GRAMMAR VI

GROUP 7
STUDENTS:
Mario Salazar
Shirley Vsquez
TOPIC:
Passive 3

TWO OBJECTS IN AN ACTIVE

SENTENCES TWO POSSIBLE
PASSIVE SENTENCES
Passive voice also
known as passive
sentences
contains a direct and indirect
object.
two possible
active
sentences and
two possible
passive
sentences.
Normally the indirect
object is a person,
were the direct
object are things.

Sentence 1: The professor gave the

students the books.
Sentence 2: The professor gave the
books to the students.
Object 1 = indirect
object the students
Object 2 = direct object
the books

EXAMPLES
Subject

Verb

indirect
direct Object Object with
to

Active:
Passive
:
Passive
:

gave
the books
one of the two
objects becomes the
subject, the other
one remains an
object
Subject
Verb
Object 1
Rita
wrote
a letter

to the
students.

The professor

Object 2
to me.

A letter

was written

to me

by Rita.

was written

a letter

by Rita.

Note: As you can see in the examples,

adding by Rita does not sound very elegant.
Thats why it is usually dropped.

ACTIVITIES WITH 2 OBJECTS

Rachel will give you some advice.
Some advice will be given to you.
I sent him a letter.
A letter was sent to him.
The police officer showed us the way.
The way was shown to us.
Our neighbour gave me a lift.
A lift was given to me.
We have asked him a favour.
A favour has been asked of him.

PASSIVE GERUNDS.
use the words being
and the past
participle
Gerunds are often confused with verbs. Because
gerunds take an "ing" ending, some students
mistake them for verbs in the continuous form. If
you don't see the verb "be" in front of a word with
an "ing" ending, it's probably a gerund.
1- He thinks that learning English is
important for his career.
2- I like listening to the radio.
3- This morning, they're meeting
their friends at the airport.

If you picked the first

two sentences,
you're correct! The
third sentence is in
the present
continuous tense.

EXAMPLES
1- He doesnt like being told what to do.
He hates people telling him what to do
2- He enjoyed being read to.
He enjoys people reading to him
3- They dont like being watched.
They dont like people watching them.
4- Do you remember being paid?
Do you remember somebody paying you?
5- He hates being photographed
He hates people photographing him.

MORE EXAMPLES

She enjoys being photographed.

He hates being photographed.
Her baby loves being held.
Poodles like being pampered.
Most film stars hate being interviewed.

ACTIVITIES OF PASSIVE GERUNDS

Being
The baby likes
by her mother. (hold)
held
They're afraid Being
of
because the
attacked
neighbourhood
is dangerous. (attack)
The students don't look forward
to
on
Being
tested
their math skills. (test)
to live in solitary confinement was very
Being
forced
difficult.
(force)
Rabbits live in fearBeing
of
alive by a fox or a
eaten
large bird. (eat)

Passive with to be born

There are certain events
in life, in which the
receiver of the action
cannot
perform
the
action, and therefore it
does not have both an
active and passive verb
that can be used to
describe them.

EXAMPLES:
She was born in 1971.
Where were you born?
He was born at eight
oclock in the
morning.
Mercy was born in
Mexico City.

"To be born" is
passive and is
usually used in
past.
However, in some
cases, present or
future are
appropriate
EXAMPLES

Around 100 babies are born in this hospital

every week.
We don't know on exactly which day the baby
will be born.
They say that in China a new baby is born
every five minutes.

ACTIVITY

Is Samantha pregnant? Yes, she is. The

Will be
doctor says that the
in
bornbaby
late July.
Were born
.- Both my mother and my father
the same year, Are
in born
December.
15.- Around 100 babies
in
this hospital every week.

GET
Get is often used
instead of be in the
passive voice in informal
spoken English.
EXAMPLES:
Igotpicked upby my brother
at the airport.
The doggetsfedevery
morning.
Shegothiredby the company
in 2003.

When you use "get" to

make the passive
voice and the verb is
negative, don't forget
to add "do" or "did"
for the present tense
and the past tense:

Hegets paidon Friday. / Hedoesn't get

paidon Monday.
Shegot hiredfor that job. / Shedidn't
get hireduntil last week.
Theyget fedat noon. / Theydon't get
fedin the afternoon.

to refer to an action that

happens by accident or
unexpectedly:
EXAMPLES:
Their car got stolen in
front of their house last
night.
Jerry got fired because he
was always late for work.

Get expresses action and change and is

only used with action verbs, not state
verbs:
EXAMPLES:
Jerry was fired because he was always
late for work.
Jerry got fired because he was always
late for work. (fire is an action verb)
As get in the passive voice expresses action,
it makes it possible to differentiate between
an action and a state if it is not otherwise
clear:
EXAMPLES:
The living room window was broken. (state
or action)
The living room window got broken. (action)
The passive with be and the agent
mentioned also makes the distinction clear:
The living room window was broken by the

Idiomatic expressions with

the get passive ( which
are not passive in
meaning)
get dressed
get washed
get engaged
get married
get divorced
get lost

EXAMPLES:
I took a shower and got
dressed.
When did they get
married?
Have you ever got lost
while travelling?

ACTIVITY
For each sentence, use the passive
with"get"whenever possible.

(pay) for a job you enjoy

doing must be the definition of a happy
life!
get built
How did the house
so fast?
( build)
Getting paid