Week 10

A. The Active and Passive Voice

active		passive
The hunter killed the lion.	>>	The lion was killed by the hunter.
Someone has cleaned the windows	>>	The windows have been cleaned

The passive forms are made up of the verb be with a past participle:

	be	past participle
English	is	spoken	all over the world
The windows	have been	cleaned
Lunch	was being	served
The work	will be	finished	soon
They	might have been	invited	to the party

We sometimes use the verb get to form the passive:

Be careful with the glass. It might get broken.
Peter got hurt in a crash.

If we want to show the person or thing doing the action we use by:

She was attacked by a dangerous dog.
The money was stolen by her husband.

We can use the indirect object as the subject of a passive verb:

active		passive
I gave him a book for his birthday	>>	He was given a book for his birthday.
Someone sent her a cheque for a thousand euros	>>	She was sent a cheque for a thousand euros.

We can use phrasal verbs in the passive:

active		passive
They called off the meeting.	>>	The meeting was called off.
His grandmother looked after him.	>>	He was looked after by his grandmother.
They will send him away to school.	>>	He will be sent away to school.

Some verbs very frequently used in the passive are followed by the to-infinitive:

be supposed to	be expected to	be asked to
be scheduled to	be allowed to	be told to

John has been asked to make a speech at the meeting.
You are supposed to wear a uniform.
The meeting is scheduled to start at seven. 

Examples of the passive and active voice per verb tense

	Active	Passive
Simple Present	Once a week, Tom cleans the house.	Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom.
Present Continuous	Right now, Sarah is writing the letter.	Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah.
Simple Past	Sam repaired the car.	The car was repaired by Sam.
Past Continuous	The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store.	The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store.
Present Perfect	Many tourists have visited that castle.	That castle has been visited by many tourists.
Present Perfect Continuous	Recently, John has been doing the work.	Recently, the work has been being done by John.
Past Perfect	George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic's license.	Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic's license.
Past Perfect Continuous	Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant's fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to Paris.	The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being prepared by Chef Jones for two years before he moved to Paris.
Simple Future will	Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM.	The work will be finished by 5:00 PM.
Simple Future be going to	Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.	A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally tonight.
Future Continuous will	At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes.	At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washed by John.
Future Continuous be going to	At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washing the dishes.	At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washed by John.
Future Perfect will	They will have completed the project before the deadline.	The project will have been completed before the deadline.
Future Perfect be going to	They are going to have completed the project before the deadline.	The project is going to have been completed before the deadline.
Future Perfect Continuous will	The famous artist will have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.	The mural will have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.
Future Perfect Continuous be going to	The famous artist is going to have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.	The mural is going to have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.
Used to	Jerry used to pay the bills.	The bills used to be paid by Jerry.
Would Always	My mother would always make the pies.	The pies would always be made by my mother.
Future in the Past Would	I knew John would finish the work by 5:00 PM.	I knew the work would be finished by 5:00 PM.
Future in the Past Was Going to	I thought Sally was going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.	I thought a beautiful dinner was going to be made by Sally tonight.

B. Why use a passive voice?

Passive sentences are quite useful if you do not want to apportion blame.

 The document had been released into the public domain.
(passive sentence – no blame)

Look at the active version:

 Jackie released the document into the public domain.
(Jackie did it)

Here are some other good reasons to use a passive sentence:

When you don’t want to reveal who was responsible

 Bad advice was given years earlier. 
 A serious failing in standing operating procedures had occurred.

To put something you want to emphasize at the start of your sentence

 An estimated 258,000 people were injured in alcohol-related crashes.

 Money was debited from my bank account to cover administration fees.

To use the same subject twice (e.g. once in an active clause and once in a passive one)

 Martin crashed into the barrier and was tossed into the crowd. Montpellier's population grew at a rapid rate and was seen as the most attractive city in the south of France back in the late 90's.

C. Switching things around

Read the following articles, proverbs and quotes and switch the passive voice to active and vice versa.

