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FCEby Matifmarin GRAMMAR – UNIT 10

The Passive Voice

Read the following sentence.1. People say that he is a very good actor.

●Do you think it is possible to change this sentence into the passive? -Yes, it is!! And it’s called “INFINITIVE PASSIVE”

→ He is said to be a good actor. (NOT That he is a good actor is said by people.)

2. They say apples are good for health. (Active) → Apples are said to be good for health. (Passive) 3. They believe he is very rich. (Active)→ He is believed to be very rich. (Passive)

4. They say she is a very interesting woman. (Active)→ She is said to be a very interesting woman. (Passive)

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FCEby Matifmarin

STRUCTURE

GRAMMAR – UNIT 101. The Passive infinitive

1. People say / It is said that he is a very good doctor.

He to beis said a very good doctor.

passive + infinitive

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FCEby Matifmarin

STRUCTURE

GRAMMAR – UNIT 101.1. The Passive infinitive

2. They say / It is said that apples are good for health.

Apples to beare said good for health.

passive + infinitive

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FCEby Matifmarin

STRUCTURE

GRAMMAR – UNIT 101.1. The Passive infinitive

3. They believe he is very rich.

He to beis believed very rich.

passive + infinitive

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FCEby Matifmarin

STRUCTURE

GRAMMAR – UNIT 101.1. The Passive infinitive

4. They say / It is said that she is a very interesting woman.

She to beis said a very interesting woman.

passive + infinitive

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FCEby Matifmarin

1.1. The Passive infinitive

GRAMMAR – UNIT 10

□ SUMMARY: Passive verb + infinitive with to:● We often use an infinitive (to be) or a perfect infinitive (to have + past participle) in passive constructions

with the following verbs: believe, consider, expect, fear, feel, find, intend, know, report, say, think, understand. → This is to avoid an impersonal they or people:

□ Peter is said to be intolerant. (People say Peter is intolerant)

□ He was considered to be a good worker. (They considered he was a good worker)

□ He’s believed to have spent two years in hospital. (They believe he spent two years in hospital).

It’s said…/ it’s known…/ It’s reported…etc.:● We can use it + a passive verb + a that clause to talk about what people in general say or think of feel about a situation. It can be used with these verbs: agree, announce, decide, expect, fear, feel, find, hope, intend, know, mention, regret, report, say, suggest, think, understand.

Example:□ It’s thought that there are over 2 million old people.

(=There are thought to be over 2 million old people.)

□ It’s often said that this is one of society’s biggest problems. (=This is often said to be one of the society’s biggest problems.)

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FCEby Matifmarin GRAMMAR – UNIT 10

□ Passives constructions with the infinitive are often used:

(1) When we want to give information to somebody but we don’t know whether the information is true or not.

(2) We wish to keep the source of the information secret.

□ COMMON VERBS USED for the PASSIVE INFINITIVE: think, believe, report, consider, know, say, expect + the infinitive:

Examples:- The politician is thought to be corrupt.

- The politician is believed to have embezzled public funds.

- The pilot is said to have sent an SOS message before the plane disappeared from the radar screen.

1.1. The Passive infinitive

USE

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FCEby Matifmarin GRAMMAR – UNIT 10

Passive Infinitive Exercise

□ Change the following sentences into the passive infinitive following the examples above:

1. They say that she is a strict teacher. [present simple –present simple]

2. People believe that he is in favour of communism. [present simple –present simple]

3. The police reported that he had stolen the jewels. [past simple –past perfect]

4. Experts expect that this drug will be a remedy for cancer. [present simple –future simple]

5. We all know that smoking causes cancer. [present simple –present simple]

6. They told us not to come back. [past simple – infinitive]

7. They did not allow the children to visit their father in prison. [past simple – infinitive]

8. People thought he had committed the crime. [past simple – past perfect]

9. They believe she was taking drugs. [present simple – past simple continuous]

10. They reported the little child had got lost in crowd. [past simple – past perfect]

1.1. The Passive infinitive

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FCEby Matifmarin GRAMMAR – UNIT 10

Answer

1. She is said to be a strict teacher.2. He is believed to be in favour of communism.3. He was reported to have stolen the jewels.4. This drug is expected to be a remedy for cancer.5. Cancer is known to be caused by smoking. 6. We were told not to come back.7. The children were not allowed to visit their father in prison.8. He was thought to have committed the crime. 9. She is believed to have been taking drugs.10. The little child was reported to have got lost in the crowd.

