TOPIC #11 PASSIVE VOICE

CONDITIONALS
What are they?

A. Read the newspaper article about a crime. Find the answers to the following questions.

1.Who found the body?

_________________________________________________

2.Where was the body taken?

_________________________________________________

3. What is a morgue?

_________________________________________________

4.How many bodies have been found in the river this year?

_________________________________________________

5. Do we know who has said that organized crime might be responsible for the crimes?

_________________________________________________
IN THE NEWS - VOCABULARY

Broadcast media – media that is

Print media – media that is printed, like
broadcast, like TV, radio, etc. (medios
newspapers, magazines, etc. (medios de audiovisuales)
comunicación impresos)

The media or press - all the means of

mass communication (newspapers, TV,
Online media – media that is online, like radio, websites, magazines) (medios de
blogs, news websites, etc. (medios en comunicación)
línea / medios en internet)

Local or
regional newspaper – A newspaper which National newspaper – a newspaper which
contain news from a particular area contain news from the whole country
(Periodico Local) (Periodico Nacional)
 Magazines – a print periodical containing
miscellaneous pieces (such as articles, stories,
poems) and often illustrated (Revista)
Article – a story based on the facts
(Artículo)
Tabloid: are newspapers having pages
half the size of those of a standard
newspaper, typically popular in style
and dominated by headlines,
photographs, and sensational stories.
(periódico sensacionalista)
A journal - is a magazine , especially one
that deals with a specialized subject
(Revista / Publicación)
Headlines – heading or title appearing at
the top of a page or article. (titular /
encabezado)
Anchorman/ women  – The main host of a
television or radio program, particularly one
relating to the broadcast of news, also use the
word Presenter. (Presentador)
Journalist – a person who writes Reporter -  a person who gathers and reports
articles for a news organization news for a news organization (Reportero)
(periodista)

Correspondent (n.) – one who contributes

news or commentary to a publication (such
as a newspaper) or a radio or television Cameraman / woman –
network often from a distant place. A man who operates a television or movie cam
(Corresponsal) era. (Camarografo)

Paparazzi – a freelance photographer Editor – the person who is in charge of

who follows celebrities a newspaper or magazine and who decides what
will be published in each edition of it. (Editor)
 Interview – a meeting in which
someone answers questions about himself
or herself for
a newspaper article, television show, etc.
(Entrevista)
Viewer – are people who watch television, or
who are watching a particular programme on
television. (Espectador / Teleespectador)

TO LEARN: The primary difference between a reporter and a journalist is that the term
“reporter” is commonly used to refer to somebody on TV, who generally reports the news,
whereas the term journalist is typically used in context of a “print journalist” who writes
articles.
A journalist gathers information and writes for newspapers, magazines, radio and television.
A reporter also does a similar thing but in addition to that a reporter makes a presentation on
television or radio. A journalist can also be a reporter but it is not all the time that reporters
are journalists. The reporters are the ones that we often see and hear talking on the television
and radio. A journalist will gather information, analyze the information gathered and write
about this information.

PASSIVE VOICE

In English. the passive voice is commonly used in newspaper articles and scientific
papers. We use it when we don't know who did the action.
What is the passive voice?
In general, when we talk it is more common to use active sentences.
- An active sentence is one in which the subject is the one who performs
the action. However, we can also use passive sentences. (En general, cuando
hablamos es má s comú n utilizar oraciones activas. Una oració n activa es
aquella en la que el sujeto es el que realiza la acció n. No obstante, también
podemos utilizar oraciones pasivas.
 - In a passive sentence the subject of the sentence is not who performs the
action but who receives it. (En una oració n pasiva el sujeto de la frase no es
quién realiza la acció n sino quién la recibe.)

We use the passive voice to show that the subject does not act, but it receives the
result of an action, this means that the subject is either less important than the action
itself or that we don’t know who or what the subject is. The person or thing that
carries out the action is called agent. (Utilizamos la voz pasiva para mostrar que el
sujeto no actú a, pero recibe el resultado de una acció n, esto significa que el sujeto es
menos importante que la acció n en sí misma o que no sabemos quién o qué es el
sujeto. La persona o cosa que realiza la acció n se llama agente)

Most passive sentences do not have an agent, as the focus of the sentence is not on
the doer of the action but on its recipient. As a rule, the agent is only mentioned in the
passive sentence if it is important new information which cannot be omitted. ( La
mayoría de las oraciones pasivas no tienen un agente, ya que el foco de la oració n no
está en el ejecutor de la acció n sino en su destinatario. Por regla general, el agente só lo
se menciona en la oració n pasiva si se trata de nueva informació n importante que no
puede ser omitida.

Note: The agent is the person or thing that performs the action and is the subject of
the active sentence. In most passive sentences, the agent is not mentioned. If it is mentioned,
however, it is usually preceded by the preposition “by”.
EX: (PASSIVE) The pigeons were dispersed by a tourist walking past. 
(ACTIVE) A tourist walking past dispersed the pigeons.

Also, when we want to describe what caused the action or what the agent used to
perform it, we use “with” instead of “by”.
EX: (PASSIVE) The crowds were dispersed with tear gas.
(ACTIVE) The police dispersed the crowds with tear gas.
The passive voice is not a tense in English. Each tense (present simple, past simple
or any other) has its own passive voice.

