Passive Voice
Exercise 35
1.
Somebody calls the president everyday
The President is called by somebody
2.
John is calling the other members
· The members are being called by John
3.
Somebody will call Mr.Watson tonight
· Mr. Watson will be called by somebody tonight
4.
The fire has caused considerable damage
· The considerable damage has been caused by the
fire
5.
The teacher should buy the supplies for this
class
· The supplies should be bought for this class by
the teacher
Exercise 36
Page 135
1.
The teacher made Juan leave the room.
2.
Toshiko had her car repaired by a mechanic.
3.
Ellen got marvin typed her paper.
4.
I made Jane call her friend on the telephone.
5.
We got our house painted last week.
6.
Dr. Byrd is having the students write a
composition.
7.
The policemen made the suspect lie on the
ground.
8.
Mark got his transcript send to the university.
9.
Maria is getting her hair cut tomorror.
10.
We will have to get the dean signed this form.
11.
The teacher let al leave the classroom.
12.
Maria got Ed washed the pippet.
13.
She always has her car to fix by the same
mechanic.
14.
Gene got his book published by a subsidy
publisher.
15.
We have to help janet to find her key.
Passive Voice
Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It's not important or not known, however, who or what
is performing the action.
Form of Passive
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle
When rewriting active sentence in passive voice, note the following :
- The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
- The finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
- The subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence.
Example of Passive
| Tense | Subject | Verb | Object | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Present | Active: | Belsa | writes | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | is written | by Belsa. | |
| Simple Past | Active: | Belsa | wrote | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | was written | by Belsa. | |
| Present Perfect | Active: | Belsa | has written | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | has been written | by Belsa. | |
| Future I | Active: | Belsa | will write | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | will be written | by Belsa. | |
| Hilfsverben | Active: | Belsa | can write | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | can be written | by Belsa | |
| Tense | Subject | Verb | Object | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present Progressive | Active: | Belsa | is writing | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | is being written | by Belsa. | |
| Past Progressive | Active: | Belsa | was writing | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | was being written | by Belsa. | |
| Past Perfect | Active: | Belsa | had written | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | had been written | by Belsa. | |
| Future II | Active: | Belsa | will have written | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | will have been written | by Belsa. | |
| Conditional I | Active: | Belsa | would write | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | would be written | by Belsa. | |
| Conditional II | Active: | Belsa | would have written | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | would have been written | by Belsa. | |
Passive sentences with Two object
Rewriting an active sentence with two object in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you put the focus on..
| Subject | Verb | Object 1 | Object 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active: | Belsa | wrote | a letter | to me. |
| Passive: | A letter | was written | to me | by Belsa. |
| Passive: | I | was written | a letter | by Belsa. |
