Grammar for ielts fiona Aish & Jo Tomlinson ■L& 11

ACTIVE SENTENCE:
The film comoanv released Star Wars in 1977.
PASSIVE SENTENCE:
Star Wars was released in 1977.
Who released the film is unim portant and irrelevant to the message. 
To avoid saying who is doing the action
ACTIVE SENTENCE:
In 
The Bank Robber.
H arrv Flint stole $2bn dollars from a bank.
PASSIVE SENTENCE:
In 
The Bank Robber.
$2bn d ollars are stolen from a bank.
Here, if the active subject is used 
[Harry Flint),
we w ill reveal the plot of the film .
Forming the passive
Only verbs w ith an object can be turned into the passive.
An active sentence:
The film producers invested $20 million in the promotion of the film.
= a subject [The film producers) 
+
a verb [invested)
+ 
an object [$20million)
The 
subject does 
the action and the 
object receives 
the action.
A passive sentence:
If we w ant to focus on the am ount of money, the passive sentence is as follows:
$20million was invested in the promotion of the film (by the film producers).
Here the object becomes the subject and we add a form of the verb 
to be
+ past participle (for the 
continuous form : 
to be + being +
past participle). See the g ra m m a r reference fo r a ll form s.
Often the active subject becomes unnecessary.
Here you can see the changes:
The film producers invested $20 million in the promotion of the film.
IT
was
Grammar for IELTS
languagedownload.ir

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O ther Passive C onstructions (avoiding using the subject)
When we don't w ant to say it is 
our opinion, 
w hich is a com m on technique in academic w ritin g , 
we often use the passive. Additionally, to avoid using 
they
or 
people
the passive can be used w ith 
reporting verbs.
ACTIVE SENTENCE:
People say that film m a kin g is a lucrative industry.
PASSIVE SENTENCE:
F ilm m aking is said to be a lucrative industry.
Note: It is said that film m aking is a lucrative industry,
is also possible.
See page 123 in the G ram m ar reference fo r more inform ation.