PASSIVE VOICE
FORM: TO BE + PAST PARTICIPLE
We use the passive: when it is obvious or not important to say who/what is the subject -
The meeting has been changed to Thursday
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Food must be finished by tonight
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The liquid is heated to a temperature of 60º
They discuss important subjects every lunch time
Important subjects are discussed every lunch time
They are still considering this matter
This matter is still being considered
They announced the date for the talks
The date for the talks was announced
They were making every effort to end the strike
Every effort was being made to end the strike
They have built a new stadium in London
A new stadium has been built in London
They had finished the work by the end of 1999
The work had been finished by the end of 1999
A top consultant will examine you
You will be examined by a top consultant
They are going to close the factory
The factory is going to be closed
In the next ten years, women will have achieved full equality
In the next ten years, full equality will have been achieved
They must keep the secret
The secret must be kept
We don’t normally use the passive voice with present perfect continuous, past perfect continuous, future continuous or future perfect continuous (because it is a very complex verbal form)
TWO OBJECTS. When we use verbs with two objects (a person and something) both of them can be the subject of the passive voice. It is more common, however, for the person to be the subject
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Jane gave him some money (active voice)
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He was given some money by Jane
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Some money was given to him by Jane
MENTIONING THE AGENT. In passive voice, we don’t normally mention the agent because we are more interested in what happens. When we mention the agent, we normally use:
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By: when we mention who or what was responsible The car was driven by my younger brother
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With: when we mention the instrument used The airport was surrounded with soldiers
GET. We can use “get” instead of “be” in the passive: I don’t get invited to many parties (I’m not invited)
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We use get when it is an action not an state: Anna is liked by everyone (not gets liked)
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We also use “get” in the following expressions (which are not passive in meaning) Get married
get dressed
Get divorced
get lost
get changed
IMPERSONAL PASSIVE. Study this example situation:
George is very old. Nobody knows exactly how old he is, but:
It is said that he is 108 years old
He is said to be 108 years old
Both sentences mean: “People say that he is 108 years old” You can use these structures with a number of other verbs, especially:
Alleged- believed- considered- expected- known- reported- thought- understood
CAUSATIVE (HAVE SOMETHING DONE). We use have something done to say that we arrange for somebody else to do something for us. (We can use GET instead of HAVE). Compare: -
Lisa repaired the roof. (=she repaired it herself) Lisa had the roof repaired. (=she arranged for somebody else to repair it)
PRESENT SIMPLE
She usually has her car repaired in this garage
PRESENT CONTINUOUS
She is having her house painted this week
PAST SIMPLE
They had their papers done last week
PAST CONTINUOUS
My mother was having her hair cut yesterday when you saw her
PRESENT PERFECT
I have had a picture taken of all my family at home
PAST PERFECT
I had had my washing machine fixed when you bought me one
FUTURO SIMPLE
You will have your house redecorated next week
But sometimes it has a different meaning. We also use “have” when we want to say that something has happened to us or our belongings and it is not nice: -
Paul and Karen had their bags stolen while they were travelling
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Gary had his nose broken in a fight