Grammar: Passive Voice (Simple, Continuous and Perfect Tenses); Other cases with the Passive Voice

UNIT 6

Grammar: Passive Voice (Simple, Continuous and Perfect Tenses); Other cases with the Passive Voice.

The Passive Voice

The Passive Voice is used:

1.  when the agent (the person who does the action) is unknown, unimportant or obvious from the context. My bike was stolen yesterday. The thieves have been arrested.

2.  to make statements more polite or formal. My skirt has been burnt. (Not: You've burnt my skirt.)

3.  when the action is more important than the agent – as in news reports, formal notices, instructions, processes, headlines, advertisements etc. Muffins are baked in an oven for about 45 minutes. Taking pictures is not allowed.

4.  to put emphasis on the agent. Macbeth was written by Shakespeare.

We use by + agent to say who or what did the action. We use with + instrument or material to say what instrument or material the agent used. He was asked to go to the blackboard by his English teacher. The cake was made with flour, sugar and eggs. The house was locked by a woman with a key.

We put the agent (person who performs the action) into the passive only if it adds some information. When the agent is unknown, unimportant or obvious from the context, it is omitted. Agents such as: someone, people, I, you etc. are omitted. My pen was taken (by someone).

1.  Complete the following sentences with the correct forms of the verbs in brackets (Present, Past and Future Simple Passive).

A. 1. Jane … (invite) to come to Germany next year. 2. … (foreign languages/ teach) to most students? 3. The movie … (much/ speak) about. 4. He … (say) to be a smart man. 5. How … (this word/ spell)? 6. … (girls/ give) the same opportunities as boys? 7. The streets of Kharkiv … (clean) every day. 8. This room … (usually/ keep) locked. 9. She … (drive) to university by her father five times a week. 10. The Alma Mater concert … (hold) at our university every year.

B. 1. Kate … (not/ tell) about your decision last week. 2. Our lecturer … (always/ listen to) carefully when she gave lectures. 3. The boy … (sometimes/ leave) home alone two months ago. 4. A link to an interesting web-site … (send) to me yesterday. 5. He … (expect) to win the horse-race last Saturday. 6. Daniel's flat … (burgle) when he was on holiday in Turkey. 7. Last year students' conference … (hold) in the main building of our university. 8. Finally, Jenny … (recognize) by her school-mate when they met. 9. … (your puppy/ take) good care of when you took it to the vet? 10. A week ago we … (tell) to be careful with our credit test.

C.  1. Picasso's paintings … (exhibit) at the Picture Gallery next month. 2. The child … (take) to the zoo in a couple of days. 3. The old factory … (close) down soon. 4. Don't worry! We … (not/ see) from here by anyone. 5. When … (the decision/ take)? 6. It's so foggy! I'm afraid the flight to Munich … (delay). 7. … (the work/ do) in half an hour? 8. The decorations … (accomplish) next month. 9. The email … (not/ send) until tomorrow. 10. Tomorrow the zoo… (keep) closed for several hours.

2.  Choose the best alternative in the brackets.

1. There's no doubt that this news … (has much spoken/ was much spoken/ was much being spoken) about last week. 2. The experimental data … (analyzed/ have been analyzed/ were analyzed) two weeks ago. 3. She … (influenced/ is influenced/ had been influenced) by the behaviour of her friends. 4. We all hope that the results of our research … (have not ignored/ will not ignore/ will not be ignored). 5. This data … (is kept/ was kept/ has kept) in a safe place, so nobody will be able to find it. 6. Printing … (invented/ is invented/ was invented) by the Chinese. 7. Foreign languages … (have been taught/ are taught/ are teaching) in every school of Ukraine. 8. Hamlet … (wrote/ was written/ has written) by Shakespeare. 9. This issue is not under consideration today. It … (is discussed/ will be discussed/ was discussed) tomorrow. 10. English and Chinese … (are speaking/ have been spoken/ are spoken) in many countries of the world. 11. This operating system … (was installed/ had been installed/ will be installed) the day before yesterday. 12. Juice … (makes/ has made/ is made) from orange. 13. A bomb … (was placed/ is placed/ will be placed) at the station yesterday. 14. Some trees … (will be planted/ will plant/ were planted) this spring. 15. A new computer class … (will open/ was opened/ is opened) last November