Passive Voice - Structure

The passive sentence is constructed using the verb to be in the corresponding verb
tense and the main verb in the past participle. (La oració n pasiva se construye
utilizando el verbo to be en el tiempo verbal correspondiente y el verbo
principal en participio pasado.)

SUBJECT + Verb to be + Main verb in PAST PARTICIPLE

When we use the Passive Voice

The Passive Voice is used:

• When we want to emphasize the action, not who does it or what causes it. (Cuando
queremos enfatizar la acció n, no quién la hace o qué la causa.)

EX: She was found guilty of the crime.

• When the agent is unknown or obvious from the context. (Cuando el agente es
desconocido u obvio por el contexto.)

EX: The jeweller's shop was broken into last night.

English is spoken all over the world.

• When you want to tell about an action, but you don't want to mention who does it.
(Cuando quieres contar una acció n, pero no quieres mencionar quién la hace)

EX: All the cookies have been eaten.

OTHER RULES TO KNOW ABOUT

- Verbs with two objects

• Some verbs like give, offer, tell, buy, send, show etc. can take two objects in the
Active Voice: a direct object (thing) and an indirect object (person). (Algunos
verbos como give, offer, tell, buy, send, show etc. pueden tomar dos objetos en la Voz
Activa: un objeto directo (cosa) y un objeto indirecto (persona).)

The Passive Voice is formed as follows:

Active: They gave the boy a reward.
Passive: The boy was given a reward. OR A reward was given to the boy.

• When the direct object of the active sentence is the subject of the passive sentence,
we use the prepositions to or for before the indirect object. (Cuando el objeto
directo de la frase activa es el sujeto de la frase pasiva, utilizamos las preposiciones a o
para antes del objeto indirecto. )

Active: They offered him the job.

Passive: The job was offered to him.

Active: She bought me a present.

Passive: A present was bought for me.

- That-clauses in the Passive Voice

• Some verbs like believe, consider, expect, find, know, report, say, think,
understand etc. take a that-clause as an object in the Active Voice.

The Passive Voice is formed as follows:

Active: People say that the film is excellent.
Passive: It is said that the film is excellent.
 Practic
e–
1.Match the words given in the box with their definition.

TOPIC
#11

2. Choose and underline the sentences that are only in the Passive Voice: 

a. I visited my grandparents yesterday. 

b. The letter was sent two days ago. 
c. Kate phoned her friend. 
d. Tim was taken to the zoo yesterday. 
e. The plants are watered every day. 
f. We like to watch TV. 
g. The children are told not to play there. 
h. They will attend the lectures on history. 
i. This problem is discussed by the students. 
j. A new shop will be opened in three days. 
 Homew
ork –
1.Use each word or phrase once to fill in the gaps.

TOPIC
correspondents, paparazzi, anchormen and anchorwomen, tabloids, national
newspaper, the media, articles, TV stations

#11
There’s no doubt that t_________ plays a huge role in everyone’s life.
From driving down the freeway and seeing a billboard, to looking at photos
of celebrities taken by p_________ in the t _________ at your local
supermarket, everyone is someone’s target audience for advertising. Every
night, people gathers around the TV, to watch their favorite show together,
some of them follow certain ____________, as many of them have great
news coverage. They often have c_____________ who visit war zones and
cover the news on the scene. But, to get an overview of the day’s news, you
can also watch and listen to the a_______________________
presenting the main stories of the day. However, some media isn’t so bad. In
n___________________, feel free to check the bylines on the
a______________. They will provide you with the author's name and
sometimes even with a link to his or her social media. Or, you can read
editorials to get important opinions on trending news. 

2. Rewrite the sentences using the passive voice, be careful with the tenses.

Ex: The barman mixed a drink 

      A drink was mixed by the barman 

1. The technician has repaired our washing machine three times.

Our washing machine _____________________________________________ 
2. The storm damaged many houses last night 
Many houses ____________________________________________________ 
3. Helen will take the dog for a walk.
The dog ________________________________________________________
4. The farmers had picked the fruit before the rainy season came
The Fruit _______________________________________________________
5. The United Nations has organized a meeting on nuclear power
A meeting ______________________________________________________
3. Put the verbs in brackets into the Passive Present Simple, Past Simple, Future
Simple or Present Perfect Simple. 

                                              The Veggy House

Fast food _______ is enjoyed ______ (enjoy) all over the world but have you ever tried
fast food that is low in fat? 
Our Veggy Snacks, which have made us famous, are our speciality. Our menu
______________________(also, make) up of burgers, salads and sweets that are less
fattening and more nutricious. Soon, Veggy Drinks, made from different vegetables,
__________________ (add) to our menu. We are dieticians so we care about your health
and fitness. 
Every day, fresh vegetables and meat ___________________(bring) directly to our Veggy
Houses. They _______________(deliver) from our very own farms. 
The idea for this kind of fast food restaurant ______________________(think) up five years
ago. Our first Veggy House ___________________(open) a year later and since then, over
100 Veggy Houses ________________________(open) all over the world. Over two billion
Veggy Snacks _________________________(eat) so far and they have become popular for
their great taste. It is certain that these snacks _____________________(love) by many more
people in the future. Have you tasted a Veggy Snack? You'll love it!