006 - The Passive Voice

006 - The Passive Voice

Active and Passive Voice

An active sentence like I drank two cups of coffee has the subject first (the person or thing that does the verb), followed by the verb, and finally the object (the person or thing that the action happens to).

So, in this example, the subject is 'I', the verb is 'drank' and the object is 'two cups of coffee'.

But, we don't always need to make sentences this way. We might want to put the object first, or perhaps we don't want to say who did something. This can happen for lots of reasons (see the explanation further down the page). In this case, we can use a passive, which puts the object first:

• Two cups of coffee were drunk (we can add 'by me' if we want, but it isn't necessary).

How to make the Passive in English

We make the passive by putting the verb 'to be' into whatever tense we need and then adding the past participle. For regular verbs, we make the past participle by adding 'ed' to the infinitive. So play becomes played. Click here to learn about irregular verbs.

Tense	Active	Passive
present simple	I make a cake.	A cake is made (by me).
present continuous	I am making a cake.	A cake is being made (by me).
past simple	I made a cake.	A cake was made (by me).
past continuous	I was making a cake.	A cake was being made(by me).
present perfect	I have made a cake.	A cake has been made (by me).
pres. perf. continuous	I have been making a cake.	A cake has been being made (by me).
past perfect	I had made a cake.	A cake had been made(by me).
future simple	I will make a cake.	A cake will be made (by me).
future perfect	I will have madea cake.	A cake will have been made (by me).

When should we use the Passive?

1. When we want to change the focus of the sentence:
   
   • The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. (We are more interested in the painting than the artist in this sentence)
2. When who or what causes the action is unknown or unimportant or obvious or 'people in general':
   • He was arrested (obvious agent, the police).
   • My bike has been stolen (unknown agent).
   • The road is being repaired (unimportant agent).
   • The form can be obtained from the post office (people in general).
3. In factual or scientific writing:
   • The chemical is placed in a test tube and the data entered into the computer.
4. In formal writing instead of using someone/ people/ they (these can be used in speaking or informal writing):
   • The brochure will be finished next month.
5. In order to put the new information at the end of the sentence to improve style:
   • Three books are used regularly in the class. The books were written by Dr. Bell. ('Dr. Bell wrote the books' sound clumsy)
6. When the subject is very long:
   
   • I was surprised by how well the students did in the test. (More natural than: 'how well the students did in the test surprised me')

Taken from: http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/passive.html

Video Material

Smrt English Explanation - Passive Voice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rlvWoNNrcs (Part 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ6bSNimM0o (Part 2)

Anglo Link Detailed Explanation of Passive Voice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxbQ2U3Uuv0

Famous Series Scenes with Passive Voice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzeI93MszMk

Exercises for Practice
- Present Simple Exercise
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/passive-exercise-1.html
http://www.kico4u.de/english/uebungen/passiv/simplepresein.htm
http://www.esl-lounge.com/student/grammar/3g20-passive-active-exercise.php
http://www.ang.pl/cwiczenia/927

- Past Simple Exercise
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/passive-exercise-2.html
http://www.ang.pl/cwiczenia/928
https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive/exercises?simple-past
http://first-english.org/english_learning/english_active_passive/31_active_passive_simple_past_exercises.htm

- Present Perfect Exercise
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/passive-exercise-3.html

- Organize or Match the Sentences
http://www.english-grammar-lessons.com/passive/exercise2.swf
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-28628.php

- Complete the Sentence
http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/single/passive_r.htm
http://suz.digitaleschulebayern.de/english/grammar/passive5.htm

- Transform into Passive or Active
http://learningapps.org/123565
http://suz.digitaleschulebayern.de/english/grammar/passive2.htm
http://suz.digitaleschulebayern.de/english/grammar/passive3.htm
http://suz.digitaleschulebayern.de/english/grammar/passive4.htm
http://www.english-4u.de/passive_ex1.htm

Games for Passive Voice
Passive Voice with Famous People
http://www.eslgamesplus.com/passive-voice-past-passive-esl-grammar-sentence-activity-fun-game-online/

Shootout
http://www.eslgamesworld.com/members/games/grammar/football/passive%20voice/passive%20voice.html

Basketball Game
http://www.eslgamesworld.com/members/games/grammar/basketball/active%20vs.%20passive%20voice/active%20vs.%20passive%20voice.html

Writing Assessment

Introduce the students to the activity with this video:
http://money.howstuffworks.com/54-how-money-is-made-video.htm

Ask the following questions
Where do dollars come from?
How much money is made in the US?
How is money printed?
What is a master engraver?
What is a money plate?
What is the process money goes through to be elaborated?
What are two ways money is protected from counterfeiting?

Write a four paragraph essay where you explain how something is made. In the first paragraph, give an introduction to the product and industry you are talking about giving details of its importance. Then, describe the process of how something is made describing the materials needed for the product, the elaboration of the product and how it is distributed to the masses.

Note: The essay could be a critique on a product, an attempt to sell the product or a project/idea you would like to elaborate.

Key Ideas: Keep in mind the use of the Passive Voice throughout the description.