THE PASSIVE (I)

Use

We use the passive when we don’t know, or it isn’t important, who does the action. The
passive is much more frequently used in English than in Spanish, where we normally use
the third person plural or “se” when the subject is not specified.

Ahí venden libros de segunda mano

Ahí se venden libros de segunda mano
Second hand books are sold there

Form

We form the passive with the correct tense of the verb “to be” + the past participle.

Tense Active Passive

Present simple She types the letters The letters are typed
Present continuous She is typing the letters The letters are being typed
Present perfect simple She has typed the letters The letters have been typed
Past simple She typed the letters The letters were typed
Past continuous She was typing the letters The letters were being typed
Past perfect simple She had typed the letters The letters had been typed
Future simple She will type the letters The letters will be typed
Future perfect simple She will have typed the letters The letters will have been typed
Be going to She is going to type the letters The letters are going to be typed
Modals and semi- She has to/can type the letters The letters have to/ can be typed
modals

The following tenses do not have a passive form: Present perfect continuous, Past perfect
continuous, Future continuous and Future Perfect continuous, and, therefore, in the passive
we will use their simple forms.

Agent

- The agent (doer) is not mentioned when it is obvious, unimportant or unknown.

Spanish is spoken in South America

His brother was killed in an earthquake

- By + the agent is used when:

- It is important to know who does the action

Radium was discovered by Marie Curie

 - To refer to a method or course of action ( by+verb+ing)

Insects can be destroyed by spraying with DDT

- With is used to refer to the tool or instrument

The meat is flattened with a mallet

Many things can be achieved with a bit of patience

THE PASSIVE (II)

The subject

Normally, the direct object in active sentence becomes the subject in the passive sentence:

Marie Curie discovered Radium

Radium was discovered by Marie Curie

However, in English, when there are direct and indirect objects in the active sentence, both
of them can be used as subjects in the passive sentence, though, generally, the indirect
object is preferred:

She gave him a present

A present was given to him *
He was given a present

Infinitive constructions

In infinitive constructions, we can use a passive infinitive when the subject in the second
clause is not important:

I want you to do something (active infinitive)

I want something to be done (passive infinitive)

The passive with reporting verbs

In formal texts, such as newspapers, descriptions or scientific processes, when we want to

talk about what is generally thought or said, we use passive structures with reporting verbs.
The construction is formed from:

Passive reporting verb + to + infinitive or perfect infinitive

He is considered to be a great piano player

(people consider him to be a great piano player)
 He is believed to have reached Mountain Everest’s summit
(people believe he has reached Mountain Everest’s summit)

James is thought to have been at home that night

(They think that John was at home that night)

He was proved to have murdered his wife

(someone proved he had murdered his wife)

Or we can also use impersonal expressions, such as: it is believed, it may be considered, it
was said, ...

It is believed that Leif Eriksson reached America before Columbus

Leif Eriksson is believed to have reached America before Columbus

Passive voice with prepositions

In English, there are many verbs with prepositions or adverbs. When putting the sentences
into the passive voice, we must not forget the preposition or adverb.

Could you look after the children?

Could the children be looked after?

Most teenagers listen to that radio station

That radio station is listened to by most teenagers

Passive voice in relative clauses

We obviously can use the passive in relative sentences and we just have to be careful to do
it well

That man, whose son was killed in an accident, is visiting a doctor

The sugar, which is gradually added to the mixture, must be brown
The girl who was seen by the witness at the crime scene has been proved to be the
murderer