PASSIVE VOICE
Nguyen Kim Anh-DFL
1. Use
2. Forms
3. Special cases
I. Use
When the agent (the person performing the action) is unknown, unimportant or obvious from the context.
This portrait was painted before the 8th century.
The environment is being polluted more and more every day.
When we want to emphasize the action itself, not the agent.
Eight people were injured in a car accident.
In instructions, processes, formal statements, etc.
The lever on the right should be pulled down slowly.
II. Form
We make the passive with the verb to be and a past participle.
E.g. This company employs eighty people
Eighty people are employed by this company.

1. Present simple
2. Present continuous
3. Past simple
4. Past continuous
5. Present perfect
6. Past perfect
7. Future will

8. Going to
9. Future perfect
10. Present infinitive
11. Perfect infinitive
12. Ing form
13. Modal verbs
14. Imperative
Verb forms in the Passive Voice
1. Verb Forms: Present Simple
Active Voice: They serve tea with cakes
Passive Voice: Tea is served with cakes
2. Verb Forms: Present Continuous
Active Voice: They are renovating the hotel
Passive Voice: The hotel is being renovated.



3. Verb Forms: Past Simple
Active Voice: I repaired the roof last year.
Passive Voice: The roof was repaired (by me)
4. Verb Forms: Past Continuous
Active Voice: They were cleaning the floor
Passive Voice: The floor was being cleaned (by them)

5. Verb Forms: Present Perfect
Active Voice: We have removed all the furniture from the living room.
Passive Voice: All the furniture has been remove from the living room.
6. Verb Forms: Past Perfect
Active Voice:
The fire had destroyed the house before the fire brigade arrived.
Passive Voice:
The house had been destroyed before the fire brigade arrived.

7. Verb Forms: Future "Will“
Active Voice: Mary will pay the bill tomorrow
Passive Voice: The bill will be paid (by Mary) tomorrow.

8. Verb Forms: Going to
Active Voice: They are going to publish his new novel next month.
Passive Voice: His new novel is going to be published next month.
9. Verb Forms: Future Perfect
Active Voice: I will have posted all the letters by noon.
Passive Voice: All the letters will have been posted by noon.

10. Verb Forms: Present Infinitive
Active Voice: We need to finish this work
by tomorrow.
Passive Voice: This work needs to be finished by tomorrow.

11. Verb Forms: Perfect Infinitive
Active Voice: He could have bought tickets earlier.
Passive Voice: The tickets could have been bought earlier.
12. Verb Forms: -ing form
Active Voice: I hate people staring at me.
Passive Voice: I hate being stared at.

13. Verb Forms: Modal Verbs
Active Voice: You must take him to hospital.
Passive Voice: He must be taken to hospital.
14. Verb Forms: Imperative
Active Voice: Please complete this exercise.
Passive Voice: This exercise must be completed
Get can be used instead of be in informal speech, to show that something happening unexpectedly.
E.g. His jeans got caught on a spike as he was climbing over the fence.
By+ agent is used when we want to emphasize who does or what causes the action.
E.g. The telephone was invented by Graham Bell.
With+ instrument/ material or Of + materials describe what caused the action or what the agent used to perform it.
This photograph was taken with an expensive camera.
The basement was flooded with water.
This cardigan is made of wool.
III. Special cases
1. Verbs with two objects
2. Question words
3. Indefinite pronouns
4. Make/hear/see/etc
5. Reporting verbs
6. Verbs with preposition
7. Causative form
1. Verbs with two objects
Both the indirect and the direct object can be used as subjects of a passive sentence.
E.g. He gave her a rose
a. She was given a rose
b. A rose was given to her.
2. Question words (what, who, when, where, why, how)
Question word + Auxiliary/ Modal verb + Subject + Past Participle
E.g. Who wrote this play?
a. Who was this play written by?
b. By whom was this play written?
3. Indefinite pronouns

not ......any
not.......any of
not ..anyone/anybody
not......anything

no
none of
no-one/nobody

nothing
E.g.
They didn`t change anything
Nothing was changed.
Nobody told me about this.
I was not told about this.
4. make/hear/help, etc
make/ hear/ see, etc + Object + bare infinitive
Be made/ heard/ see, etc + full infinitive
E.g. John made me leave
I was made to leave (by John)
Let → be allowed to
E.g. They didn`t let me go to the party
I was not allowed to go to the party.
When "let" has other meanings, it does not change in the Passive like that.
E.g. You have to let the dog out.
The dog has to be let out.
5. Reporting verbs
S + believe/ consider/ expect/ find/ hope/ know/ report/ say/think/ understand, etc
It + passive form of verb+ that................
Subject + passive form of the verb + full infinitive
Scientists believe that this virus is deadly
It is believed that this virus is deadly.
This virus is believed to be deadly.
People thought that the earth was flat
It was thought that the earth was flat
The earth was thought to be flat
They say that he broke into my house
It is said that he broke into my house
He is said to have broken into my house
People think that she has moved to the USA
It is thought that she has moved to the USA
She is thought to have moved to the USA


6. Verbs with prepositions

The preposition goes immediately after the verb.
E.g. A car nearly knocked Jane down.
Jane was nearly knocked down by a car
7. Causative forms
The causative form is used when we do not do something ourselves
But we arrange for somebody (usually an expert) to do it for us.
Questions and negations are formed as in the Active voice
With the auxiliaries do/does in the Present Simple and did in the Past Simple.
E.g. When did you last have your eyes tested?
We can use get instead of have, especially in informal style
E.g. I have to get the house painted this year.
The causative form is often used instead of the passive voice to express an accident, a misfortune or something that had not been arranged.
They had their house broken into last week.
Mark had his leg broken in the car crash.
If we want to mention who performs the action, we can add By+ agent at the end of the sentence
She always has her hair dyed by a hairdresser
Have somebody do something
= make someone do something, cause them to do it.
Mrs. Smith had her husband do the shopping.
Get someone to do something
= persuade someone to do something.
Mrs Smith got her husband to do the shopping.

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