Active and Passive voice

What is the difference between the following two sentences?

 I cleaned the house.
 The house was cleaned (by me).

There are two different sentence structures (in terms voice – the Active Voice and the
Passive Voice.

Active voice – brings the doer of the action as a subject. Its emphasis is on the doer of the
action. (The subject of the sentence is ‘Active’ – it is a doer!)
E.g. - In the sentence ‘I cleaned the house’, the emphasis is on who did the action in which
case ‘I’ is given due attention. (The subject ‘I’ is the doer or in other words, is
responsible for the action of cleaning the house.)

Passive voice – on the other hand focuses on the receiver of the action. (The subject of a
passive sentence is ‘Passive’ – it receives the action or is acted upon.) The passive voice is
used to divert the attention from the doer of the action to the receiver for different reasons
which we will see in a bit.

E.g. - In the second sentence ‘The house was cleaned’, the emphasis completely shifts
from the doer to the receiver which is the house. (Our subject in this case, ‘the
house’ is acted upon.)

We use the passive voice for different reasons:

1. When we are interested in the action, not who or what does/did it. These are usually
passives without agents and used in academic and scientific writings.
E.g. Water is composed of one oxygen and two hydrogen molecules.

2. When the doer or the agent is not known.

E.g. The bank was robbed yesterday.

3. When the receiver is more important than the doer (for our given situation).
E.g. John F. Kennedy was killed in 1963.

4. When the doer or agent is obvious.

E.g. The exam will be given at 8:30 next Monday.

5. To hide the doer of the action.

E.g. The window was broken. (We know who did it but don’t want to expose the doer.)

 We can bring in the agent into the passive sentence using ‘by’ and tools or means using
‘with’.
E.g. My questions were answered by my classmates.
The pieces of wood were attached together with a screw.

Changing Active voice into Passive voice

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 Passive voice tenses take be + V3 form
Active voice Passive voice
Simple present
S + V1 S + is/am/are + V3
e.g. They build houses. Houses are built.

Simple past
S + V2 S + was/were + V3
e.g. They built a house. A house was built.

Present continuous
S + is/am/are + V-ing S + is/am/are + being + V3
e.g. They are building a house. A house is being built.

Past continuous
S + was/were + V-ing S + was/were + being + V3
e.g. They were building a house. A house was being built.

Present perfect
S + has/have + V3 S + has/have + been + V3
e.g. They have built a house. A house has been built.

Past perfect
S + had + V3 S + had + been + V3
e.g. They had built a house. A house had been built.

Present perfect continuous

S + has/have + been + V-ing S + has/have + been + being + V3
(not very common)
e.g. They have been building a house. A house has been being built.

Past perfect continuous

S + had + been + V-ing S + had + been + being + V3 (not very
common)
e.g. They had been building a house. A house had been being built.

Simple future
S + will/shall + V1 S + will/shall + be + V3
e.g. They will build a house. A house will be built.

Future Perfect
S + will have + V3 S + will have + been + V3
e.g. They will have built a house. A house will have been built.

Clauses of contrast (Discussing advantages and disadvantages)

Look at the following examples carefully and try to identify their differences in their structure.
 Although technology is aiding us to be more efficient and effective, it is also making us
lazier & weaker in a way.
 Despite its benefits in our advancement, technology is significantly causing damage to our
environment.

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 Globalization has brought the world into one village; on the other hand, it has harmed
some countries, especially the developing ones.
Although the structures used in these sentences show contrast, there are certain differences
in their formation. Study the following forms and compare them to the given examples.
Despite/in spite of + noun/noun phrase
E.g. - In spite of his laziness, he passed the examination.
Despite all the odds against him, he became successful in the end.
Although/though/even though/despite the fact that/in spite of the fact that + clause (Subject
+verb)
E.g. - Although he was lazy, he passed the examination.
Despite the fact that the country is growing fast, its people are suffering the effects of
inflation.

