THE PASSIVE
Aims: to learn and practice the use and structure
of passive sentences
REWRITE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES
USING THE WORDS GIVEN IN BOLD
People make the best cars in Japan.
MADE
______________________________________
 The police arrested him yesterday.
WAS
_______________________________________
 They will open a new post office.
OPENED
_______________________________________

REWRITE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES
USING THE WORDS GIVEN IN BOLD
People make the best cars in Japan.
MADE
The best cars are made in Japan.
 The police arrested him yesterday.
WAS
He was arrested yesterday.
 They will open a new post office.
OPENED
A new post office will be opened.

THE PASSIVE = TO BE + 3RD COLUMN
Example:
People make the best cars in Japan.
S
O
The best cars are made in Japan.
to be 3rd column
USE
We use the Passive when:
 We don’t know or care who the ‘doer’ of the action is/was.
The press conference will be held in the hotel lobby.
 When the ‘doer’ is obvious.
The ceremony was reported in the news last night.
 When the action itself is more important than who
does/did it.
Hundreds of people are attacked in the streets every day.
 Sometimes we also use the passive to put more emphasis
(da istaknemo) on the ‘doer’ of the action. We add
‘BY+NOUN’ at the end of the sentence to say who the
‘doer’ is/was.
Manchester United were beaten by AC Milan.
PASSIVE VOICE IS OFTEN USED IN SCIENTIFIC
ARTICLES. LOOK AT THESE EXAMPLES:
Active: We used the female cell line, W9, to evaluate
cell growth in the presence of the growth factor.
 Passive: The female cell line W9 was used to
evaluate cell growth in the presence of growth factor.

Active: We cultured the cells for 48 hours in media
that we modified with 78, 80, 90, and 110 ng/mL BMP.
 Passive: Cells were cultured for 48 hours in media
modified with 78, 80, 90, and 110 ng/mL BMP.

FORM → TO BE + 3RD COLUMN
Present Simple
Active: Somebody regularly steals cars in this area.
Passive: Cars are regularly stolen in this area.
 Past Simple
Active: He submitted the report last Monday.
Passive: The report was submitted last Monday.
 Present Continuous
Active: They are writing the book now.
Passive: The book is being written now.
 Past Continuous
Active: They were renovating buildings when I was
there last.
Passive: The buildings were being renovated when I was
there last.

Present Perfect
Active: They have offered me a new position.
Passive: I have been offered a new position.
 Past Perfect
Active: She had booked the hotel before.
Passive: The hotel had been booked before.
 Will
Active: I will give her the money.
Passive: She will be given the money.
 Can
Active: Someone can easily do it.
Passive: It can easily be done.
 Be going to
Active: They are going to cancel the trip.
Passive: The trip is going to be cancelled.

EXERCISE 9
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
has just been offered
was reported
will be replaced
had been voted
is being published
shouldn’t be watched …. are shown…
are being watched
EXERCISE 10
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The driver was fined for speeding.
She has been sent lots of birthday cards this year.
The lights went out when the meal was being served.
The prime minister was asked a lot of difficult
questions.
I haven’t been told what to do.
He was being followed until he got to the office.
MAKE SENTENCES BASED ON THE CUES. SOME SENTENCES CAN
ONLY BE PASSIVE, SOME ONLY ACTIVE AND SOME CAN BE BOTH.
DECIDE WHAT TENSE YOU NEED TO USE.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Mona Lisa – paint – in
the 15th century
John Lennon – kill – in
New York
Alexander Bell – invent
– the telephone
South America – invade
– in the 16th century
Potatoes – eat – in
Europe and America
Penicillin – discover –
150 years ago
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Steven Spielberg – direct
– E.T.
Chopin – bring up – in
Poland
Gorillas – live – in
African jungle
The Beatles – sing –
Yesterday
Odyssey – write – in
ancient Greece
Millions of people – die –
during World War II