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The Passive

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Sample sentences

The window was broken last night.

Our IT system is being renewed at the

moment.

A loan can be arranged within six days.

Interest rates were raised by 1%.

I have been offered a new job. A new job has been offered to me.

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We use the passive:

1. When who does the action i s no t impor tant . The new design hasnt been chosen.

2. When who does the actionis clear from thesi tuat ion:

I was being asked some difficult questions at the

interview.

3. When who does the actionis unknown:

The window was broken last night.

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Passive can be formed ONLY with

transitive verbs those that have anOBJECT

Someone is walking in the street.-NO OBJECT

Somebody damaged in transit.

the goods

OBJECT

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ACTIVE PASSIVE

ACTIVE: Subject Object

speak .

PASSIVE:

Mexicans Spanish

is spoken in Mexico.

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ACTIVE PASSIVE

Subject Object

founded .

by .

Richard Branson Virgin Records

was founded

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Form:

TO BE + past participle

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Steps in making an active sentences passive:

Adam Smith wroteThe Wealth of Nations. (active)

Find the object of the active sentence. Put the object at the beginning of the passive sentence.

Put the verb TO BE in the tense of the main verb of the activesentence.

Add past participle of the main verb of the active sentence Add BY + subject of the active sentence (if necessary)

1. The Wealth of Nations

2. The Wealth of Nations3. was (because ofWROTE)

4. written

5. by Adam Smith.

The Wealth of Nations was written by Adam Smith. (passive)

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ACTIVE PASSIVE

Subject Object

wrote .

by

Romeo and Juliet was written by Shakespeare.

Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet

was written

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ACTIVE PASSIVE

Subject Object

is shipping next week.

next week by

The goods are being shipped next week by our supplier.

Our supplier the goods

are being shipped

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ACTIVE PASSIVE

Subject Object

will not finish by next month.

by next month.

The project wont be finished by next month.

They the project

wont be finished

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ACTIVE PASSIVE

Subject Object

can arrange within six days.

within six days.

A loan can be arranged within six days.

We a loan

can be arranged

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Verbs with two objects

They promised

give, lend, offer, promise, sell, send, take smth. to smbd.

book, buy, keep, make, prepare, save smth. forsmbd.

me a better salary.

indirect object direct object

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ACTIVE PASSIVE

Subject Indirect object Direct object

offered

1.

I was offered a new job.

2.

A new job was offered to me.

They mea new job

was offered

I was offered

meto

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ACTIVE PASSIVE

Subject Indirect object Direct object

gave

1.

We were given a large order.

2.

A large orderwas given to us.

They usa large order

was given

We were given

usto

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THE PASSIVE: USES

If we want to mention who performs theaction we can use a phrase beginning withby:

The decision was taken by the comm ittee.

The missing file has been foundby one ofthe c leaners.

The goods are being shipped next week byou r supp l ier in China.

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THE PASSIVE: USES

Active or passive: If it is important to saywho performs an action, we can use theactive or we can use the passive and theword by:

ACTIVE: Peter Franks runs the MarketingDepartment.

PASSIVE: The Marketing Department isrun by Peter Franks.

Both of these sentences are correct.

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THE PASSIVE: USES

If we were already talking about Peter Franks,

we would probably use the active:

Peter Franks is an old colleague of mine. He

works for Butterfield International, and he runs

the Marketing Department.

If we were talking about the Marketing

Department, we would probably use the passive:

The Marketing Department is a large and very

successful division that employs over 100

people. It is run by Peter Franks.

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THE PASSIVE: USES

Systems and processes

The passive is often used to talk about

systems and processes, because weare more concerned with the process

itself than who carries it out. For

example, here is a description of thewine-making process:

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Wine is made from the fermented juice of grapes. Grapes are picked

at optimum sugar/acidity levels. After picking, the grapes are taken to

the winery, de-stemmed and crushed in a variety of presses. The

juice is then clarified by settling or by centrifuge, yeast and sugarare

added and the wine is left to ferment in tanks. When fermentation isfinished the wine is poured into a clean tank to stabilise. It can then

be filtered and bottled and left to mature.

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ActivePassive Thank you for your order for

Pcplus software which wereceived this morning. Ourteam is dealing with yourorder, and we expect that wewill deliver the package to

you within 10 working days. Ihave included our currentprice list as an attachment.Please note we onlyguarantee these prices until

31 December. Thank you forchoosing soft.com.

Thank you for your

order for Pcplussoftware which wasreceived this morning.

Your orderis beingdealt with by our team

and we expect that thepackage will bedelivered to you within10 working days.

Our current price list

has been included asan attachment.

Please note that theseprices are guaranteeduntil 31 December.