The Present Perfect

Can you identify the difference between the following two sentences?
 I lived in Addis Ababa for ten years.  I have lived in Addis Ababa for ten
years.
The present perfect has the form:
Subject + has/have + V3
Examples:
 The new English book has served for three years now. (Affirmative)
 I have learned a lot from life. (Affirmative)
 Have you learned in EPS since grade one? (Question)
 I have not seen the director today. (Negative)
 Many reference books have been written by different authors.(Passive)
Uses
Present perfect is used in the following situations:
1. For an action that started in the past and still is in progress. In this case, we use ‘since’
and ‘for’ to show the time.
E.g. I have learned in EPS since I first grade.
I have known her for seven years.
2. For a recently completed action. (With just, already, yet, recently, lately)
E.g. We have just discussed the form of present perfect.
My sister has recently married.
We have already celebrated Meskel.
I have not completed discussing the present perfect yet.
3. For a past action with present effect or result.
E.g. He has lost his cell phone. (He can’t call you now)
I have finished studying. (I can relax now)
4. For a past action without time indicator. In this case the time is not important or the
speaker doesn’t exactly remember it.
E.g. I have seen this movie.

 If we want to use simple past there must be a time indicator with it.
E.g. I saw this movie last month.

Since, for, ago

 Addis Ababa has been the capital city of Ethiopia since 1886.
 Ethiopian Higher Education Entrance Examination has been given for eleven years.
 Her husband graduated from Addis Ababa University five years ago.

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What kind of difference do you see between since, for, and ago in the above three sentences?
 ‘Since’ is used to show ‘starting’ point of time. It is used with present perfect, not simple
past
E.g. I have lived in this area since I was born.

 ‘For’ is used to show period, duration or length of time. (It can be used for both simple past
and present perfect with different meanings.)
E.g. I have learned in this school for eight years. (I am still learning in this school)I
I learned in this school for eight years. (I am not learning in this school)

 ‘Ago’ is used to mean ‘before sometime in the past’. It is used with simple past, not
present perfect.
E.g. She left the company two weeks ago.

Comparing Things
What can you say about the following sentences?
 His result is far less than his expectations.
 His result is less than his expectations.
 I am less interested in football than in basketball.
 I am not as interested in football as I am in basketball.
In comparison, we can compare quantity and quality.
E.g. There were more people in last year’s concert than this year’s. (Quantity)
His first book is far more interesting than his last. (Quality)
In talking about and comparing things, we use three types of structures called ‘degrees’.

A. Positive degree
i. shows quality of a thing or a person.
E.g. Bealu Girma was an outstanding writer.
His books were interesting.
ii. compares/shows similarity between two things (as…as, not so…as, not as… as)
E.g. My brother is as intelligent as my sister.
The candidates are not so (or ‘as’) effective as they should have been.
B. Comparative degree (adjective/adverb -er +than/more + adjective/adverb +than)
compares two things/persons/groups
E.g. Many teachers agree that our class size is larger than it should be.
The topics covered in eleventh grade are more advanced than earlier ones.
C. Superlative degree (adjective/adverb -est / the + most + adjective/adverb)
compares more than two things/persons/groups
E.g. My children are the biggest rewards I have ever had.
Last week’s exam is the most difficult exam I have ever seen.

 When we compare things, we can use different structures. We can also show bigger or
smaller differences using words like a bit, far, nearly, by far, etc.
E.g. She is by far the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.
Although he toiled day and night, he scored far less than what he deserved.
He is a bit more hard-headed than I expected.

N.B. There are some irregular adjectives that completely change in comparative and
superlative degrees.
Examples:
Positive Comparative Superlative
good/well better best
bad/ill worse worst

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 far farther/further farthest/furthest
much/many/a lot more most
little less least

Conditional Sentences (Type I)

Look at the following examples.
 If you see Abel will you tell him I’m looking for him?
 If I need any help, I will call you.
 I can’t answer the question unless you give me enough time for it.
All of these sentences present a ‘condition’ presented in one part of the sentences without
which the other parts cannot be achieved. In the last sentence, for example, the question
cannot be answered if sufficient time is not given. The availability of enough time is the
‘condition’ for this sentence.
Sentences that provide action with conditions in such a manner are called ‘Conditional
Sentences’.
Conditional sentences (or conditionals for short) are mainly divided into three major types. In
this part, we will discuss only the first conditional.
All conditional sentences have two parts – the if-clause and the main-clause. The if-clause
contains the condition whereas the main-clause is the action that is to be completed provided
that the if-clause if accomplished.
Type 1 Conditional
Also called the possible/probable/likely/real condition has the following form:
if-clause Main-clause
Simple Present Simple Future
S+ V1 S+ will + V1
E.g. – If I know the answer, I will tell you.
In this condition, the action in the main-clause has a good chance of coming true if the if-
clause is fulfilled.
 When forming sentences in this condition, either the if-clause or the main-clause can come
first. However, a comma must be placed between the if-clause and the main-clause when
the sentence begins with the if-clause.
E.g. – If you invite her, she will come.
She will come if you invite her.

