Form of the passive: be (in the main tense) + past participle(of the verb).
Exemple: s v o
ACTIVE : (a) Mary helped the boy.
s v
PASSIVE : (b) The boy was helped by Mary.
In the passive, the object of an active verb becomes thesubject of the passive verb:
" the boy " in (a) becomes the subject of the passive verb in (b). (a) and (b) have the same meaning.
NOTE:
Only transitive verbs (verbs that are followed by an object ) are used in the passive. It is not possible to use verbs such as happen, sleep, come and seem (intransitive verbs) in the passive.
Exemple:
ACTIVE : (c) An accident happened.
PASSIVE : (d)(none)
II) FORRMING THE PASSIVE :
Active | Passive | |
Simple present | Mary helps John. | John is helped by Mary. |
Present progressive | Mary is helping John. | John is being helped by Mary. |
Present perfect | Mary has helped John. | John has been helped by Mary. |
Simple past | Mary helped John. | John was helped by Mary. |
Past progressive | Mary was helping John. | John was being helped by Mary. |
Past perfect. | Mary had helped John. | John had been helped by Mary. |
Simple future | Mary will help John. | John will be helped by Mary. |
be going to | Mary is going to help John. | John is going to be helped by Mary. |
Future perfect * | Mary will have helped John. | John will have been helped by Mary. |
Present perfect progressi. | Mary has been helping John. | John has been being helped by Mary. |
Past perfect progressive. | Mary had been helping John. | John had been being helped by Mary. |
Future perfect | Mary will have helped John. | John will have been helped by Mary. |
Ø The progressive forms of the present perfect, past perfect, future, and future perfect are very rarely used in the passive
III) USING THE PASSIVE :
Usually the passive is used without a “byphrase”. The passive is most frequently used when it is not known or not important to know exactly who performs an action.
Exemples :
☞ Rice is grown in
☞ Our house was built in 1890.
☞ This olive oil was imported from
Exemple :
☞ Life on the
IV) INDIRECT OBJECTS USED AS PASSIVE SUBJECTS :
Either an indirect object or direct object may become the subject of a passive sentence. When the direct object becomes the subject, to is usually used in front of the indirect object*.
Exemples :
(a) Someone gave Mrs. Lee an award.
(b) Mrs. Lee was given an award.
(c) Someone gave an award to Mrs. Lee.
(d) An award was given to Mrs. Lee.
NOTE: The omission of to is more common in British English than American English:
V) THE PASSIVE FORM OF MODALS AND SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS* :
(a) Tom will be invited to the picnic.
(b) The window can't be opened.
(c) Children should be taught to respect their elders.
(d) May I be excused from class?
(e) This book had better be returned to the library before Friday.
(f) This letter ought to be sent before July 1st.
(g) Mary has to be told about our change in plans.
(h)Fred is supposed to be told about the meeting
THE PAST PASSIVE FORM :
modal+ have been + past participle
Exemples :
(i) The letter should have been sent last week.
(j) This house must have been built over 200 years ago.
(k)Jack ought to have been invited to the party.
(b) You shouldn't eat so much. You'll get fat.
(c) I stopped working because I gotsleepy.
NOTE:
Getmay be followed by certain adjectives. Getmay also be followed by a past participle. The Past Participle functions as an adjective; it describes the subject
The passive with get is common in spoken English but is often not appropriate in formal writing.
Exemples :
(d) I stopped working because I gottired.
(e) They are gettingmarried next month.
STATIVE PASSIVE :
The passive form may be used to describe an existing situation or state, as. No action is taking place. The action happened before. There is no “by phrase The past participle functions as an adjective.
I locked the door five minutes ago.
The door was locked by me five minutes ago.
The window was broken by Ann, (i) Now the window is broken.
