© Oxford University Press THE PASSIVE VOICE 1) FOCUSING ON THE PATIENT /ACTION Active Someone stole my car AGENT verb PATIENT Passive PATIENT TO BE + past participle AGENT (If relevant= BY…) My car WAS stolen Edward Smith stole the car The car was stolen by Edward Smith, who was arrested yesterday….

© Oxford University Press 2) DESCRIBING PROCESSES People produce tea in India Tea is produced in India 3) REPORTING IMPERSONALLY People think that education is important Education is thought to be important 4) “SI PASSIVANTE” The tower can be seen from here English is spoken in this shop THE PASSIVE VOICE

© Oxford University Press The object of an active verb becomes the subject of a passive verb. ActiveDa Vinci painted the Mona Lisa. PassiveThe Mona Lisa was painted by Da Vinci. Change the sentence to the passive. Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg. The passive Object Notice the use of by in the passive. Subject

© Oxford University Press The passive is not just another way of expressing the same sentence in the active. We choose the active or the passive depending on what we are more interested in. Velcro was invented in George de Mestral invented Velcro. Note Someone stole my camera yesterday. My camera was stolen yesterday. NOT My camera was stolen by someone. The subject of the active sentence is not mentioned in the passive sentence if it is unknown or not really important. The passive (We are interested in Velcro.) (We are interested in the inventor.)

© Oxford University Press We form the passive like this: Nissan cars are made in Japan. The Da Vinci code was written in My car has been stolen! I haven’t been invited to the party. The project will be finished tomorrow. Smoking shouldn’t be allowed inside. The passive Present Past Present Perfect will modal + passive infinitive Present Past Present Perfect will + -ed (past participle) am/is/are was/were has/have been will be

© Oxford University Press Use The rules for tense usage in the passive are the same as in the active. Present Simple: The hotel rooms are cleaned daily. Past Simple: The project was finished last week. Present Perfect: It’s been produced since The passive (habit) (a finished action in the past) (an action which began in the past and continues to the present)

© Oxford University Press We give short answers like this: Is English spoken in your country? Has the money been spent? Was the car repaired? Make the sentences in the passive. 1 When / the radio / invent? 2 Where / BMW cars / make? 3 This dress / never / wear. 4 His name / will / not / forget. The passive Yes, it is./No, it isn’t. Yes, it has./No, it hasn’t. Yes, it was./No, it wasn’t. When was the radio invented? Where are BMW cars made? This dress has never been worn. His name will not be forgotten.

© Oxford University Press THE PASSIVE CONTINUOUS They are buiding a new mall With verbs with fixed prepositions Someone paid for your coffee A new mall IS BEING built Your coffee was paid for

© Oxford University Press PASSIVE WITH DOUBLE OBJECY VERBS They offered me a good job 1)A good job was offered to me 2)I was offered a good Double object verbs: ask, show tell lend send, order - Someone told me (that) Sam has been sacked I was told (that) Sam … -They asked Mary to work overtime -Mary was asked to work overtime

© Oxford University Press PASSIVE FOR REPORTING OPINIONS AND RUMOURS They say that Mark is a qualified employee 1)It is said that Mark is a qualified employee ( focus on general opinion, indefinite rumour) 2) Mark is said TO BE a qualified employee (focus on Mark) Everybody thinks that Mark was sacked 3)It is thought that mark was sacked 4) Mark is thought TO HAVE BEEN sacked. (perfect infinitive)