Unit 3.
Passives
Overview
1. FORM OF THE PASSIVE
We form the passive using be in an appropriate tense or form + the past participle of a transitive verb:
A small sum of money was stolen from the cash box.
They ought to have been punished more severely.
Having been beaten in the semi-final, she flew home the next day.
• In spoken English, we sometimes use get instead of be in the passive:
They got told off for making so much noise.
• However, get + -ed is more common with an active meaning similar to 'become’ in phrases like get
dressed, get married, etc.
2. REASONS FOR USING THE PASSIVE
In English, the topic or subject matter is commonly at the beginning of the sentence, and new information
about the subject is normally at the end. In an active sentence, the ‘agent’ (the person or thing that
performs the action) usually comes first and is the subject of the sentence:
Subject (Agent) Action Result
Olympiakos scored the first goal.
This active sentence is principally about Olympiakos.
• In the passive, the result or thing affected by the action comes first and is the subject of the sentence:
Subject (Result) Action Agent
The first goal was scored by Olympiakos.
This passive sentence is principally about the goal.
We choose between active and passive because of the topic we are talking about, especially when
reporting information. An English newspaper, assuming its readers are interested in the England football
team, makes the England team the topic. It is likely to report:
England have been beaten by Germany in a penalty shoot-out.
A German newspaper, more interested in their own national team, is likely to report:
Germany has beaten England in a penalty shoot-out.
Other reasons for using the passive include:
the agent is unknown or obvious:
I was born in 1982.
Coffee will be made available after the meal.
the agent is 'people or things in general’: Some verbs cannot be used in the Continuous.
the agent is a long phrase:
Helen was surprised by all the messages of sympathy that she received.
avoiding references to ourselves and making a statement impersonal:
We can’t possibly complete this work overnight. becomes: This work can’t possibly be completed
overnight. (= the work is the problem, not us)
avoiding ‘you’ in orders and rules:
You must give in your application before the end of the week, becomes: All applications must be given
in before the end of the week.
in factual writing when the focus is usually on events, achievements, etc. rather than agents:
Vaccination had been pioneered two hundred years earlier.
• Not all be + -ed forms are passive. They may be adjectives:
I was worried we would be late because of the traffic.
• We avoid passive constructions with be being or been being, although they sometimes occur in
spoken English:
Avoіd: The road will have been being repaired for months.
/ They will have been repairing the road for months, or: The road will have been under repair for
months.
SECTION 1
Agents and objects with the passive
1. THE AGENT
Not mentioning the agent
In most passive sentences we have no interest in who or what performs the action. We are
interested in the action itself, who or what is affected by the action, or what is the result of it (see
Overview). In fact, only about 20% of passive sentences mention the agent:
That window has been broken again!
Mentioning the agent
We mention the agent when we think the information is important, especially if we want to say
more about it, for example with a relative clause:
I remember being taken to the fair by my father, who rarely showed any interest in such
things.
The survivors were picked out of the water by a cruise liner which had heard their distress
call.
• The agent is usually introduced with by.
2. VERBS WITH TWO OBJECTS
Verbs that have two objects (usually a person and a thing) in the active usually have two passive
forms because either of the objects can become the new subject:
They gave the award to an unknown actress.
(= active)
The award was given to an unknown actress.
(= passive)
An unknown actress was given the award.
(= passive)
• We usually add a preposition before the personal object. The preposition is usually to, but we
sometimes use for:
A note was handed to the minister.
A slice of cake was cut for him.
• However, some verbs, e.g. allow, ask, cause, forgive, deny, don’t normally take a preposition
before the personal object:
Permission was refused him.
3. VERBS WITH LIMITED USE IN THE PASSIVE
We can’t use some verbs as freely in the passive as others.
• We can’t use intransitive verbs in the passive because they don't have an object that can be
changed into the subject:
The Tasmanian tiger was died out early this century.
The Tasmanian tiger died out early this century.
• Some verbs, e.g. suggest and explain, can’t change the indirect object to subject:
he was explained the procedure.
We were suggested a new time.
The procedure was explained to him.
A new time was suggested for us.
