11 class

THE PASSIVE (to be + Participle II)

Verbs which take an object (transitive verbs) can have a passive form.

They destroyed the building. — The building was destroyed.

The news surprised me. —  I was surprised by the news.

Verbs which do not take an object (intransitive verbs) do not have passive forms: to    rive to be, to

become, to have, to lack, to come, to belong, to possess, to resemble, to fits etc.

I slept for nearly ten hours last night. The ship slowly disappeared from view.

A good dictionary will tell you whether verbs are transitive or intransitive.

The choice between an active and passive sentence allows us to present the same information in two different orders.

active    The storm damaged the roof.

This sentence is about the storm, and says what it did. (The storm is the 'agent'.)

passive The roof was damaged by the storm.

This sentence is about the roof, and says what happened to phrase with by after the verb.)

it. (The ’agent' goes in а prepositional

Use Passive when:

—                       the agent is not knowspeo_ple in general', is unmp  rtant  or is obvious, usin   a passive allows us to omit the agent by leaving out the prepositional phrase with by:

Му office was broken into when I was on holiday. (unknown agent) An order form can be found on page two. (agent = people in general) These boxes should be handled with care. (unimportant agent)

She is being treated in hospital. (obvious agent; presumably 'doctors')

—              n fac al writin    а icu а    in describin    rocedures or rocesses es е all w th   odal verbs

Nuclear waste will still be radioactive even after 20,000 years, so it must be disposed of

very carefully. It can be stored as a liquid in stainless-steel containers which are encased in

concrete.

—                       In formal English, particularly writing. Notice also that some verbs have correspondin   noun

—                       The new computer system is being installed next month.

The installation of the new computer system will be completed by next month.

Task 1. Complete these sentences with appropriate passive (if possible) or active forms of the   verbs.

arrive        destroy      deteriorate     develop     follow    exist         happen      need prevent                      recede        release      wear

1.      A number of priceless works of art                                    in the earthquake.

2.      By the time Carol                                       we had finished eating and were ready to go.

3.      No record                                      of the visit he claimed to have made to Paris in 1941.

4.      Because my visa had expired I                                        from re-entering the country.

5.      It is generally agreed that new industries                                    for the southern part of the country.

6.      lf Nick hadn't come along, I don't know what would                                            

7.      The economic situation in the region                              quite sharply over the last year.

8.      The coastline                                         into the distance as our ship sailed further away.

9.       It's incredible to think that these clothes                                       by Queen Victoria.

10.  A new drug                                             to combat asthma in small children.

11.  When Kathy left the room, everyone                                                             

12.  A number of political prisoners                                             within the next few days.