LAFEXERCISES8

Lesson Eight : The Passive

1. Use: When we use the passive, who or what causes the action is not known or not important.

Ex: Is your classroom cleaned every day? (It isn’t important who)

2. Form: The passive of an active tense is formed by putting the verb to be into the same tense as the active verb and adding the past participle of the active verb.

Ex: My parents built this house in 1976 = This house was built by my parents in 1976.

See this table of active tenses and their passive equivalents.

Present simple	Nafi helps Fatou	Fatou is helped by Nafi
Present continuous	Nafi is helping Fatou	Fatou is being helped by Nafi
Past simple	Nafi helped Fatou	Fatou was helped by Nafi
Past continuous	Nafi was helping Fatou	Fatou was being helped by Nafi
Present perfect	Nafi has helped Fatou	Fatou has been helped by Nafi
Past perfect	Nafi had helped Fatou	Fatou had been helped by Nafi
Future	Nafi will help Fatou	Fatou will be helped by Nafi
Be going to	Nafi is going to help Fatou	Fatou is going to be helped by..
Conditional	Nafi would help Fatou	Fatou would be helped by
Perfect conditional	Nafi would have helped Fatou	Fatou would have been helped..
Present infinitive	To help	To be helped
Perfect infinitive	To have helped	To have been helped
Present participle/gerund	Helping	Being helped
Perfect participle	Having helped	Having been helped
Must	Nafi must help Fatou	Fatou must be helped by Nafi
Should	Nafi should help Fatou	Fatou should be helped by Nafi
May	Nafi may help Fatou	Fatou may be helped by Nafi

*The continuous forms of the present perfect, past perfect, future and future perfect are very rarely used in the passive.

Ex: They have/had been repairing the road.

       They will/would be repairing the road.

are not normally put into the passive.

3. Some verbs can have two objects. So it is possible to make two passive sentences.

Give, ask, offer, pay, show, teach, tell.

Ex: They offered me the job= I was offered the job or The job was offered me.

4. When a verb+preposition+object is put into the passive, the preposition will remain after the verb.

Ex: We must write to him = He must be written to.

5. An infinitive placed after a passive verb is normally a full infinitive, that is an infinitive with to.

Ex: The teacher made us work = We were made to work.

Note we say: They let us go = We were let go.

6. Sentences of the type: People say/think/believe/know/consider etc that he is… have two passive forms.

Ex: People say he was a thief/ They say he was a thief =

It is said he was a thief.

He is said to have been a thief.

7. The passive gerund is being + past participle.

Ex: I remember my father taking me to the Stadium.

      I remember being taken to the Stadium by my father.

      I don’t like people telling me what to do.

      I don’t like being told what to do.

Exercise

1. Rewrite the following sentences.

1. People say the company is losing money.

The company……………………………….

2. People say the company lost a lot of money last year.

The company……………………………………………

3. People say the company will lose money this year.

The company……………………………………………

4. They expect that the rainy season will be good.

The rainy season…………………………………………

5. People said he drove through the town at 100 kilometres an hour.

He……………………………………………………………………..

6. People think Amadou robbed a shop a long time ago.

Amadou…………………………………………………..

7. People say he has kicked a student.

He……………………………………………………………………….

8. Somebody accused me of stealing money.

I…………………………………………………………………………

9. How do people learn languages?

How……………………………………………………………………..?

10. People advised us not go out alone.

We…………………………………………………………………………

2. Put the following sentences in the passive.

11. We saw them go out.
12. Has someone posted my letter?
13. The postman brings the mail to my door.
14. The children make grandmother tell a traditional story.
15. He hasn’t marked our papers.
16. Men used to kill the elephants.
17. They are building new houses in Ngalele.
18. Students waste a lot of time discussing unimportant things.
19. They type the letters in the Internet Room.
20. They are demolishing the old house.
21. You can’t wash this dress.
22. Passengers leave all sorts of things in taxis.
23. They throw away the rubbish.
24. We can’t repair your watch.
25. You need not send this letter.
26. Nobody has used this room for a long time.
27. You shouldn’t keep so much money in the house.
28. They brought the children up in the village.
29. The examiner will read the text three times.
30. Candidates may not use dictionaries.
31. We have to clean the classroom every day.

3. Put the verb into the most suitable passive form.

32. The television (repair). It is working again.
33. The school (restore). The work is almost finished.
34. ‘How old is the school?’ ‘It (believe) to be over 100 years old.’
35. If I didn’t do my job properly I (sack).
36. I learnt to drive when I was very young. I (teach) by my mother.