Monday, March 26, 2012

PASSIVE VOICE

Hi there,


Let's start brushing up your passive skills by listening to Mr. Passive Voice:


So...Who is he talking to?

a) his demanding wife      
b) his boss   
c) himself (he records all his duties and errands, once he's fulfilled them)

And...why on earth is he using Passive?

a) his ego was killed upon his wife's request
b) he has no personality
c) he doesn't give a damn about who did what

* Note: answers may vary, so any of them can be correct, even all... or none. The question is making you talk...

Now this video will display a similar explanation to the one I gave you on the board in class today:


And here comes the lesson:

THE PASSIVE VOICE IN ENGLISH
Passive vs Active voice:

The Active Voice
The Passive Voice
Most countries in Latin America speak Spanish.
Spanish is spoken in most countries in Latin America.

Use of Passive voice:
1.    Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.
Example: "A letter was written."
The focus, here, is on the fact that a letter was written.
We actually don't know who wrote it.
2.    Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:
Example: "A vase was broken."
Focus, here, is on the fact that a vase was broken, but we don't blame anyone.
Compare this to: "You broke the vase."
Form of Passive voice:

Subject + the appropriate form of to be + Past Participle

NOTE: The appropriate form of to be = To be is given in the tense of the active voice main verb.
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:
·         The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
·         The form of the verb is the appropriate form of to be (the tense of the active voice main verb) + the past participle.
·         The subject of the active sentence becomes the agent of the passive sentence (or it's dropped, since information becomes irrelevant).

Active
Nancy
makes
tea
subject
verb
object
Passive
Tea
is made
(by Nancy)
object becoming subject
verb
subject becoming agent or dropped

Examples of Passive voice:

Tense
Subject
Verb
Object
Simple Present
Active:
Nancy
makes
tea.
Passive:
Tea
is made
by Nancy.
Present Progressive
Active:
Nancy
is making
tea.
Passive:
Tea
is being made
by Nancy.
Simple Past
Active:
Nancy
made
tea.
Passive:
Tea
was made
by Nancy.
Past Progressive
Active:
Nancy
was making
tea.
Passive:
Tea
was being made
by Nancy.
Present Perfect
Active:
Nancy
has made
Tea.
Passive:
Tea
has been made
by Nancy.
Past Perfect
Active:
Nancy
had made
tea.
Passive:
Tea
had been made
by Nancy.
Future simple
Active:
Nancy
will make
tea.
Passive:
Tea
will be made
by Nancy.
Future perfect
Active:
Nancy
will have made
tea.
Passive:
Tea
will have been made
by Nancy.
Conditional
Active:
Nancy
would make
tea.
Passive:
Tea
would be made
by Nancy.
Modals
Active:
Nancy
can make
tea.
Passive:
Tea
can be made
by Nancy.

Double Object Passive:
Transforming an active sentence with two objects into 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 focus on.

Active/Passive
Subject
Verb
Object 1
Object 2
Active:
Nancy
offered
a flower
to me.
Passive:
A flower
was offered
to me
by Nancy.
Passive:
I
was offered
a flower
by Nancy.

Impersonal Passive:
Study these examples:
·         They say that the planet is in danger.
·         It is said that the planet is in danger.
This type of passive is called impersonal since we use the impersonal form "it is..." This is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know ...)
Examples:    
·         It is said that...
·         It is thought that...
·         It is believed that...
·         It is known that...                      
It is also common to start the passive form of these sentences with the subject of the that-clause:
Examples:
·         They say that the planet is in danger = The planet is said to be in danger.
·         They think that women live longer than men  = Women are thought to live  longer than men.
Source:  My English Pages.com
MORE ON PASSIVE, FROM BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv191.shtml “hurt”, “harm”, “injure”, “wound”, “damage” as Passive verbs.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv106.shtml Relative pronoun+ Passive voice vs. Participial clauses.

EXERCISES FOR FURTHER PRACTICE:
http://www.nonstopenglish.com/allexercises/grammar/grammar-passive_voice.asp Miscellaneous: Blanks, Correct mistakes, Rephrasing…
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/active-voice-versus-passive-voice.aspx Tips for writing. Explanations by The Grammar Girl with audio, listen and read along.
http://busyteacher.org/classroom_activities-grammar/passive_voice-worksheets/page/3/  101 Passive Voice worksheets. Exercises, recipes, texts and more stuff…

And finally these last exercises on Newspaper Reports (answers included) to review Passive Voice plus some Vocab. about Crime and Punishment, so you're all set with unit 3A.

Uploaded by me on SLIDESHARE, though source:  http://www.teachitworld.com/
Enjoy, ACTIVELY  :)

Cheers,
Inma.