Marina Miloevi, 2011

Passive
USE

When the action is important where as the doer in unimportant:

It is important they are caught.
Those pyramids were built around 400 AD.
Too many books have been written about World War II.
To begin the sentence with sth that is already known or that we are already thinking
about, and to put the news at the end:
Nice picture. ~Yes, it was painted by my grandmother. (the news the painter at
the end.)
Changing the focus:
Jack won the prize. (focus on Jack)
The prize was won by Jack. (focus on the prize)
England have been beaten by Germany in a penalty shoot-out.
Germany has beaten England in a penalty shoot-out.
When the agent is unknown or obvious: I was born in 1988.

VERBS USED IN PASSIVE

Not all verbs can be used in passive. Passive constructions are impossible with
intransitive verbs because they dont have an object that can be changed into the
subject.
There are also some transitive verbs which may not be used in passive: bacome, fit,
get, have, lack, let, like, resemble, suit.
Also verbs with no object (intransitive) can be passive, like fail:
The tree fell.
FORM OF THE PASSIVE
We normally form passive by using the appropriate tense of the auxiliary verb BE
followed by past participle of the transitive verb.
A small sum of money was stolen from the cash box.
They ought to have been punished more severely.
Having been beaten in the semi-final, she flew home the next day.
OBJECT
Activ:

Passive:

They built the house in 1948.

The house was built in 1948.

Marina Miloevi, 2011

SUBJECT
PASSIVE VERB FORMS
Name
Present simple
Present continuous
Present perfect
Past simple
Past continuous
Past perfect
Future simple
Future perfect

Construction
Am/are/is + past participle
Am/are/is being + past participle
Have/has been + past participle
Was/were + past participle
Was/were being + past participle
Had been + past participle
Will be + past participle
Will have been + past participle

Example
English is spoken here.
The house is being painted.
Has Mary been told?
I wasnt invited but I went.
I felt as if I was being watched.
I knew why I had been chosen.
You will be told soon enough.
Everything will have been done by tomorrow.

Future progressive passive (will be being + past participle) and perfect progressive
passive (has been being + past participle) are unusual.

THE AGENT
In a passive clause we use BY to introduce the agent.
All the trouble was caused by your mother.
These carpets are made by children who work 12 hours a day.
We mention the agent when we think the information is important, esp. if we want
to say more about it, for example with a relative clause.
I remember being taken to the fair by my father, who rarely showed any interest in
such thing.
But agents are mentioned in only 20 percent of passive clauses.
UNKNOWN AGENT:
My wallet has been taken. (no point in adding by someone).
GENERALIZED AGENT - If the subject is people in general or you the agent is
not mentioned:
Bicycles are widely used in the city instead of public transport.
OBVIOUS AGENT if the agent is obvious or has already been referred to, it is
not mentioned:
Linda has been arrested. (we assume by the police)
UNIMPORTANT AGENT:
I was advised to obtain a visa in advance.
Some past participles can be more adjectives than verbs (shocked, worried,
frightened) and then we use other prepositions instead of BY:
I was shocked at/by her attitude.
We were worried about/by her choice.
Are you frightened of spiders?
WITH is used when we talk about an instrument used by an agent to do an action:
He was shot with a rifle.
He was hit on the head with a hammer.
2

Marina Miloevi, 2011

VERBS WITH TWO OBJECTS

Many verbs, such as give, send, show, lend, pay, promise, bring, pass, sell, refuse,
tell, offer, can be followed by two objects, an indirect and a direct object. These
usually refer to a person (indirect) and an object (direct).
These verbs can be made passive in two ways:
They handed me a note.
They gave her sister the car.
1. I was handed a note.
1. Her sister was given the car.
2. A note was handed for me.
2. The car was given to her sister.
We usually add a preposition before the personal object. The preposition is usually
to, but we sometimes use for.
VERBS WITH OBJECT AND COMPLEMENT
Some verbs have a noun or an adjective which describes their object:
We elected Jim class president. => Jim was elected class president.
Everyone considered him a failure. => He was considered a failure.
INFINITIVE AND ING FORM PASSIVES
Passive infinitives: to be watched; to have been watched.
Passive ing forms: being watched; having been watched.

1. Infinitives after certain verbs:

Make, see, hear and help have different patterns in the active and the
passive. In the active, the verb is followed by object + infinitive without to.
In the passive, we use a to-infinitive:
Active
Passive
I heard him shout at his brother.
He was heard to shout at his brother.
Theyve made him promise not to come Hes been made to promise no to come
before six.
before six.

WATCH OUT! We cant use let in the passive when it is followed by a verb
phrase. We use allow:
My parents let me do what I want.
I am allowed to do what I want.
But we use let in the passive in phrases like:
The dog was let loose. I was badly let down.

2. Passive infinitives:

We form the passive infinitives of verbs by putting to be (sometimes to get)

in front of the past participle:
Active
Passive
Theres so much to do.
Theres so much to be done.
Ive got to write this essay before Friday.
This essays need to be written by Friday.
Im going to do it by then.
Its going to be done by then.