1.1. The Passive infinitive

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FCEby Matifmarin GRAMMAR – UNIT 10

2. The Passive Voice

(a) Form: The passive is formed with the appropriate tense of the verb ‘to be’ (am/is/are; being; was/were; being have/has been; had been; will be; will have been) and the Past Participle of the main verb (done/cleaned/seen …)

(b) Uses: We use the passive voice when we don’t want to say or don’t know who/what does the action or it isn’t as important as what is done, or who / what does the action is obvious.

active Adam ate the apple.

passive The apple was eaten by Adam.

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FCEby Matifmarin GRAMMAR – UNIT 10

1. The Passive Voice

Examples with the main forms (present, past and perfect):

(1)Active: Maids clean the hotel rooms. → verb tense = present simple subject object = plural

(1.1)Passive: The hotel rooms are cleaned (by maids) subject agent

‘are cleaned’ is the passive form of the present simple.

(2)Active: Maids cleaned the hotel rooms. → verb tense = past simple subject object = plural

(2.1)Passive: The hotel rooms were cleaned (by maids) Subject agent

‘were cleaned’ is the passive form of the past simple.

object

object

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FCEby Matifmarin GRAMMAR – UNIT 10

1. The Passive Voice

(3)Active: Maids have cleaned the hotel rooms. → verb tense = present perfect subject object = plural

object

(3.1)Passive: The hotel rooms have been cleaned (by maids) Subject agent

‘have been cleaned’ is the passive form of the present perfect.

(4)Active: Maids had cleaned the hotel rooms. → verb tense = past perfect (pretérito pluscuamperfecto)

subject object = plural (had = plural and singular)object

(4.1)Passive: The hotel rooms had been cleaned (by maids) Subject agent

‘had been cleaned’ is the passive form of the past perfect.

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FCEby Matifmarin GRAMMAR – UNIT 10

1. The Passive Voice

□ Uses: We use the passive voice when we don’t know who/what does the action or it isn’t as important as what is done, or who / what does the action is obvious:

□ There are four steps to make a passive sentence: active sample sentence: Adam ate the apple. [past simple]

1 - The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence (It’s the person, animal or thing that receives the action, in our example “the apple”)) 2. Think about the time of the action and write the correct form of the verb to be (is, are, was, were …), it can be (present, past, etc. in our example the tense in the active voice is the past simple “Adam ate”, so the verb to be

becomes “was” in the passive voice). Check the table on next pages.

3. Now, we have to write the past participle of the main verb, in our example “eat” past simple “ate” and past participle “eaten”. So, we have: “The apple was eaten”

[patient subject] [past simple passive]

4. If you want to point out who / what does the action, write it at the end of the sentence followed by thepreposition by, it’s called the agent. And “et voilà” we have it: “The apple was eaten” by Adam

[patient subject] [past simple passive] [agent]

Adam’s apple

Have you ever asked yourself why weren’t girls given an Eve’s apple?

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Activity:Who kisses who(m)? Express it using the passive voice:

FCEby Matifmarin GRAMMAR – UNIT 10

1. The Passive Voice

DOER

RECEIVER

DOERRECEIVER

Peter

Mary

John

Sharon

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FCEby Matifmarin GRAMMAR – UNIT 10

1. The Passive Voice

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE TENSES CHARTSIMPLE PRESENT and SIMPLE PAST

The active object becomes the passive subject. am/is/are +  past participle was/were + past participle

Active: Present simple This film fascinates me. The film bores John. The film surprises them.

Passive: Simple Present I am fascinated by this film. John is bored by the film. They are surprised by the film.

Active: Simple Past The film bored me. The film fascinated Jack. The film surprised them.

Passive: Simple Past I was bored by the film. John was fascinated by the film. They were surprised by the film.

PRESENT and PAST CONTINUOUS (PROGRESSIVE) Passive form: 

am/is/are + being + past participle was/were + being + past participle

Active: Present Continuous I am helping Sharon. June is helping Jane and Tony.

 Passive: Present Continuous Sharon is being helped by me. Jane and Tony are being helped by June.

Active: Past Continuous I was cleaning the bathroom. They were cleaning the bedroom. Susan was cleaning the kitchen and balcony.

Passive: Past Continuous The bathroom was being cleaned by me. The bedroom  was being cleaned by them. The kitchen and the balcony were being cleaned by Susan.