The Zero conditional

This condition is used for general truth and when we are sure that the main clause will comes
true if the if clause happens. In this condition, both the If-clause and the main-clause are in
simple present tense (S + V1).
E.g. – If you take out a fish from water, it dies. (General truth)
If you take her doll, she cries. (Surety)

In these cases, the word ‘if’ functions/means’ the same as ‘when’. Consider the following.
E.g. – If you take out a fish from water, it dies.
When you take out fish from water, it dies.
However, under normal conditions ‘if’ and ‘when’ are different.
E.g. – I will tell her if she comes. (She may or may not come.)
I will tell her when she comes. (She will surely come.)

Unless = If … not
‘Unless’ can substitute ‘if … not’ in conditional sentences.

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 E.g. 1. You will not be successful unless you work hard.
You will not be successful if you do not work hard.
2. He will die unless he stops smoking soon.
He will die if he does not stop smoking soon.

Reported Speech
What differences do you see between these two sentences?
1. Meron: You are really careless with your studies.
2. Meron said, “You are really careless with your studies.”
3. Meron told me that I was really careless with my studies.
The first statement is the actual sentence Meron spoke while the second and third sentences
are reports of what she has said. When we report what others say/said, we can use two
different methods; we can report it using;
1. Direct speech
2. Indirect/Reported speech

Direct Speech is a way of reporting in which we report the speakers message/statement

using his/her own words. We use quotation marks and additional words to show that the
words are not ours and that we are reporting them. (Look at sentence 2 in the example
above)
Indirect speech is reporting people’s idea without using their exact words. (Look at sentence
3 in the example above)
When using the reported speech, we make some changes to the speaker’s statement. These
changes include changes in tense and words.

1. Pronoun changes

Normally, all first person pronouns change to third person pronouns, but always check the
speaker.
First person singular First Person Plural
I he, she we they
me him, her us them
my his, her our their
mine his, hers ours theirs
myself himself, herself ourselves themselves

Normally, all second person pronouns change to first person pronouns, but always check
whom the speaker is talking to.
First person singular First Person Plural
you i you we
you me you us
your my your our
yours mine yours ours
yourself myself yourself ourselves
Third persons (He, She, and They) do not change.

2. Tense change

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A. If the reporting verbs are in the present or future tenses, there will be NO tense change.
E.g. 1. He says, “I will come with her.”
He says that he will come with her.
2. He will say he doesn’t know the answer.

B. If the reporting verb is in the past tense, the tense of the speaker’s statement changes.
E.g. He said, “I will come with her.”
He said that he would come with her.

Direct Speech Reported Speech

1. Simple present simple past
V1 V2
2. Present continuous past continuous
is/am/are +V-ing is/am/are +V-ing
3. Present perfect Past perfect
has/have +V3 had + V3
4. Present perfect continuous past perfect continuous
has/have been + V-ing had been + V-ing
5. Simple past past perfect
V2 had + V3
6. Past continuous past perfect continuous
was/were + V-ing had been +V-ing
7. Simple future present conditional
will/shall + V1 would +V1
8. Future perfect perfect conditional
will have +V3 would have +V3
9. can could

10. must had to

Note that if the direct speech is general truth the tense is not changed.

3. Adjectives change

Direct Speech Reported Speech

this that
these those

4. Adverbs change
Direct Speech Reported Speech
today that day
now then/at that moment
tomorrow the next day/the following day
next week the following week
next year the following year
yesterday the previous day/the day before
last night the previous night
last week the previous week
ago before
here there
Reporting Questions
We use different ways of reporting for the different types of questions (Yes/No & ‘Wh’
Question types)

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In reporting questions we should use ask, want to know, inquire, etc. as reporting verbs.
Moreover, the question forms in the direct speech must be changed into statement forms and
should be closed with a period (fullstop)
E.g. He said, “Where is the book?”
He asked where the book was.
Reporting WH- questions
We use the ‘wh’ word used to ask the original question, and the WH- word comes immediately
after the reporting verb.
E.g. She said to me, “When will you come back?”
She wanted to know when I would come back.
Reporting a yes/no questions
We put ‘if’ or ‘whether’ between the reporting verb and the question.
E.g. He asked me, “Are you going on a trip?”
He asked me if I was going on a trip.
She said, “Has he gone out?”
She asked whether he had gone out.
Reporting Commands
In reporting commands we use command, order, or tell, as reporting verbs, and ‘to’ comes
between the reporting verb and the direct command while reporting.
E.g. He said to me, “Stop talking!”
He told me to stop talking.
She said to me, “Don’t close the door!”
She ordered me not to close the door.

