PASSIVE+REPORTED

SPEECHYEUNG KA HEI(30)+YEUNG YEE MAN(31)

Passive

1.       We use a active verb to say what the subject does:

Pattern: subject + verb + object (SVO)

i.e. My grandfather is a builder. He built this house in 2004.

→’He’ is the subject; ’built’ is the verb; and ‘this house’ is the object.

We use a passive verb to say what happens to the subject:

The pattern of passive:

subject + be (is/was/have been etc.) + the past participle (gone/seen etc.)

i.e. The house was built in 2004.

→∵The house can’t build by itself, so we need to use passive voice.

If we compare active and passive, we can see their difference:

i.e. Somebody built this house in 2004. (active)

This house was built in 2004. (passive)

→In these two sentences, ’this house’ in active is an object, but in the passive, it is a

subject.∴we have to use different voice.

2. When we use the passive, who or what causes the action is often unknown or unim

portant:

i.e. The house was built in 2004.

→That means ‘who’ built this house is not known or significant.

i.e. A lot of money was stolen in the robbery.

→That means somebody stole it but we don’t know who.

3. If we want to say who causes the action, we can use by … :

i.e. The house was built by my father.

The meal was cooked by my mother.

→These two sentences can tell us who does the action.

4. In different tenses, we have to use different passive form: i.e. do

Simple Present

Simple Past

Simple Future

Active do/does did will do

Passive is/am/are/be done

was/were done

will be done

Present Continue

Past Continue

Present Perfect

Past Perfect

Active is/am/are doing

was/were doing

have/has done

had done

Passive is/am/are being done

was/were being done

have/has been done

had been done

5. There are some special cases:

 

a) I was born…

We say: I was born…(not ‘I am born’)

Where were you born? (not ‘where are you born’)

→In these cases, we use simple past tense in passive.

∵it happened and we can’t born by ourselves.

b) I don’t like being…

The passive of doing/seeing etc. is being done/being seen etc.

Compare:

Active: Mr. Wong hates people keeping him waiting.

Passive: Mr. Wong hates being kept waiting.

c) Get

Sometimes we can use get instead of be in the passive:

i.e. There was a fight at the party but nobody got hurt.

→means nobody was hurt

We can also use get to say that something happens to somebody or something, especially if this is unplanned or unexpected:

i.e. His dog got run over by a car.

※However, we use ‘get’ mainly in informal spoken English. And we can use ‘be’ in all situations.

 

Reported Speech

1.  When we want to tell others what somebody said, we could use reported speech.

i.e. Direct: Ann said, ‘I am very happy.’

Reported speech: Ann said that she was very happy.

In direct speech, we use quotation marks to show what that person say.

2. In reported speech, we usually use past tense.

i.e. Tom said that he was sad.

She told me that she was ill.

And the word ‘that’ can be omitted.

i.e. Tom said he was ill.

3. Pronouns, verbs and some words should be changed in reported speech.

(I) Changes in pronouns

Direct speech Reported speech

I me my mine He/ She him/ her his/ her his/ hers

We us our ours They them their theirs

You you your yours I/ They me/ them my/ their mine/ theirs

(II) Changes in verb

Direct speech Reported speech

Present Past

Present perfect, Past Past perfect

Future: will, shall, may, can, must

would, should, might, could, had to

(III) Changes in other wordsDirect speech Reported speech

now Then/at that time/at that moment

today

tomorrow

yesterday

on that day

on the next/following day

on the pervious day/the day before

next week

last week

the following week

the pervious week

here

this/these

there

that/those

4.       If the situation is still true, you need not change the verb.

i.e. Direct: Jack said, ‘New York is in America.’

Reported speech: Jack said that New York is in America.

(The situation hasn’t change .New York is still in America.)

5. When we report a question, the word order is different from a simple question.

Yes/No Question: if/whether

i.e. Direct speech: “Do you agree?” he asked.

Reported speech: He asked me if/whether I agree.

Questions with question words (what, who, when, where, how etc.): keep the question word

i.e. Direct speech: “What is your name ?” she asked.

→Reported speech: She asked me what my name was.

THE END