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PASSIVE VOICE
Yurani Valencia
Laura Cortez
Jhorman Rodríguez
Oral Communication 3
Universidad de Antioquia
Escuela de Idiomas
Jaime Patiño - 2011

 We use active voice to say what the
actor/subject does
 Passive voice is used to say what happens to
the object
Passive and Active

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the
action, not on the actor.
What is passive voice?
My grandfather built a house.
Subject Object
A house was built by my grandfather.
Subject Object
PassiveVS. Active

Be (is/was/have been, etc) + Past participle
Sb. stole my bike My bike was stolen (by sb)
We made a mistake A mistake was made (by us)
Sb. wrote a letter A letter was written (by sb.)
General Structure

PRESENT SIMPLE
MainVerb Is/are + Past Participle
Somebody cleans this room everyday
This room is cleaned everyday (by sb)
VerbTenses

PAST SIMPLE
MainVerb Was/were + Past Participle
Somebody cleaned this room yesterday
This room was cleaned yesterday
VerbTenses

SIMPLE FUTURE
Will + MainVerb Will + be + Past Participle
Somebody will clean this room tomorrow
This room will be cleaned tomorrow
VerbTenses

MODAL INFINITIVE (Should, could, may, might…)
Modal + Have +Verb (participle)
Modal + Have + Been + Past Participle
Somebody should have cleaned this room
This room should have been cleaned
VerbTenses

PRESENT PERFECT
Have/has +Verb (participle)
Have/has + Been + Past Participle
This room looks nice.
Somebody has cleaned this room
This room looks nice. It has been cleaned
VerbTenses

PAST PERFECT
Had +Verb (participle)
Had + Been + Past Participle
This room looks nice.
Somebody had cleaned this room
This room looks nice. It had been cleaned
VerbTenses

PRESENT CONTINUOUS
Is/are +Verb(ing)
Is/are + Being + Past Participle
Somebody is cleaning this room at the moment
This room is being cleaned at the moment
VerbTenses

PAST CONTINUOUS
Was/were +Verb(ing)
Was/were + Being + Past Participle
Somebody was cleaning this room when I arrived
This room was being cleaned when I arrived
VerbTenses

One object: Jane wrote a letter
Two objects: Jane wrote a letter to Jack
or
Jane wrote Jack a letter
1. A letter was written (by Jane)
2. Jack was written a letter (by Jane)
Verbs with two objects: Example #1

One object:We gave the information
Two obj.:We gave the information toThe Police
or
We gaveThe Police the information
1. The information was given toThe Police
2. The police were given the information (by us)

One object:They donated the money
Two obj.:They donated the money to the Non-profit
organization
or
They donated the Non-profit organization the money
1. The money was donated to the Non-profit
organization
2. Non-profit organization was donated the money (by
them)

One object: He told the story
Two obj.: He told the story to the children
or
He told the children the story
1. The story was told to the children
2. The children were told the story (by him)

The passive of doing/seeing is being done/being seen
I am doing a homework »
A homework is being done by me
He is driving a car »
A car is being driven by him
I don’t like being… Ex #1

Active: I do not like people telling me what to do
Passive: I do not like being told what to do
Verb (ing) being verb (participle)
doing/seeing being done/seen
Active: They don’t like people asking them questions
Passive: They don’t like being asked questions

Active: I remember somebody giving me a gift
Passive: I remember being given a gift (by sb)
Active: Mr. Miller do not like people keeping him busy
Passive: Mr. Miller hates being kept busy

 The window was broken by some kids who were
playing ball
 The window got broken.
 The glass was shattered by a baseball.
 The glass got shattered.
Get

 Ted was stung by a bee while he was sitting in the
garden
 Ted got stung.
 I do not want these things to be damaged
 I do not want these things to get damaged.
Get

Henry is very old. Nobody knows exactly how old he is, but
It is said that he is 108 years old.
or
He is said to be 108 years old.
Use this structure with verbs of perception like:
Thought Believed Considered Reported Known
Expected Alleged Understood
It is said that… He is said to…

Jane works very hard…
It is said that Jane works 16 hours a day
[She is said to work …]
The police are looking for a missing boy…
It is believed that the boy was wearing blue
shirt
[He is believed to wear blue shirt]
It is said that… He is said to…

Sometimes be supposed to… = be said to…
 Let’s go and see that film, it is supposed to be very
good.
[it is said to be very good.]
But sometimes be supposed to… = be planned, arranged or
expected
 You were supposed to clean the window, did not you?
(Be) supposed to…

In other cases, not to be supposed to means not to
be allowed to.
 You are not supposed to park your car here. It is
private parking only.
 The policeman was not supposed to yell. He
must be polite.
Not to be supposed to…

PEOPLE SAYTHAT WOMEN LIVE LONGER
THAN MEN

IT IS SAIDTHAT WOMEN LIVE LONGER
THAN MEN

WOMEN ARE SAID TO LIVE LONGER THAN
MEN

WOMEN ARE SUPPOSEDTO LIVE LONGER
THAN MEN

IT IS SUPPOSEDTHAT WOMEN LIVE
LONGERTHAN MEN

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