Prepared by Jamil Istifan

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PASSIVE STRUCTURES

• Prepared by Jamil Istifan
• M-DCC, Kendall Campus
• ESL, and Foreign Languages Dept.

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Active and Passive Structures

• They built this tower in 1866. (active)
• This tower was built in 1866. (passive)
• Canadians speak French and English. (active)
• English is spoken in the U.S.A., England,
  Australia (passive)

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Topics of Discussion

• The object of an active verb corresponds to the
  subject of a passive verb. E.g.
• Active They built this tower in 1866.
• OBJECT
• Passive This tower was built in 1866.
• SUBJECT

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Passive verb forms

• TENSE STRUCTURE
• Simple present am/are/is pp
• French is spoken here.
• Pres. prog. am/are/is being pp
• Excuse the mess the restaurant is being painted.
• Simple past was/were pp
• I wasnt prepared, but I went to the exam.
• Past prog. was/were being pp
• I felt as if I was being watched.
• Pres. Perfect have/has been pp
• Has Stephanie been told?

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More passive forms

• TENSE STRUCTURE
• Past perfect had been pp
• He didnt know why he has been failed.
• Will future will be pp
• Shell be noticed when the time comes.
• Future perfect will have been pp
• Everything will have been done by Thursday.
• Going to future am/are/is going
  to be pp
• Im going to be invited?

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Verbs not used in the passive

• Not all the verbs have passive forms
• Passive structures are impossible with verbs like
  DIE or ARRIVE.
• STATIVE VERBS (e.g. fit, have, lack, resemble,
  suit..) that states, no actions, dont have
  passive forms too.
• e.g.
• His pants dont fit him. (not He is not fitted by
  his pants.)
• They have a nice car. (not A nice car is had by
  them.)

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Confusing forms

• Students often confuse active and passive verb
  forms in English. Typical mistakes
• He was very interesting in the song.
• She was questioning by the inspector.
• Compare
• She was calling. (active-past progressive)
• She was called. (passive-simple past)
• She has called. (active-present perfect simple )

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The passive agent by

• In a passive clause, we usually use a phrase
  beginning with by if we want to mention the
  agent-the person or thing that does the action,
  or that causes what happens. ( about 20 of
  passive clauses.) e.g.
• All the trouble was caused by your mother-in-law.
• I was shocked by your attitude.
• After the past participles of some stative verbs,
  including some which are used like adjectives,
  other prepositions can be used instead of by.
  e.g.
• I was worried about/by her silence.
• Are you frightened of snakes?
• With is used when we talk about an instrument
  which is used by an agent to do an action. e.g.
• He was shot (by the police) with a gun.

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Verbs with 2 objects

• Many verbs, such as give, send, show, lend, can
  be followed by 2 objects, an indirect object
  and a direct object. These usually refer to a
  person (I.O.) and a thing (D.O.). Two structures
  are possible. e.g.
• a. V I.O. D.O.
• She gave her sister the car.
• b. V D.O. prep. I.O.
• She gave the car to her sister.
• These 2 structures can be made passive. e g.
• Her sister was given the car.
• The car was given to her sister.