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FCEby Matifmarin GRAMMAR – UNIT 10

1. The Passive Voice

PRESENT PERFECT, PAST PERFECT and FUTURE PERFECT Passive form: 

have/has been + past participle had been + past participle

Active: Present Perfect I have sent the present. John has sent the letters.

Passive: Present Perfect The present has been sent by me. The letters have been sent by John.

Active: Past Perfect Steven Spielberg had directed the film. Robert Reford had directed those films.

Passive: Past Perfect The film had been directed by Steven Spielberg. The films had been directed by Robert Reford.

Active: Future Perfect John will have finished the project next month. They will have finished the projects before then.

Passive: Future Perfect The project will have been finished by next month. The projects will have been finished before then.

FUTURE TENSES Passive forms: will + be + past participle

is/are going to be + past participle

Active: Future with WILL I will send the present. John will send the letters.

Passive: Future with WILL The present will be sent by me. The letters will be sent by John.

Active: Future with GOING TO I am going to make the cake. June is going to make two cakes.

Passive: Future with GOING TO The cake is going to be made by me. Two cakes are going to be made by June.

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FCEby Matifmarin 1. The Passive Voice

PRESENT / FUTURE MODALS The passive form follows this pattern:

modal + be + past participle

Active: WILL / WON'T (WILL NOT) Sharon will invite Tom to the party. Sharon won't invite Jeff to the party. (Sharon will not invite Jeff to the party.)

Passive: WILL / WON'T (WILL NOT) Tom will be invited to the party by Sharon. Jeff won't be invited to the party by Sharon. (Jeff will not be invited to the party by Sharon.)

Active: CAN / CAN'T (CAN NOT) Mai can foretell the future. Terry can't foretell the future. (Terry can not foretell the future.)

Passive: CAN / CAN'T (CAN NOT) The future can be foretold by Mai. The future can't be foretold by Terry. (The future can not be foretold by Terry.)

Active: MAY / MAY NOT Her company may give Katya a new office. The lazy students may not do the homework. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT Her company might give Katya a new office. The lazy students might not do the homework.

Passive: MAY / MAY NOT Katya may be given a new office by her company. The homework may not be done by the lazy students. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT Katya might be given a new office by her company. The homework might not be done by the lazy students.

Active: SHOULD / SHOULDN'T Students should memorize English verbs. Children shouldn't smoke cigarettes.

Passive: SHOULD / SHOULDN'T English verbs should be memorized by students. Cigarettes shouldn't be smoked by children.

Active: OUGHT TO Students ought to learn English verbs. (negative ought to is rarely used)

Passive: OUGHT TO English verbs ought to be memorized by students.

Active: HAD BETTER / HAD BETTER NOT Students had better practice English every day. Children had better not drink whiskey.

Passive: HAD BETTER / HAD BETTER NOT English had better be practiced every day by students. Whiskey had better not be drunk by children.

Active: MUST / MUST NOT Tourists must apply for a passport to travel abroad. Customers must not use that door.

Passive: MUST / MUST NOT A passport to travel abroad must be applied for. That door must not be used by customers.

Active: HAS TO / HAVE TO She has to practice English every day. Sara and Miho have to wash the dishes every day. DOESN'T HAVE TO/ DON'T HAVE TO Maria doesn't have to clean her bedroom every day. The children don't have to clean their bedrooms every day.

Passive: HAS TO / HAVE TO English has to be practiced every day. The dishes have to be washed by them every day. DOESN'T HAVE TO/ DON'T HAVE TO Her bedroom doesn't have to be cleaned every day. Their bedrooms don't have to be cleaned every day.

Active: BE SUPPOSED TO I am supposed to type the composition. I am not supposed to copy the stories in the book. Janet is supposed to clean the living room. She isn't supposed to eat candy and gum. They are supposed to make dinner for the family. They aren't supposed to make dessert.

Passive: BE SUPPOSED TO The composition is supposed to be typed by me. The stories in the book are not supposed to be copied. The living room is supposed to be cleaned by Janet. Candy and gum aren't supposed to be eaten by her. Dinner for the family is supposed to be made by them. Dessert isn't supposed to be made by them.

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FCEby Matifmarin 1. The Passive Voice

PAST MODALS The past passive form follows this pattern:

modal + have been + past participle

Active: SHOULD HAVE / SHOULDN'T HAVE The students should have learned the verbs. The children shouldn't have broken the window.

