Passive Voice  A sentence can be active or passive. Subject Example Active The doer of the action I drew this picture. Passive The receiver of the action This picture was drawn by me.  Usage -- We use the passive voice: 1. to put emphasis on the receiver of an action 2. when we do not know or do not want to mention the doer of an action 3. to make formal or objective statements, 4. to put emphasis on the doer of an action by as in headlines, instructions, signs, etc. putting it at the end Form 1. We put the receiver of the action at the beginning as the subject. The doer of the action can be omitted, or we can mention it after the preposition by. Subject Verb By Doer Tense A mouse was caught (by the mouse trapper) last night. past tense The results will be announced (by the Student Union) next week. future tense Ivan is scolded (by his class teacher) every day. present tense 2. We use the passive form of a verb to make a passive sentence. Tenses Structures Examples Simple present am / is / are (not) + p.p. The plants are watered every day. Simple past was / were (not) + p.p. A book fair was held yesterday. Simple future will / shall (not) + p.p. The problems will be solved later. 3. When a verb contains a modal or is formed by one of the following structures, we form the passive by putting be + past participle (p.p.) after the modal or to. The active voice The passive voice modal (can, could, may, might, should, must, etc.)  We should keep the environment clean.  Students cannot bring video games to school.  The environment should be kept clean.  Video games cannot be brought to school. have to / has to / had to  You have to submit the application form by today.  The application form has to be submitted by today. 4. We change the pronouns when changing a sentence from the active voice to passive voice. The active voice The passive voice  Christy is a clever girl. Many teachers like her.  Christy is a clever girl. She is liked by many teachers.  I tidy the house every day.  The house is tidied by me every day. Be careful: Active or Passive ?? Exercise 1: Reading Exercise 2: Matching + Circling Exercise 3: Rewriting Change the following into the passive voice. 1. Jenny wrote the book. → This book _________________ by Jenny. 2. Columbus discovered America. → America ___________________ by Columbus. 3. Tim cleans the kitchen every night. → The kitchen ____________________ by Tim every night. 4. Eric will return the book to you soon. → The book _____________________ to you __________________ soon. 5. I water the plants daily. → The plants _______________________ by me daily. 6. We solved the problems. → The problems _____________________ by us. 7. I will hand in the homework later. → The homework ______________________ in later. 8. Minnie feeds the cats every morning. → The cats _________________________ by Minnie every morning. 9. A dog bit Johnny yesterday. → Johnny __________________________ by a dog yesterday. 10. The manager has to keep these → These documents _______________________ documents confidential. ____________ confidential by the manager. Exercise 4: Blanks Look at the signs below. Complete the descriptions by using the present passive form of the verbs in brackets. The first one has been done as an example. Exercise 5: Rewriting Rewrite the sentences in the passive voice. You need not mention the doer. 1. You should return the books to the library on time. The books should be returned to the library on time. 2. The Observatory may hoist Typhoon Signal No. 8 later. ___________________________________________________________________________ 3. We must not bring mobile phones to school. ___________________________________________________________________________ 4. The police arrested a lot of bad guys last night. ___________________________________________________________________________ 5. You should not take the medicine more than four times a day. ___________________________________________________________________________ 6. We will hand in the English project later. ___________________________________________________________________________ 7. People can buy books online. ___________________________________________________________________________ 8. I clean my bedroom every morning. ___________________________________________________________________________ Exercise 6: Blanks Mr Wong, the Discipline Head, is telling the students about the school rules. Look at the pictures. Then fill in the blanks with the given verbs and the words in the brackets. Exercise 7: News Report Jimmy is a reporter for the school newspaper. He is writing about one of his schoolmates who was injured in a home accident. Help him complete the news report using the given words in the active or the passive voice and in the appropriate tenses. Happy Secondary School Newsletter Oct 2008 Form 3 Student Hurt in Home Accident A Form 3 student, Lam, slipped and fell at home last month. His arm 1. was broken (break) so he had to stay in hospital for a week. The accident 2. _________________ (happen) when Lam and his sister were doing the housework. He 3. ______________________ (clean) the windows while his sister was mopping the floor in the bathroom. The youngsters 4. _____________ always __________________ (remind) by their mum that they should not go inside the bathroom until the floor is dry. However, they never listen to her. Right after his sister 5. ___________________ (finish) mopping the floor, Lam went to the bathroom to wash his hands. As soon as he 6. _______________ (step) into the bathroom, he slipped and fell. He screamed and his sister 7. _______________ (call) the police immediately. Ten minutes later, an ambulance 8. __________________ (arrive). Lam 9. ___________________ (take) to the hospital. He 10. _________________ (advise) to stay in hospital for a week because of the broken arm. Lam has left the hospital and is 11. _______________________ (look after) (his mum). It 12. ____________________ (believe) that he can go to school in two weeks.