Defining Relative Clauses

Are the following two sentences the same or different in meaning?
 My brother, who lives in America, sent me a laptop.
 My brother who lives in America sent me a laptop.
What about these two?
 The book, which you gave me to read, is not that much interesting.
 The book you gave me to read is not interesting.

RELATIVE CLAUSES

Relative Clauses describe nouns or pronouns that come before them.

The most common relative pronouns are who, whom, which, that, and whose.

There are two types of relative clauses:

1. Defining Relative Clauses and
2. Non-defining Relative clauses

A. Defining Relative Clauses

Defining Relative Clauses describe or identify the nouns they refer to. They are important
for the noun to have a complete meaning or to avoid confusion.
Here are the relative pronouns used in Defining relative clauses with their examples
Subject Object Possessi
on
People Who, that Who, whom, that or (nothing) Whose
Things Which, that Which, that or (nothing) whose

Examples
1. The man who/that came late to the party is an athlete.

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 2. The man whom/that/who you talked to earlier is my father.
The man you talked to earlier is my father. (The relative pronoun omitted for the
Object)
3. The woman whose husband died few weeks ago looks really sad.
4. The book which/that has red hard cover is mine.
5. The book which/that I bought last week is expensive.
The book I bought last week is expensive. (The relative pronoun omitted for the
Object)
6. The table whose leg was broken has been thrown out.
B. Non-defining Relative Clauses
Non-defining Relative Clauses give only extra information.
Here are the relative pronouns used in Non-defining relative clauses

Subject Object Possessi

on
People Who Whom/who Whose
Things Which Which whose
Examples
1. Nelson Mandela, who has been hospitalized recently, is feeling better.
2. Teddy Afro, whom many Ethiopians admire, married an actress a few months ago.
3. Ethiopia, which is in East Africa, is a major exporter of coffee.
4. ‘Fikir Eske Mekabir’, which many people have read, was written by Haddis
Alemayehu.

 In non-defining relative clauses object relative pronouns cannot be omitted, and

‘that’ cannot substitute the relative pronouns.

Talking about the Past (used to, would)

Examine the following statements closely. What type of tense was used in these statements?
 The late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi changed this country in many different ways.
 The tests that I took last month were the most difficult I have ever faced.
 He might lose the race because he is not as good as he used to be.
 Back when I was a kid, I would read as many reference books as I could.
 She didn’t use to be so popular.

We use a number of structures and expressions to talk about the past.

The simple Past Tense (Subject + V2)
This tense is formed using the past form of the verb. We use ‘Did’ as an auxiliary verb to form
questions and negatives in this tense.
E.g. He broke the record. (Affirmative)
Did he break the record? (Question)
He did not break the record. (Negative)
Some uses of Simple Past
Simple past is used:
i. To express an action that happened in the past (the general past)
E.g. She baked the bread yesterday.
ii. To express a past repeated action. In this case it is the same as Used to + V 1
E.g. My brother usually played foot ball when he was young.
My brother used to play foot ball when he was young.
N.B. I worked in this organization for five years. (means I don’t work there any more)
I have worked in this organization for five years. ( means I am still working there)

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Third (past) conditional
(Please refer to earlier discussions [Unit 2] on conditional sentences and Type 1 conditionals for
revision)
Type 3 Conditional
Also called the ‘Impossible condition’ has the following form:
if-clause Main-clause
Past Perfect Perfect Conditional
S + had + V3 S + would have + V3

E.g. – If I had known the answer, I would have told you.

In this condition, the action in the main-clause is impossible to achieve even if the if-clause is
fulfilled. This is mainly because the action described in the main-clause has passed. (thus the
name – past conditional) It expresses the speaker’s regret.
The sentence, ‘If I had known the answer, I would have told you.’ means I didn’t know the
answer, so I didn’t tell you, and now there is no chance of doing it.

 When forming sentences in this condition, either the if-clause or the main-clause can come
first. However, a comma must be placed between the if-clause and the main-clause when
the sentence begins with the if-clause.
E.g. – If you had invited her, she would have come.
She would have come if you had invited her.
 This condition can never come true because it has already passed; in this conditional we
can use could have/ should have/ might have + V3 in the main clause to show what could
have been done/happen.
E.g. – If you had told me the truth, I could have helped you.
 If she had known the truth, she might have been offended.

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