Simple Past
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
wrote
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
was written
|
by Rita.
|
Present Perfect
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
has written
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
has been written
|
by Rita.
|
Future I
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
will write
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
will be written
|
by Rita.
|
Examples of Passive
Tense
|
Subject
|
Verb
|
Object
|
Present Progressive
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
is writing
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
is being written
|
by Rita.
|
Past Progressive
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
was writing
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
was being written
|
by Rita.
|
Past Perfect
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
had written
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
had been written
|
by Rita.
|
Future II
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
will have written
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
will have been written
|
by Rita.
|
Conditional I
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
would write
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
would be written
|
by Rita.
|
Conditional II
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
would have written
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
would have been written
|
by Rita.
|
Passive Sentences with Two Objects Level 3
Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.
|
Subject
|
Verb
|
Object 1
|
Object 2
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
wrote
|
a letter
|
to me.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
was written
|
to me
|
by Rita.
|
Passive:
|
I
|
was written
|
a letter
|
by Rita.
|
As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.
Personal and Impersonal Passive
Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.
Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.
Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.
Example: he says – it is said
Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).
Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.
Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.
Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.
The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).
Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.
The first sentence is in the ACTIVE VOICE. Choose the most correct way of saying the same thing in the PASSIVE VOICE:
Exercise 1
1. They were interviewing her for the job.
She ________________ for the job.
was being interviewed
was interviewed
has been interviewed
2. Tom is writing the letter.
The letter ________________ by Tom.
was written
is being written
has been written
3. Everyone understands English.
English ________________ by everyone.
is understood
has been understood
was understood
4. The employees brought up this issue during the meeting.
This issue ________________ by the employees during the meeting.
has been brought up
is brought up
was brought up
5. The professor told him not to talk in class.
He ________________ by the professor not to talk in class.
has been told
was told
was being told
6. They say that women are smarter than men.
Women ________________ to be smarter than men.
were being said
were said
are said
7. The fire has destroyed the house.
The house ________________ by the fire.
has been destroyed
was being destroyed
is destroyed
8. She would have told you.
You ________________ by her.
would have been told
would be told
were being told
9. She would reject the offer.
The offer ________________ by her.
will have been rejected
would be rejected
will be rejected
10. This surprises me.
I ________________ by this.
would have been surprised
will be surprised
am surprised
2 Exercise on Passive Voice - Simple Present
Rewrite the sentences in passive voice.
He opens the door. -
The door is opened by him.
We set the table. -
She pays a lot of money. -
I draw a picture. -
They wear blue shoes. -
They don't help you. -
He doesn't open the book. -
You do not write the letter. -
Does your mum pick you up? -
Does the police officer catch the thief? –
Tense
|
Subject
|
Auxiliary
|
Past
Participle
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
Present
|
The car/cars
|
is
|
are
|
designed.
|
Present perfect
|
The car/cars
|
has been
|
have been
|
designed.
|
Past
|
The car/cars
|
was
|
were
|
designed.
|
Past perfect
|
The car/cars
|
had been
|
had been
|
designed.
|
Future
|
The car/cars
|
will be
|
will be
|
designed.
|
Future perfect
|
The car/cars
|
will have been
|
will have been
|
designed.
|
Present progressive
|
The car/cars
|
is being
|
are being
|
designed.
|
Past progressive
|
The car/cars
|
was being
|
were being
|
designed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lesson 11
Theme: Topic: History of my speciality
Grammar: The Present Simple and Present Continuous Passive
Present Continuous Tense, Passive Voice
S + (be) + being + past participle
This tense is confusing because the verb "be" appears twice. This example uses the verb "tell" as the main verb:
tell / told / told
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
I am being told
|
We are being told
|
You are being told
|
You are being told
|
He is being told
|
|
She is being told
|
They are being told
|
It is being told
|
|
1. The book is being read by the boy. (passive voice)
The boy is reading the book. (active voice)
boy reading
2. Pancakes are being made in the kitchen.
(Who's making them? I don't need to say, but from the picture you can see it's the man.)