Passive: SHOULD HAVE / SHOULDN'T HAVE The verbs should have been learned by the students. The window shouldn't have been broken by the children.

Active: OUGHT TO Students ought to have learned the verbs. (negative ought to is rarely used)

Passive: OUGHT TO The verbs ought to have been learned by the students.

Active: BE SUPPOSED TO (past time) I was supposed to type the composition. I wasn't supposed to copy the story in the book. Janet was supposed to clean the living room. She wasn't supposed to eat candy and gum. Frank and Jane were supposed to make dinner. They weren't supposed to make dessert.

Passive: BE SUPPOSED TO (past time) The composition was supposed to be typed  by me. The story in the book wasn't supposed to be copied. The living room was supposed to be cleaned by Janet. Candy and gum weren't supposed to be eaten by her. Dinner was supposed to be made by them. Dessert wasn't supposed to be made by them.

Active: MAY / MAY NOT That firm may have offered Katya a new job. The students may not have written the paper. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT That firm might have offered Katya a new job. The students might not have written the paper.

Passive: MAY / MAY NOT Katya may have been offered a new job by that firm. The paper may not have been written by the students. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT Katya might have been offered a new job by that firm. The paper might not have been written by the students.

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FCEby Matifmarin

GRAMMAR – UNIT 10

1. The Passive Voice REMEMBER: The verb “be” is changed according to the tense of the sentence and the number (singular/plural) of the subject of the passive sentence.

Now, say the sentences about these images using the passive voice:

Antoni GaudiGustave Eiffel

Miguel de Cervantes William Shakespeare

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FCEby Matifmarin GRAMMAR – UNIT 10

3. 'Didn't need to' + infinitive vs 'needn't have' + past pasticiple

Didn’t need to + infinitive.

Needn’t have + past participle.

□ Study the following examples: 

Nathaly was perfectly familiar with our teamwork, so she didn't need to spend much time in training.  She started immediately. 

  I included some pictures for my explanations, but I needn't have done this as you already know how it works.  

→ 'didn't need to' means that it wasn't necessary, so it wasn't done. 

→ 'needn't have done' means that it was done, but it wasn't necessary. 

REMEMBER THE STRUCTURE:

[+] You need to learn irregular verbs by heart.

[ - ] You don't need to learn regular verbs by heart. →You don't need to do it = You needn't do it. (needn't + bare infinitive)

•It's the same in the past: She didn't need to do it = She needn't have done it. Both could be followed by either So she didn't or But she did.

(1) She didn't need to do it, so she didn't do it.

(2) She needn't have done it, but she did it.

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FCEby Matifmarin 'Didn't need to' vs ‘Needn't have'

EXERCISE

Choose one of the two forms (a) or (b) to fill in the gaps: 'didn't need to do' or 'needn't have done'.

1. When I joined the group at the new branch, I had been working as a manager for 3 years in the company, so I ___________ time becoming operational. (a) didn't need to waste  (b) needn't have wasted 

2. On my first day, Martina invited me to meet the other team managers in her division.  She ___________ that, of course, as I knew them all quite well already.  (a) didn't need to do  (b) needn't have done 

3. Before accepting the job, I was a bit anxious about taking on so much responsibility; but soon after I had begun working full time with the team, I realized that I __________________. (a) didn't need to worry  (b) needn't have worried  

4. My students were very competent from the start. They ______________ more than occasional direction from me, once I had explained the objectives and set out the methodology.  (a) needn't have received  (b) didn't need to receive 

5. In the end, the course contents were carried out successfully.  In fact, It turns out that we ______________ so quickly as we finished all units before the deadline.  (a) didn't need to work  (b) needn't have worked 

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FCEby Matifmarin GRAMMAR – UNIT 10

ANSWER

1. When I joined the group at the new branch, I had been working as a manager for 3 years in the company, so I didn't need to waste time becoming operational.

2. On my first day, Martina invited me to meet the other team managers in her division.  She needn't have done that, of course, as I knew them all quite well already.

3. Before accepting the job, I was a bit anxious about taking on so much responsibility; but soon after I had begun working full time with the team, I realized that I needn't have worried.

4. My students were very competent from the start. They didn't need to receive more than occasional direction from me, once I had explained the objectives and set out the methodology.

5. In the end, the course contents were carried out successfully. In fact, It turns out that we needn't have worked so quickly all units before the deadline. 

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