Marina Miloevi, 2011

We use perfect infinitives to emphasize that something is or is not

completed:
My new car was to have been delivered today but there was a problem with
the paperwork.
Active or passive infinitive?
If the subject is the agent, the sentence is active and we use an active
infinitive: Ive got so many library books to return.
If the subject is not the agent, we use a passive infinitive:
All systems are to be checked as soon as possible.
We can use some active and passive infinitives with the same meaning, esp.
after There: There are so many rooms to paint / to be painted.
But, with something, anything and nothing + to do there can be a change in
meaning:
Theres nothing to do in the evenings. (= were bored)
Im sorry theres nothing to be done. (= theres no action anyone can take)
3. Passive ing forms:
We use passive ing forms (being + -ed) and Perfect Passive ing forms
(having been + -ed):
a) after verbs that are normally followed by ing forms:
I love being given flowers.
She recalled having been taken there when she was young.
b) as participles, usually with the meaning of bacause:
Being paid monthly, I find annual bills hard to pay.
Having been stung by bees, she has no love of insects.
c) as the subject of a sentence:
Being proved wrong is never a comfortable experience.
REPORTING WITH PASSIVE VERBS

We often use a passive to report what people say, think, etc., particularly if we want
to avoid mentioning who said or thought what we are reporting.
People in the area have been told that they should stay indoors.
Everyone was asked to bring some food to the party.
A common way of reporting what is said by people in general or by an unspecified
group of people is to use it + passive verb + that-clause.
It is reported that the finance minister is to resign.
It has been acknowledged that underfunding is part of the problem.
It can be seen that prices rose sharply in September.
Other verbs that can be used in this pattern include: agree, allege, announce,
assume, calculate, claim, consider, decide, declare, discover, estimate, expect, feel,
find, know, mention, propose, recommend, say, show, suggest, suppose, think,
understand.

Marina Miloevi, 2011

With the verbs agree, decide, forbid, hope, plan, and propose, we can use it +
passive verb + to infinitive (some of these are also used in the pattern it + passive
verb + that-clause):
It was agreed to postpone the meeting. It has been decided to build a road.
An alternative to it + passive verb + that-clause is to use subject + passive verb +
to-infinitive:
It was expected that the damage would be extensive, or
The damage was expected to be extensive.
We can use tell in this pattern when it means 'order'. So we can say:
I was told (= ordered) to go with them to the railway station.
but not 'The accident was told (= said) to have happened just after midnight'.
When a that-clause begins that + there..., we can make a passive form there +
passive verb + to be. Compare:
It is thought (that) there are too many obstacles to peace, or
There are thought to be too many obstacles to peace.
It was alleged (that) there had been a fight, or
There was alleged to have been a fight.,
We can use the same verbs in this pattern as with subject + passive verb + toinfinitive.

STRUCTURES WITH GET AND HAVE

1. Causatives
We can use get and have in both active and passive patterns.
a) The active pattern, meaning cause or order somebody to do something, is get +
person + to-infinitive or have + person + infinitive without to:
I will get the waiter to bring you the menu.
I will have the waiter bring you the menu.
b) The passive pattern, meaning arrange for somebody else to do something, is get /
have + object + past participle:
I will have / get my menu brought to me.
I had to get / have my jacket cleaned after the party.
Shes getting / having her teeth fixed.

2. Get + -ed: active and passive

We can sometimes use get instead of be in the passive. This is usually

informal:
They got punished by the Principal for making so much noise.
Lucky Paul got promoted / elected / chosen / appointed yesterday.
Poor Larry his dog got run over last night.
Get meaning become is also common with a particular small group of past
particles: get dresses, get married, get used to, get stuck, get lost, get
caught, get burned, get involved.

3. Things that happen to you

Marina Miloevi, 2011

a)
b)
c)
d)

We use get / have + object + past participle to describe things that happen
to us, often misfortunes.
We had / got our car broken into last month.
She got her hat blown off.
I have had my house burgled three times now.
Get is more likely to be used than have when;
There is a feeling that something must be done: I really must get my hair cut.
There is a feeling of eventually managing to do sth: I eventually got the car fixed.
In order and imperatives: Get your hair cut!
When no one / nothing else is involved: I got my finger stuck in the bottle.
Get something done is not used in the present perfect tense: have got.

VERBS WITH PREPOSITION

Ending a sentence with a preposition (prepositional verbs):
Somebody broke into my house. => My house was broken INTO.
We looked at the plan carefully. => The plan was carefully looked AT.
Nobody listens to her. => She is never listened TO.
BY and WITH:
WITH is used after participles such as: filled, packed, crowded, crammed:
The train was packed with commuters.
Dave was hit by a branch. (an accident)
Dave was hit with a branch. (a person hit him with one)
MAKE is followed by TO:
My boss made me work hard. => I was made TO work hard by my boss.
Cover and verbs which involve similar ideas such as surround, decorate, can use
WITH or BY. Cover can also be followed by IN:
The furniture was covered IN dust. The living room had been covered with flowers