Article 1: How Towns Have Arisen

Most villages and towns on the British Isles came into being because of their favourable situation for trade.
Rather more than a hundred years ago, a great change came over the land. Many machines were invented about that time. Spinning and weaving, for example, which had previously been done by hand, were done by machinery that were driven by water or steam-power.
The work which usually was done in the houses of the people began to be carried on in large mills or factories, and workers found it convenient to live near them.
More and more factories were built and men and women left the country districts in great numbers and crowded into towns.
Since then the movement of people into towns has been going on until now. England is dotted with great cities.
All over Britain, and especially in those parts were the coal needed for power is to be found, there are mining and manufacturing areas, such as the Lancashire cotton district, the Black county of Midland, and others. A great many towns are found close together in those districts, and a great many people live within a small area, so that the population is very dense.

Article 2: Britain’s Roman Villas

Numerous monuments recall the 400 or so years when Britain was part of the Roman Empire. Ancient city walls, old roads, front defences. But it is at the villas that one feels closest to the everyday life of Roman Britain.
The villas were homes. In their kitchens bread was baked.  Along their corridors echoed family conversations. They were well built and handsomely decorated. The first villa was built around A.D. 80-90. It was a small farm. Later on the house was extended, kitchens and baths were added.
It is known that many villas were destroyed by fire. Their ruins remain hidden for years and it is often by accident that the site is discovered.
So in Hampshire a number of oyster-shells were found by a farmer, and the shells, remnants of a long-ago feast, led to the discovery of the villa at Rockbourne.

(From “Mosaica”)

Article 3: A Skillful Piece of Work

Once Birmingham and Sheffield, two of the largest towns in England, began to quarrel. The quarrel started as each of them claimed to be able to produce the most skillful piece of work.
A special jury was chosen to decide which city would show the greatest skill.
The day arrived. A steel spider with long thin legs was produced by representatives of Sheffield. The spider was made by the best workers. It was as small as a pea. It ran about on the table as if it were alive. A wonderful mechanism had been put in that little body. Everybody was sure that the first place would be given to Sheffield.
Then a sewing needle was laid on the table by representatives of Birmingham. A smile appeared on the lips of the jury when the needle was noticed.
Then the top of the needle was screwed off and 4 needles were drawn out, one from another.
The first needle, as it was, had been the case of the four other needles. The needles were handed over to each member and examined with great interest.
In whose favour did the jury decide?

Proverbs

1. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
2. A man is known by the company he keeps.
3. A fox is not taken twice in the same snare.
4. Old birds are not caught with chaff.
5. Never ask pardon before you are accused.
6. A liar is not believed when he tells the truth.
7. Advice when most needed is least heeded.
8. Desires are nourished by delays.
9. Forewarned is forearmed.
10. Marriages are made in heaven.
11. A threatened blow is seldom given.
12. Danger foreseen is half avoided.
13. Little thieves are hanged, but great ones escape.
14. What is done cannot be undone.
15. Rome was not built in a day.
16. Fingers were made before forks.
17. Acorns were good till bread was found.
18. Youth will be served.
19. The fish will soon be caught that nibbles at every bait.
20. Ask no questions and you will be told no lies.

Quotations

1. Wisdom is only found in truth. (J. W.  Goethe)
2. An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult. (Ph. Chesterfield)
3. He who commits injustice is ever made more wretches than he who suffers it. (Plato)
4. If on Parnassus Top you sit You rarely bite, are always bit. (J. Swift)
5. Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered. (Aristotle)
6. When peace has been broken anywhere, the peace of all countries everywhere is in danger. (F. D. Roosevelt)
7. What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure. (S. Johnson)
8. New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common. (J. Locke)
9. The die is cast. (Caesar)
10. Draw the curtain, the farce is played. (F. Rabelais)
11. Libraries are not made, they grow. (A. Birrell)
12. Common sense is the most widely shared commodity in the world, for every man is convinced that he is well supplied with it. (R. Descartes)
13. Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempted to find a plot in it will be shot. (M. Twain)
14. When Thales was asked what was most difficult, he said, “To know on one’s self.” And what was easy, “To advise another.” (Diogenes)