• Some verb phrases with two objects can’t be passive at all:
I bear him no ill will.
The book earned him a fortune.
Let me wish you luck.
• Some verbs are followed by two nouns, but the second is not really an object. We can see this
if it is replaced by an adjective:
They declared him President.
He was declared President.
The doctor declared him dead.
He was declared dead.
PRACTICE
1. Fill each of the gaps in the following sentences with one of the passive verb phrases
below.
is deemed
could soon be fitted
were charged
has been held
has finally been elected
is expected
being caused
to be printed
is auctioned
being considered
a High-tech Teg-irons’………………. on violent suspects arrested by the police, under
plans ..............................................by chief constables.
b Last week, police in Scotland called for the introduction of legrestraints following
concerns about the number of injuries...................................................during struggles in the
back of police cars and vans.
c Four people......... last night with public disorder offences after officers mounted dawn
raids on suspected football hooligans.
d Hugh Hefner, founder of ‘Playboy’, …………… to the American Society of Magazine
Editors’ Hall of Fame.
e A first edition copy of Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’, the first book ………………... in
England, .......... to raise at least £500,000 when it................................in July.
f A British woman released early from an attempted murder sentence in the Unites
States - a charge which she has always denied -...................................in prison because she
......................... an illegal immigrant.
2. Add the appropriate extra information (a-e) to the passive sentences (1-5).
1. The news was leaked to the press by the minister ...................
2. The minister was attacked by protesters, ..................
3. I remember being sent a letter by a man in America ....................
4. The winning goal was scored by Fausto Ferrini .....................
5. A man was run over by a car, ....................
a) in his first appearance for the club.
b) who had waited outside the building all day to voice their opposition to the policies.
c) in a deliberate attempt to boost his popularity.
d) who complained my article was prejudiced against his country.
e) which witnesses said was being driven at very high speed.
3. Where possible, rewrite each of the following sentences in two different ways, using
a different subject each time. Some sentences may be rewritten only one way.
a. The police showed the victim a picture of the suspect.
b. People used to sell the tourists fake antiques.
c. Why didn’t they offer the customers a refund?
d. They didn’t guarantee every participant a free lunch.
e. They reported the incident to the police.
f. People suggested to us that the Internet would be a good source of information.
g. They promised us full compensation if the scheme fell through.
h. The referee declared the boxing match a draw.
i. We'll give the new members of staff all the help they need.
j. The incident earned him the reputation of being unreliable.
4. Fill each of the numbered blanks in the following passage with one suitable word.
Twenty-four hours after arriving in the country, I………………… (1) told to leave. The
security police, the country’s largest employer, came to my hotel, politely asked me what I
thought of the city and then recommended that I leave on the morning plane. I asked them why I
was ….................... (2) expelled and they said it was not a question of my being ‘ ………….. (3)
out’, they were simply recommending that I leave. I refused and the problems started. My
passport and plane ticket ……………… (4) stolen from my room after my key ‘disappeared’.
The police shrugged their shoulders and decided not to interview the leather- jacketed youth who
I ……..................... (5) been pressed up against in the lift. For three days I was ………… (6) by
two not very secret policemen everywhere I went. I visited a fellow-journalist whose address I
had…………… (7) given. He lived in a beautiful old house which would ………………..
............... (8) demolished the following year by the government to make way for a block of
‘modern’ flats. Everybody would be …………. (9) in it as soon as it was ready but where they
would live in the meantime had not been ………….. (10) out. Massive taxation was ……..
............... (11) imposed on the people to pay for these supposed improvements. I went back to
the hotel, still ………….. (12) followed by the two policemen, and felt very depressed.
SECTION 2
Infinitives and -ing form passives
1. INFINITIVES AFTER CERTAIN VERBS
Make, see, hear, and help have different patterns in the active and the passive. In the active, the
verb is followed by object + infinitive without to. In the passive, we use a to-infinitive:
Active Passive
I heard him shout at He was heard to shout at
his brother. his brother.
They’ve made him promise He’s been made to promise not to come before six.
not to come before six.
