The passive voice

The passive voice:

Study the paragraph below and try to identify the passive verbs:

Christmas Day, the 25th of December, is the biggest annual festival which is celebrated in England. In the large shops, preparations for Christmas are begun five or six weeks before the actual day. Shop owners like Christmas because lots of presents are given, which means more goods are bought from the shops than at any other time in the year. In large towns, decorations are put up in the main streets two or three weeks before Christmas. Preparations are also made at home. Special puddings and cakes are eaten on Christmas Day. Houses are decorated by putting up colored paper and leaves and branches. Christmas tree is usually placed in the main living-room.

Now is the verb "is celebrated" active or passive? What about the verbs "are begun", "are given", "are bought", "are put", "are made", "are eaten", "are decorated" and "is placed"? Are they active or passive? Is the subject of the verb "is celebrated" for example, the doer of the action? In other words, is it Christmas that celebrates itself? Is it the preparations that begin themselves etc...? Of course not.
So, as the subject of these verbs is not the doer of the action, we say that all these verbs are passive.

Concerning their form, all these verbs have two things in common:

All of them are preceded by a form of the auxiliary "be" and all of them are past participles.
Of course, the passive voice is not used for its own sweet sake. It is used mainly in the following cases:

a- when it is not necessary to mention the doer of the action, especially if it is obvious from the context who does it: Christmas is celebrated on the 25th of December. (Who celebrates Christmas? It's Christmas people.)

b- when the subject of the active verb would be "people": it is often said that poverty is the mother of crime. (Who says that? It is people.)
c- When the action is more important than the person who does it: Two Palestinian children were killed yesterday.
d- When we don't know who did the action: My car was stolen.

Now, have a look at the table below which focuses on the active tenses and their passive equivalents:

Tense/ Form	Active	Passive
Simple present	Children eat much chocolate	Much chocolate is eaten by children
Simple future	The children will eat much chocolate	Much chocolate will be eaten by the children
Simple past	The children ate much chocolate	Much chocolate was eaten by the children
Present perfect	The children have eaten much chocolate	Much chocolate has been eaten by the children
Present continuous	The children are eating much chocolate	Much chocolate is being eaten by the children
Past continuous	The children were eating much chocolate	Much chocolate was being eaten by the children.
Modal + bare infinitive	Children eat little chocolate	Little chocolate should be eaten by the children.
Present infinitive	There's too much chocolate for the children to eat.	There's too much chocolate to be eaten by the children.

As you can see, the passive is formed by putting the auxiliary verb "be" into the same tense or form as the active verb and by adding the past participle of that verb.
The object of the active sentence becomes the subject, and if it is necessary to mention the doer of the action, it is placed at the end and preceded by "by".
Note the following:

1/ Some verbs like "give" and "ask" can have two objects:

The police asked the suspect many questions.
In such a case, it is possible to make two passive sentences:
The suspect was asked many questions.
Many questions were asked to the suspect. ("to" is added when the direct object precedes the indirect one).

2/ Sentences of the type "people say/ think/ believe/ consider/ know/ prove/ suppose/ claim/ expect etc + that + clause" can have two possible passive forms. One begins with the subject of the "that clause" and the other with the impersonal "it":
· People say that he is guilty.
He is said to be guilty.
· Researchers have proved that smoking destroys health.
Smoking has been proven to destroy health.
It has been proven that smoking destroys health.

3/ Adverbs are usually placed after the first auxiliary:
The fire has just been put out.
But when there are two auxiliaries, "ly" adverbs are placed after the second auxiliary.
The house has been totally destroyed by the fire.

4/ To turn a sentence from passive to active, we begin the sentence with the doer of the action. Then the auxiliary "be" is omitted and the verb is put in the same tense or form as "be". Finally, the subject of the passive sentence becomes the object.
· The murder was arrested by the police.
> The police arrested the murderer.
· It is estimated that the world population will reach 3 billion by 2025.
> Experts estimate that the world's population will reach 9 billion by 2025.

Exercise 1: Rewrite the sentences below. Instead of using "somebody" , "we" , "people" or "they" , write a passive sentence.

a- Somebody has robbed the house.

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b- People suppose that the Brazilian football team is unbeatable.

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c- They built a new subway in the town center.

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d- They should fine the people who litter the streets.

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e- When we boil water, it evaporates.

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Exercise 2: All the bracketed verbs are passive. Put them in the simple past.

At least three children (kill)__________ yesterday in a strong earthquake that rocked central and southern Italy. Firefighters said that the bodies of three children at a school near Campobasso (pull)_________ out of the rubble after part of the building collapsed. Nine children and one teacher (bring)__________ out alive from the school and they (take)__________ to nearby hospitals for treatment. Many other people (injure)__________and at least 3000 people (make)__________ homeless.

Exercise 3: Underline the best alternative. (Be careful! Some verbs are active, others are passive).

A fishy diet, particularly of oily fish, (is often said/ often is said/ is said often) to help lower the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke and there has been recent evidence that it (is reduced/ is reducing/ reduces) the danger of women giving birth to premature or low-weight babies.

Also, fish (has traditionally been said/ has been traditionally said/ has been said traditionally) to be good for the brain. According to a study which (published/ were published/ was published) yesterday, older people who (eat/ are eating/ are eaten) fish or seafood at least once a week are also at a lower risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.

Exercise 4: All the bracketed verbs are passive. Put them in the right tense.

