Changing from active into passive

To change a sentence from the active into the passive:

a) the object of the active sentence becomes the subject in the passive sentence.

b) the active verb remains in the same tense, but changes into a passive form.

c) the subject of the active sentence becomes the agent, and is either introduced with the proposition by or omitted.

	subject	verb	object
active	Tom	invited	me.
	subject	verb	object
passive	I	was invited	by Tom.

· Only transitive (перехідні) verbs (verbs followed by an object) can be changed into the passive. E.g. Grandma knitted my jumper. – My jumper was knitted by Grandma. (transitive verb) BUT: They travelled to Lisbon last summer. (intransitive verb) Some transitive verbs such as have, fit, suit, resemble, etc. cannot be changed into the passive.

· We used  by + agent to say who or what carries out the action. We use with + instrument / material / ingredient to say what the agent used. E.g. The pancakes were made by Clare. They were made with eggs, flour, and milk.

· The agent is often omitted in the passive sentence when the subject of the active sentence is one of the following words:  people, one, someone/somebody, they, he, etc. E.g. Somebody has stolen my purse. – My purse has been stolen.  

· Object pronouns (me, him, us them, etc.) become subject pronouns (I, he, we, they, etc.) in the passive. E.g. They arrested him. – He was arrested.

· With the verbs which take two objects such as bring, tell, send, show, teach, promise, buy, throw, write, award, hand, sell, owe, grant, allow, feed, pass, past, read, take, offer, give, pay, lend we can make two different passive sentences. E.g. He gave Laura some flowers. – 1) Laura was given some flowers. 2) Some flowers were given to Laura.

· When the verb in the active sentence is followed by a proposition, the proposition is kept in the passive sentence as well. E.g. The police accused him of the murder. – He was accused of the murder.

· When we want to find out who or what did something, then the passive question form is as follows: Who / What ….. by?  E.g. Who was Australia discovered by? What was the fire caused by?

Have Something Done

We use have + object + past participle to say that we have arranged for someone to do something for us. E.g. We had our bookcases made by the carpenter. (We didn’t make them themselves. The carpenter made them for us.)

· Questions and negations of the verb have are formed with the auxiliary verbs (do, does, did, etc.) E.g. Did you have your car serviced?

· We can also use have something done to say that something unpleasant happened to somebody. E.g. Paul had his bike stolen yesterday, (= Paul’s bike was stolen.)

· We can use the verb get instead of the verb have only in informal conversation. E.g. You must get/have your hair cut this week.

	Active Voice	Have something done
Present simple	He paints the house.	He has the house painted.
Present continuous	He is painting the house	He is having the house painted.
Past simple	He painted the house.	He had the house painted.
Past continuous	He was painting the house.	He was having the house painted.
Future simple	He will paint the house.	He will have the house painted.
Future continuous	He will be painting the house.	He will be having the house painted.
Preset perfect	He has painted the house.	He has had the house painted.
Present perfect continuous	He has been painting the house.	He has been having the house painted.
Past perfect	He had painted the house.	He had had the house painted.
Past perfect continuous	He had been painting the house.	He had been having the house painted.
Infinitive	He must paint the house.	He must have the house painted.
-ing form	It’s worth painting the house.	It’s worth having the house painted.

 

1. Put the verbs in brackets into the correct passive tense .

1. A: Who looks after your garden for you? B: It ____________ (look) after by my mother. 2. A: That’s a beautiful dress. Where did you buy it? B: Actually, it _____________ (make) for me by my aunt. 3. A: Have you typed that letter yet, Miss Brown? B: It ___________ (type) right now, sir. 4. A: Did you make the coffee when you got to work this morning? B: No, it ______________________ (already/make) by the time I got there. 5. A: Are you going to pick up the children today? B: No, they ________________ (pick) up by Roger. I’ve already arranged it. 6. A: Where is your watch? B: I broke it. It ________________ (repair) at the moment. 7. A: Has the new furniture for my bedroom arrived? B: No, the furniture _________________ (not/deliver) yet. 8. A: They are building a new sports centre in town. B: I know. It ________________ (open) by the mayor next month.

 

2. Fill in ‘by’ or ‘with’.

1. The lock was broken _____ a hammer. 2. The cyclist was knocked _____ a bus. 3. Soup is eaten ____ a spoon. 4. Who was the radio invented _____ ? 5. The car was fixed ____ a mechanic. 6. The glass was cut ____ a special tool. 7. Her hair is coloured ____ henna ____ a hairdresser. 8. ‘Born in the USA’ was sung ___ Springsteen. 9. The roast was flavoured ____ wine. 10. This decision will be made ____ the local council. 11. He was knocked ____ the stone. It was an accident. 12. He was knocked ___ the stone. It was a murder. 13. The book was written _____ my favourite writer. 14. The cake was decorating ____ icing. 15. The tiger was shot _____ a gun. 16. Claire was shouted at ______ her teacher. He was hit on the head ____ an umbrella.

3. Change the sentences from the active into the passive. Omit the agent where it can be omitted.

1. Someone is repairing the garden fence. ________________________ 2. Do they teach Latin at this school? ______________________ 3. She hit him on the head with a tennis racquet. ______________________ 4. Michael has made the preparations. __________________ 5. Is Tim cleaning the house? ________________ 6. The boss is going to give us a pay rise. ____________________________ 7. I expect they will deliver my new car soon. _________________________ 8. The police are questioning the suspects. __________________ 9. Did your next door neighbours see the thieves? _________________ 10. A lot of children use computers nowadays. _________________________________ 11. Who smashed the kitchen window? ___________________________ 12. They won’t have completed the work by the end of the month. _______________________________ 13. The children will post the letters. _________________________ 14. People make wine from grapes. ______________________ 15. Had Helen closed the windows before she left the house? _____________________ 16. Jill hasn’t done the housework yet. ______________________ 17. They may not deliver the parcel yet. ___________________________

4. Choose the correct answer.

A large amount of valuable jewellery 1) has stolen / has been stolen from Forest Manor. A man 2) arrested / was arrested yesterday and 3) is questioned / is being questioned by the police at the moment. He 4) thought / is thought to 5) have committed / have been committed the crime, although so far no proof 6) has found / has been found. The robbery 7) believed / is believed to 8)  have been carried out / have carried out by two men, but so far no clue 9) has discovered / has been discovered as to the second man’s identity. The police say that he may 10) have left / have been left the country.

5. Change into the passive.

A) The police are investigating a series of break-ins in the Hatterby area. Residents have heard noises but nobody has actually seen anything suspicious. The recent rise in crime in the neighbourhood has shocked residents. Locals are discussing matters of security with the police and they have requested greater police presence in the area.

B) A wealthy businessman has just bought the Black Swan Hotel. The Barrett family owned it for many years, and they should have restored the building many years ago, but they couldn’t find enough money. The new owner is closing the hotel for a few months for redecoration. At the moment workmen are polishing the floors and redecorating all the rooms.

6. Fill in the blanks with passive constructions. Add the relative pronouns who or that, where necessary.

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