2. PASSIVE INFINITIVES
We form the passive infinitive of verbs by putting to be (sometimes to get) in front of the past
participle:
Active Passive
There’s so much to do. There’s so much to be done.
I've got to write this essay before Friday. This essay has got to be written before Friday.
If I'm going to do it by then, I'd better get a move on. If t's going to be done by then, I'd better get a move on.
We use Perfect passive infinitives to emphasise that something is or isn’t completed:
My new car was to have been delivered today but there was a problem with the paintwork.
Active or passive infinitive?
• If the subject is the agent, the sentence is active and we use an active infinitive:
I’ve got so many library books to return.
• If the subject is not the agent, we use a passive infinitive:
All systems are to be checked as soon as possible.
• We can use some active and passive infinitives with the same meaning, especially after There:
There are so many rooms to paint / to be painted.
• But, with something, anything and nothing + to do there can be a change in meaning:
There’s nothing to do in the evenings. (= we’re bored) I’m sorry, there’s nothing to be done.
(= there’s no action anyone can take)
3. REPORT VERBS
We often use report verbs, e.g. claim, mention, request, point out, with impersonal passive
constructions.
There are three main patterns:
It’s thought by the press that the chairman earns too much. The chairman is thought by the
press to earn too much. There are thought to be disagreements among senior ministers.
• We often introduce a statement with They say, think, believe, etc. or It is said... / One knows...,
etc. meaning ‘People generally think, believe, etc. ...’: It’s thought that carrots improve
eyesight. (= Carrots are believed to improve eyesight.)
4. PASSIVE -ING FORMS
We use passive -ing forms (being + -ed) and Perfect passive -ing forms (having been + -ed):
• after verbs that are normally followed by -ing forms:
I love being given flowers. She recalled having been taken there when she was young.
• as participles, usually with the meaning of ‘because’:
Being paid monthly, I find annual bills hard to pay. Having been stung by bees, she has no
love of insects.
• as the subject of a sentence:
Being proved wrong is never a comfortable experience.
PRACTICE
1. Fill each of the blanks with a suitable word.
Example: New measures to combat crime are to be introduced at the end of the year.
a) We………..strongly advised………… reconsider our position.
b) He is known ……… ………… hidden large sums of money in his orchard.
c) They are understood ………… have ……….. offered over £5000 for their story.
d) I……….. always made ………… apologise to my little sister after an argument.
e) It’s too late now: there’s nothing more ……..be ………..
f) I left with the distinct feeling of …….. been ……… for granted.
g) I used to steal walnuts from my grandfather’s garden and never worried about……..
…….. out.
h) There are ……… ……… ……… ………. any survivors from yesterday’s aircrash.
2. Finish each of the following sentences in such , a way that it is as similar as possible to
the sentence before it.
Example: Many people believe that Stonehenge was built as some kind of time-keeping device.
Stonehenge is believed by many people to have been built as some kind of time-keeping
device.
a) They made me tell them everything I knew.
I..............................................................
b) Nobody ever let me study the piano at school.
I .............................................................
c) It is often said that Shakespeare never revised anything he wrote.
Shakespeare ...........................................
d) There were once thought to be canals on Mars.
It ............................................................
e) From what we understand, there was an attack last night in the vicinity of the beach.
There is ..................................................
f) It’s a widespread assumption that George was wrongly accused.
George ...................................................
g) You have to clean these football boots until they shine.
These football boots are ........................
h) Under no circumstances should you cross this line.
This line is …………………………………
3. For each of the sentences, write a new sentence as similar as possible in meaning to the
original sentence, but using the word given.
Example: A lot of people are saying that he’s working undercover, rumoured
Its rumoured that he’s working undercover. / He’s rumoured to be working undercover.
a She wants it to be clear to people that she’s fair.
seen ...............................................................
b He often says to people how much of his success is down to you.
heard ...........................................................
c The theory is that she fell overboard at night and drowned.
fallen .............................................................
d We certainly don’t want any repetition of such a ridiculous spectacle ever again.
repeated .......................................................
e The plan was originally to complete the building by June.
due …………………………………………
f When I was a child, I was never allowed to play with the children next door.
let ..................................................................
