participle phrase)

• If the VERB in RELATIVE CLAUSE is in active voice, we use present participle

phrase (which means we omit relative pronoun and auxiliary verb, then

the verb is back to bare verb => add –ing)

Example: The man who sat next to you is my uncle.

 ……………………………………………………………………….

Do you know the boy who broke the windows last night?

 ……………………………………………………………………….

• If the VERB in RELATIVE CLAUSE is in passive voice, we use past participle

phrase (which means we omit relative pronoun and auxiliary verb, then

the verb becomes V3)

Example: The books which were written by Tom are interesting.

 ……………………………………………………………………….

A bridge which was built only two years ago has been declared unsafe.

 ……………………………………………………………………….

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Exercises: Reduce relative clauses to phrases.

1. The man who is standing there is a clown.

2. We stood on the bridge which connects the two halves of the city.

3. The students don’t know how to do the exercises which were given by the

teacher yesterday.

4. Revealed in the line graph is the amount of sugar which was produced in

Malaysia from 2009 to 2013.

5. The chart illustrates how much money was spent on gambling by adults

in Hong Kong last year.

6. The gentleman who lives next door to me is a well-known actor.

7. I saw many houses that were destroyed by the storm.

8. The street which leads to the school is very wide.

9. The candidates who are sitting for the exam are all from Vietnam.

10. We are driving on the road which was built in 1980.

11. Customers who complain about the service should see the manager.

12. Trains which leave from this station take an hour to get to London.

13. The vegetables which are sold in this shop are grown without chemicals.

14. The system which is used here is very successful.

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