PassiveVoice

Cris-naMoreno

✔ When the agent is unknown – Spanish "SE" :

Se venden pisos: Flats are sold

– Spanish "Ellos/as" omitted : Le dieron un beso a Pepita: Pepita was given a kiss

Whendoweuseit?

✔ Tomaketheobjectoftheac-veverbmoreimportantAmericawasdiscoveredin1492byChristopherColumbus

✔ Whenthedescrip-onoftheagentisverylong

Acharityrecordhasbeenmadebymanyfamousnamesintheworldofpopmusic.

Whendoweuseit?

✔ Subject:Personorobjectthatsuffered/enjoyedtheresultsofanac-on.

✔ Theverb"tobe"inthetensetheac-onocurred.✔ ThePastPar-cipleoftheverbthatrepresentstheac-onitself.

✔ Whatevercomplementsthatverbneeds.✔ Inafewspecialcaseswecanalsouseby+theagent.

Structureofthesentence

StructureoftheverbTENSES EXAMPLES

PresentSimple Pigsareo/enusedtofindtruffles

PresentCon5nuous Myhouseisbeingredecoratedatthemoment

PresentPerfect Ihaveneverbeengivenflowersonmybirthday

PastSimple ThispicturewaspaintedbyPicasso

PastCon5nuous WhenIsawhimhewasbeingfollowedbythepolice

PastPerfect Shewasangrybecauseshehadalreadybeentoldthree5mes

FutureSimple Whenyougetthereeverythingwillbefinished

Goingto-Future Theyarenotgoingtobeeasilyconvinced

Condi5onalSimple Youwouldbepunishediftheyfoundout

Condi5onalPerfect Ifyouhadn’ttoldthemwouldIhavebeeninvited?

toBEgivesusthetenseoftheac-on

theprincipalverbisalwaysinPastPar-ciple

THEPASSIVEVERBtoBE(intheac-vetense)+PastPar-ciple(mainverb)

ACTIVE

PASSIVE

Shewantsanice-cream

Anice-creamiswanted

HesentaleUer

AleUerwassent

Wewillbuyanewcarnextweek

Anewcarwillbebought

TheyhavebeencuWngthegrass

Thegrasshasbeenbeingcut

ThepassivesentenceACTIVEVOICE

Ac-veSubject

Ac-veVerb

DirectObject

Robert gave acoin

byPassiveVerb

PassiveSubject

Agent

PASSIVEVOICEwasgiven by

ThepassivesentenceACTIVEVOICE

Ac-veSubject

Ac-veVerb

DirectObject

IndirectObject

Robert gave acoin Tomto

byDirectObject

PassiveVerb

PassiveSubject

Agent

PASSIVEVOICEwasgiven by

1/Theybuiltthishousein14662/Thishousewasbuiltin14661/ChannelislandersspeakFrench&English2/French&EnglishisspokenbyChannel

islanders1/Thisbookwillchangeyourlife2/Yourlifewillbechangedbythisbook

Examples

1/Theyhavecutthegrass2/Thegrasshasbeencut1/Mymotherisgoingtogivemeapresent2/Iamgoingtobegivenapresentbymy

mother1/Susanwroteane-mailtohim1/HewaswriUenane-mailbySusan

Examples

1/Theycan’tansweryourques-on2/Yourques-oncan’tbeanswered

1/Someonehadtotakehertohospitalacerthis2/Shehadtobetakentohospitalacerthecrash

1/Theyshouldn’tallowthechildrentodothesethings2/Thechildrenshouldn’tbeallowedtodothesethings

1/Someonemusttellhimifwewanthimtoknow2/Hemustbetoldifwewanthimtoknow

Moreexamples

✔ GETisusedinsteadofBEwithpassivemeaning.InformalEnglish.

Igotstuckinatrafficjam SheisgeCngmarried

✔ AcerNEED/WANTthe-ingformcanbeusedwithpassivemeaning Thisjobneedsdoing Thatroomwantscleaning

Morepassivestuff

✔ HAVE/GETsomethingdone:Arrangingfororpayingforsomebodytodosomethingforyou.(Getismoreinformal).

HehadhishaircutShegothercarpetcleanedWehavehadourcarmendedTheyhadgottheirbooktranslated

Morepassivestuff

HAVE+Object+PastPar-ciple

✔ Verbslike:Believe,Think,Consider,Say,Report,Know,Expect,Feel,Understand,Find1.   IntroductoryITisused

ItissaidthathestartedthefireItisthoughtthatshedoesn'tliveinLondonItwasknownthattheKingiscomingtomorrow

Morepassivestuff

IT+passiveverb+completesubordinatesentencewithoutchanges

✔ Verbslike:Believe,Think,Consider,Say,Report,Know,Expect,Feel,Understand,Find

Itissaidthathestartedthefire(ac5oninthePast)Heissaidtohavestartedthefire(Infini5vePerfect)Itisthoughtthatshedoesn'tliveinLondon(Present)SheisthoughttoliveinLondon(Infini5vePresent)

Morepassivestuff

Subordinate subject + verb passive + subordinate active verb in INFINITIVE.