| Grammar [EIR Using the passive PN Suey ‘The government has published a report today. (active: focus on the government) A report has been published by the government today. (pasive: focus on a report) We often use passive verbs: ‘© when the agent (the person or thing that performs the action) is not known:/viy iiouse was broken into only last week, © hen the agent is ‘people in general’ The details can be found at the back of the report. (= anyone can find these details) «when the agent is unimportant, or is obvious: much higher proportion of offenders have been arrested. (© the agents clearly the police) e when we don't want to say who the agent is:jt may be that some minor mistakes were made in collecting the “figures, (= she might not want to say who was responsible for the mistakes) ‘to describe procedures or processes, focusing on what was done rather than who did itThe figures were collected over a ten-year period. © toavoid repeating the agent in a description or narrative: The police have made good use of CCTV. It’s been introduced into many city centres, rather than The police have made good use of CCTV. The police have introduced it into many city centres. In informal contexts we often use active sentences with a subject such as people, somebody/someone, something, ‘we, they or you even when we do not know who the agent is. In more formal contexts we often use a passive to avoid mentioning an agent: People are seeing less graffiti in city centres. or more formally ess graft is being seem ‘Some verbs describing states (e.g. have, become, seem) are not usually made passive: Other couniries have a similar policy. (not¢sinsitar policy is had-by other countries) However, other verbs describing states can be passive (eg. intend, know, own): ‘Our latest poster campaign is intended to reassure people. [EG Active and passive verb forms ‘Compare these passive forms of active verb patterns. They started to keep records ten years ago. Records started to be kept only ten years ago. This figure is expected to fall as they start using new technology to trace stolen phones. This figure is expected to fal ropidly as new technology starts being used to trace stolen mobiles. ‘We want the crime rate to fall still further. They made them repair the damage. People found guilty of vandalism are made to repair the damage they've caused. The police caught them selling drugs. ‘More people were caught selling drugs ‘We expect the figure to fall rapidly. This figure is expected to fall rapidly, Some verbs in this pattern have no passive: (MOE merece) 12718 rrepesin Perfect passive forms are also possible: More people claim to have been the victims of crime. More people have been caught selling drugs this year than ever before. This figure is expected to have fallen by next year. ‘Most passives with modal verbs are formed with modal + be + past participle or modal + have been + past participle: The reason for this can be found in the huge increase in the number of mobile phones. Some ofthe fal might have been caused by ower rates of reporting (past) Passive forms of verbs with two objects ‘was delighted when our crime statistics department gave me the figures. (active) ‘was delighted when t was given the figures by our Crime Statistics Department. (passive) or | was delighted when the figures were given (ta) me by our Crime Statistics Department. (passive) (See Unit 9, 2.1 for more on verbs with two objects) \Verbs followed by object + complement in the active have one passive form: Attitudes have changed significantly since Peter Miles was appointed head of the police service. {tS true that more people get mugged today than they did ten years ago. or ... are mugged People think more carefully about committing a crime if they know they might get caught. or... might be caught. Particularly in speech, we can use get + past participle instead of be + past participle. Get + past participle is most commonly used to talk about unwelcome events (e.g. get mugged), but we can also se it with positive events: When we got elected ten years ago We don't use get + past participle with verbs describing states: He was known to be a highly effective senior police officer. (not He got knows to-be ..) We can use either have + object + past participle or (more informally) get + object + past participle: © tosay that someone arranges for someone else to do something for them: Virtually every person in my rood has had/got a burglar alarm fitted recently. © to say that something unexpected, and usually unpleasant, happens to someone: ‘had my TV and stereo taken. or very informally! got my TV and stereo taken. ‘We use a reflexive pronoun with get to suggest that the subject is responsible for their actions. People will think more carefully if they know they're going to get themselves arrested. 128“aguas 18 i Grammar exercises Complete these texts with the appropriate form, active or passive, ofthe verb. ‘Acupuncture (I) has been practised. (practise) in China for over 3,000 years, and today it(2)_______ widely use) alongside conventional medicine. In traditional Chinese medicine, no symptom (3)___ (view) in isolation. Instead, the body and the mind(4)__________ (evaluate) together. The goal of acupuncture ©. (be) to create harmony in the body by restoring the flow of Qi (pronounced ‘chee'). This (6)_______ (consider) to be the life force involved in all body functions. Qi (7) (collect) in the organs and (8)_____(iravel) through energy channels in the body. Acupuncturists (9) (believe) that diseases (10) (occur) when the circulation of Qi(it)___ (prevent), whether by injuries, heat, cold or other factors. By redirecting the flow of Qi, acupuncture can (12). —___________ (help) cure disease. The first mobile phones (1) (construct) in Stockholm in the 1950s — but were not very mobile! They could only @. (use) in cars because the receiver and transmitter (3) (weigh) over 40 kilos and had to )__________ (carry) in the boot. But technology @)______ (advance) so quickly that by the 1990s mobiles could(6)_____ (hold) in the hand and people talking nn their mobiles (7) (become) a familiar sight. Of course, not everyone welcomed mobiles, and in the mid-1990s their use @)_ (ban) in many schools. Even recent research which (9) (suggest) that prolonged exposure to emissions from mobiles might be a health hazard G_____ (nor discourage? their use, and analysts now ()______ (predict) that by 2025, 95% of all electronic ‘communication (12) (conduct) by mobile phone. 129