Unit 5:                                                                        Women and Power

Grammar:                                                                       Passive voice

I) Use of passive voice :

The passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It’s not important, who or what is performing the action.

Examples :  

• Dinner was prepared. (Passive Voice) 

In the example of passive voice above, the focus is on the fact that dinner was prepared. We do not know, who prepared it.

• A house was destroyed. (we don’t know who destroyed the house)

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following :

• The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
• The finite form of the verb is changed ( to be + past participle ).
• The subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropp

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Form of passive : 

[ Subject + finite form of to be + past participle ]

Examples of passive : 

Tense	Voice	Subject	Verb	Object
Simple present	Active	The father	prepares	breakfast
Simple present	Passive	Breakfast	is prepared	by the father
Simple past	Active	The father	prepared	breakfast
Simple past	Passive	Breakfast	was prepared	by the father
Present perfect	Active	The father	has prepared	breakfast
Present perfect	Passive	Breakfast	has been prepared	by the father
Future simple	Active	The father	will prepare	breakfast
Future simple	Passive	Breakfast	will be prepared	by the father
Present progressive	Active	The father	is preparing	breakfast
Present progressive	Passive	breakfast	is being prepared	by the father
Past progressive	Active	The father	was preparing	breakfast
Past progressive	Passive	Breakfast	was being prepared	by the father
Past perfect	Active	The father	had prepared	breakfast
Past perfect	Passive	Breakfast	had been prepared	by the father
Future 2	Active	The father	will have prepared	breakfast
Future 2	Passive	Breakfast	will have been prepared	by the father
Conditional 2	Active	The father	would prepare	breakfast
Conditional 2	Passive	Breakfast	would be prepared	by the father
Conditional 3	Active	The father	would have prepared	breakfast
Conditional 3	Passive	Breakfast	would have been prepared	by the father

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II) Passive sentences with two objects :

	Subject	Verb	Object 1	Object 2
Active	My friend	wrote	a letter	to me
Passive	A letter	was written	to me	by my friend
Passive	I	was written	a letter	by my friend

He says – it is said 

English, impersonal passive is only possible with verbs of perception ( e.g say, think, know).

Example : 

• They say that women live longer than men. (Active)
• It is said that women live longer than men. (Passive)

Although impersonal passive is possible here, personal passive is more common.

Example :  

• They say that women live longer than men. (Active)
• Women are said to live longer than men. (Passive)

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Passive voice for present / future modals : 

” Can, May, Might, Should, Must, Ought To”

Active voice	Passive voice
Can My brother can repair the boat	Can be The boat can be repaired by my brother.
Might  Guests might play chess	Might be Chess might be played by guests
Should The teacher should explain all the lessons	Should be All the lessons should be explained by the teacher
Must Young people must learn languages	Must be  Languages must be learned by young people
Ought to Students ought to respect the teachers	Ought to be The teachers ought to be respected by students.

 

Passive voice for present / future modals : 

“May have, Might have, Should have, Must have, Ought to have, Could have”

Active voice	Passive voice
May have Nadia may have won the prize	May have been The prize may have been won by Nadia
Might have Ahmed might have eaten the food	Might have been the food might have been eaten by Ahmed.
Should have The teacher should have explained all lessons	Should have been All lessons should have been explained by the teacher
Must have He must have e.mailed the letter.	Must have been the letter must have been emailed.
Ought to have Students ought to have revised the lesson	Ought to have been The lesson ought to have been revised.