Coca-Cola (enjoy)__________ all over the world. In fact, 1,5 billion gallons (sell)__________every year in more than one hundred and sixty countries. The drink (invent)__________by Dr John Pemberton in Atlanta on May 8, 1886, but it (give)__________ the name Coca-Cola by his partner Frank Robinson. The first factory (open)__________in Dallas, Texas, in 1895. Coca-Cola (still/ make) __________ there. Millions of bottles and cans (produce)__________every year.

Exercise 5: Turn the underlined sentence parts into the passive:

Before leaving England to work in a remote Algerian town, (1) officials asked me to attend a briefing course so that (2) they would give me some tips. (3) They told me that it would be difficult for me at first to adapt to life in a Third-World country.

And (4) they advised me about the sort of precautions I should take to protect myself in such a "strange environment". Among other things, they told me that to avoid illness (5) I ought to boil all water before use and (6) I should wash all vegetables and fruit very thoroughly. To avoid homesickness, they told me (7) I should take a good collection of books, just in case I found it difficult to make friends. (8) They didn't tell me much about the people, except that provided I knew French, I would not have any problems in making myself understood…

Passive
1-	5-
2-	6-
3-	7-
4-	8-

Exercise 6: Turn the underlined sentence parts into the active:

(1) A woman was abducted from work in front of her female colleagues and (2) she was forced to drive eight miles by a man who burst into the office claiming (3)he was owed money. (4) She was made to drive him from the unnamed company in Belvedere, south-east London, to Charlton. (5) His victim, in her forties, was then forced out of her Fiat Punto, (6) which was recovered by the police last night. Sergeant Ian Harris said: "It is essential (7) this should be traced. (8) He should be arrested as soon as possible".

Active
1- A man…………………………………	5-He……………………………………
2- He……………………………………..	6- The police……………………………
3- She…………………………………….	7- We …………………………………..
4-He……………………………………...	8- We …………………………………..

Key:

Exercise 1: Rewrite the sentences below. Instead of using "somebody" , "we" , "people" or "they" , write a passive sentence.

a- Somebody has robbed the house

The house has been robbed

b- People suppose that the Brazilian football team is unbeatable.

The Brazilian football team is supposed to be unbeatable.

c- They built a new subway in the town center.

A new subway was built in the town centre

d- They should fine the people who litter the streets.

The people who litter the streets should be fined.

e- When we boil water, it evaporates.

when water is boiled, it evaporates

Exercise 2: All the bracketed verbs are passive. Put them in the simple past.

At least three children were killed yesterday in a strong earthquake that rocked central and southern Italy. Firefighters said that the bodies of three children at a school near Campobasso were pulled out of the rubble after part of the building collapsed. Nine children and one teacher were brought out alive from the school and they were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment. Many other people were injured and at least 3000 people were made homeless.

Exercise 3: Underline the best alternative. (Be careful! Some verbs are active, others are passive).

A fishy diet, particularly of oily fish, (is often said/ often is said/ is said often) to help lower the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke and there has been recent evidence that it (is reduced/ is reducing/ reduces) the danger of women giving birth to premature or low-weight babies.

Also, fish (has traditionally been said/ has been traditionally said/ has been said traditionally) to be good for the brain. According to a study which (published/ were published/ was published) yesterday, older people who (eat/ are eating/ are eaten) fish or seafood at least once a week are also at a lower risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.

Exercise 4: All the bracketed verbs are passive. Put them in the right tense.

Coca-Cola is enjoyed all over the world. In fact, 1,5 billion gallons are sold every year in more than one hundred and sixty countries. The drink was invented by Dr John Pemberton in Atlanta on May 8, 1886, but it was given the name Coca-Cola by his partner Frank Robinson. The first factory was opened in Dallas, Texas, in 1895. Coca-Cola is still made there. Millions of bottles and cans are produced every year.

Exercise 5: Turn the underlined sentence parts into the passive:

Before leaving England to work in a remote Algerian town, (1) officials asked me to attend a briefing course so that (2) they would give me some tips. (3) They told me that it would be difficult for me at first to adapt to life in a Third-World country.

And (4) they advised me about the sort of precautions I should take to protect myself in such a "strange environment". Among other things, they told me that to avoid illness (5) I ought to boil all water before use and (6) I should wash all vegetables and fruit very thoroughly. To avoid homesickness, they told me (7) I should take a good collection of books, just in case I found it difficult to make friends. (8) They didn't tell me much about the people, except that provided I knew French, I would not have any problems in making myself understood…

Passive
1- I was asked to attend…	5- All water ought to be boiled
2- I would be given some tips	6- All vegetables and fruit should be washed…
3- I was told that…	7- A good collection of books should be taken…
4- I was advised about	8- I wasn't told much about the people.

Exercise 6: Turn the underlined sentence parts into the active:

(1) A woman was abducted from work in front of her female colleagues and (2) she was forced to drive eight miles by a man who burst into the office claiming (3)he was owed money. (4) She was made to drive him from the unnamed company in Belvedere, south-east London, to Charlton. (5) His victim, in her forties, was then forced out of her Fiat Punto, (6) which was recovered by the police last night. Sergeant Ian Harris said: "It is essential (7) this should be traced. (8) He should be arrested as soon as possible".

Active
1- A man abducted a woman from work...	5-He then forced his victim, her forties, out of her Fiat Punto…
2- He forced her to drive eight miles…	6- The police recovered it last night
3- She owed him money.	7- We should trace this man
4-He made her drive him…	8- We should arrest him.