He's making pancakes. (active voice)
making breakfast
3. Flowers are being grown in this garden. (passive voice)
I'm growing the flowers. (active voice)
flowers
4. This man is being kept in prison because he did something very bad.
The state is keeping him in prison.
angry prisoner
5. Penguins living in the Antarctic are being threatened by global climate change.
Global climate change is threatening many species worldwide.
penguin
6. She's being hugged by her brother. (passive voice)
Her brother is hugging her. (active voice)
boy hugging girl
Present Continuous vs.Present Simple (Passive Voice)
When one uses a verb in the passive voice in the present simple, does a statement always mean regular actions, but not a particular time or a situation?
Professional liability of a specialist is [being] insured with a certain insurance company for one year.
The meaning is that the liability was insured once in a certain period on a certain date. And it is not insured on a regular basis (for example, every month). Should I use the present continuous with a passive form to mean that the status (being insured) is currently permanent, but will change later?
In the report the supervisor particularly notes [is noting] that a number of serious errors are not [being] corrected by a worker in spite of the remarks and recommendations made by the management staff before.
In the above example I mean a particular situation in which the errors are not being corrected now, and the company's documents will change in the future after correcting. Correction is supposed to occur once in this case.
Passive constructions in the present simple tense can refer to a particular time or situation:
I am bored by him. (Can mean "at the moment".)
She is alleged to be cheating on her husband.
And CNN is now calling it: Barack Obama is elected president this historic day.
Ten minutes into the film, the main character is hit by a train.
It is more common to see such constructions used to describe things that happen regularly or are general truths:
They are awakened every morning by the garbage truck.
Tomatoes are picked while still green and quite firm.
There is often confusion between passive constructions containing a verb in past participle form, and a statement where such words function as adjectives. We sometimes need to rely on context to determine which is the case. Sometimes it is impossible to make such a determination from the available information, or the line is too fuzzy to be drawn with certainty.
Active construction (subject + verb + adjective [complement]):
The store is closed. We arrived too late.
Passive construction:
The store is normally closed by the assistant manager.
Should I use the present continuous with a passive form to mean that the status (being insured) is currently permanent, but will change later?
To say that something is insured for a year is unclear to begin with. Does that mean that it was originally insured for a period of one year, and it does not matter when that happened and when it will expire? I think that in almost any context, we would want to communicate when the term began and/or when it will end. Also, the wording Professional liability of a specialist is not idiomatic in most contexts.
If we want to say something like
The specialist's professional liability is insured with ABC Insurance Co., for a term of one year.
We could not use the present continuous tense because that would suggest that the activity of being/becoming insured is occurring as a process at the time of speaking.
For the second question, a correct version of that utterance is
In the report, the supervisor particularly notes that a number of serious errors have not been corrected by a worker, despite previous warnings by management.
We would usually avoid using "are not being corrected" because that could mean that an act of correcting is not occurring at the moment. However, it could also mean that the lack of correction is persisting over a period of time. Most good writers would avoid the present continuous without making clear which of those senses they wanted to denote.
The meaning is that the liability was insured once in a certain period on a certain date. And it is not insured on a regular basis (for example, every month).
You can insure against a particular risk on an ad hoc basis, with a defined term of arbitrary duration (e.g. a week, or 12 days, the duration of a voyage, or whatever).
I don't really see how the verb tense alone is going to clarify anything for anyone.
The specialist has professional liability insurance for the specified term.
The specialist is insured against risk for a specified term.
In the report the supervisor particularly notes [is noting] that a number of serious errors are not [being] corrected by a worker in spite of the remarks and recommendations made by the management staff before.
It's not clear whether you mean to cite a particular worker for negligence, or to point out a systemic shortcoming within the organization. Is "a worker" a particular worker or any worker within the department?
Lesson 12 Revision and Consolidation
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