Passive (present and past)

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 3

Passive

                                                  What is the difference?

 

He paints the house every year.            vs     The house is painted every year.

Thieves stole lots of cars last year.       vs      Lot of cars were stolen last year.

Teenagers read fashion magazines.    vs        Fashion magazines are read.

 Mr. Jones taught German at school.    vs       German was taught at school.

Grandma bakes great cakes.                     vs       Great cakes are baked.

Passive

Used because:

- It is not important who did it 

- If you don’t know who did it. 

- Used in newspapers

Present Simple Passive

General truths & the present

 

Created with am/are/is + verb+ed (irregular: 3rd word)

The house is painted every year.

Many accidents are caused by reckless driving.

Past Simple Passive

It is finished in the past, you can see this because there is usually a date in the the sentence. (last year, in 1980, yesterday)

 

Created with was/were + verb+ed (irregular: 3rd word)

A letter was written yesterday.

The buildings were built in 1990.

Computers weren’t used in schools in 1985.

Past Simple Passive

This room ___ (clean) every Friday.

The roof of the building ___ (destroy) in a storm a few days ago.

Many accidents ___ (cause) by reckless driving.

In the Netherlands, elections for Parliament ___ (hold) every four years.

You can’t see the school from here. It ___ (surround) by a gate.

Six hundred people ___ (employ) by this company last year.

Can you tell me how mountains ___ (form)?

Past Simple Passive

Rewrite the sentences into the passive voice.

They asked the teacher a difficult question.

The teacher always answers the students’ questions.

Sue changed the flat tire.

Beautiful giraffes roam the savannah.

The saltwater corroded the metal beams.

Past Passive

Present Passive

1 The roof of the building ___ (destroy) in a storm yesterday. 

.

2 Many accidents ___ (cause) by reckless driving.

3 In the Netherlands, elections for Parliament ___ (hold) every four years.

4 Six hundred people ___ (employ) by this company last year.

5 Can you tell me how mountains ___ (form)?

6 The teacher ______ (ask) a difficult question. She didn't know how to respond.

The words ______ (explain) by the teacher today.

A letter ________ (send) the day before yesterday.

He _______ (invite) to the party yesterday.

These phones ______ (make) in China.

Rewrite the sentence into the passive:
My mum does all the housework.

Rewrite the sentence into the passive:
She bought four apples.

Rewrite the sentence into the passive:
The man stole the blue car.

Rewrite the sentence into the passive:
I play football all the time.

Rewrite the sentence into the passive:
The police arrested the thieves.

Rewrite the sentence into the passive:
He reads comics every day.

Rewrite the sentence into the passive:
Oliver taught the children.