Use of Passive

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or
what is performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.

In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did
it.

Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.

In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a
mistake.).

Form of Passive

Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)

Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

- the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
- the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
- the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)

Examples of Passive

Tense Subject Verb Object

Simple Present Active: Rita writes a letter.

Passive: A letter is written by Rita.

Simple Past Active: Rita wrote a letter.

Passive: A letter was written by Rita.

Present Perfect Active: Rita has written a letter.

Passive: A letter has been written by Rita.

Future Simple Active: Rita will write a letter.

Passive: A letter will be written by Rita.

Passive Sentences with Two Objects

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes
the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what
you want to put the focus on.

Subject Verb Object 1 Object 2

Active: Rita wrote a letter to me.

Passive: A letter was written to me by Rita. ?

Passive: I was written a letter by Rita. √

As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually
dropped.

Impersonal Passive

Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In
English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.

Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.

The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of
perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with
'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).

Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence
is to become the subject of the passive sentence.

Rewrite the sentences in the passive. Omit the agent (the subject):

1. Do they sell clothes in this shop?

2. Someone is cleaning the windows.

.
3. She tapped him on the hand with her pen.

4. Clive hasn’t cut the grass yet.

5. Who made this mess?

6. Grandfather is going to tell the children a story.

A  .

The  .

7. The jury will have reached a verdict by the morning.

8. They may not repair the car this week.

Turn into the active voice:

1. A novel is being read by Mary = Mary   a novel.

2. A stone was being thrown by the kid = The kid   a stone.

3. A car has been bought by him = He   a car.

4. The door had been knocked at by someone = Someone   the door.

5. Yam is eaten by people in my country = People   yam in my country.

6. The jackpot will be won by her = She   the jackpot.

7. The mother tongue would be taught to him by her = She   him the mother
tongue.

8. The fish is eaten by the cat = the cat   the fish.

9. A book was offered to them by her = she   them a book.

10. A letter was written to him by her =she   him a letter.

Quiz: passive voice exercises - present and past

Question 1
Active: People speak Portuguese in Brazil.
Passive: Portuguese ___________ in Brazil.

is speak
A

is spoke
B

is spoken
C

Question 2
Active: The staff cleans all the hotel rooms daily.
Passive: The hotel rooms _________ daily.

are clean
A

are cleaned
B

is cleaned
C

Question 3
Active: We update the company website frequently.
Passive: The company website ___________ frequently.

are updated
A

is updated
B

was updated
C

Question 4
Active: People see this beach as the most beautiful in the country.
Passive: This beach __________ as the most beautiful in the country.

is seen
A

is saw
B

is see
C
Question 5
Active: Somebody ships the products via express mail.
Passive: The products ___________ via express mail.

are shipped
A

is shipped
B

were shipped
C

Question 6
Active: A friend gave me this sweater.
Passive: This sweater ________ to me by a friend.

is given
A

was gave
B

was given
C

Question 7
Active: A famous author wrote these letters.
Passive: These letters _________ by a famous author.

were wrote
A

was written
B

were written
C

Question 8
Active: The teachers chose her to receive the award.
Passive: She __________ by the teachers to receive the award.

was chosen
A

was chose
B

were chosen
C

Question 9
Active: A knock at the door woke us all up.
Passive: We _____________ by a knock at the door.

was all woke up

A

were all woken up

B
 were all waked up
C

Question 10
Active: Over 300,000 students took the college entrance exam.
Passive: The college entrance exam _________ by over 300,000 students.

was taken
A

was took
B

was tooken
C

1) The causative means that someone other than ourselves does something for us.
Therefore, we usually make an arrangement with a professional to do to it. Maybe it’s
difficult, impossible or we simply don’t want to do it.

a) She’s having her house painted.

b) We’ve had the carpets cleaned.

c) They’ll be having their dinner served at half past eight.

d) We’ve been having our garden remodeled.

2) If we want to know who did the action, we can use the by agent.

a) He’s having his tattoo done by one of the best experts in the city.

b) Every Saturday we have our car cleaned by a local lad in the village.

c) She had had her nails done before her hair was cut by Sassoon.

d) They’ll have had their meal served by the time we arrive.

3) We also use the causative form to talk about bad experiences or mishaps.

a) They’ve had their suitcases stolen at the airport.

b) We’ve had our electricity cut off all day.

c) I had my car lights smashed by vandals.

d) He had his garden destroyed by the storm.

4) There are three verbs we shall use in causative; HAVE, GET & MAKE. Let’s compare the
difference.

a) He has the lawn mown every weekend by his son. (He does not do it.)

HAVE + OBJECT + PAST PARTICIPLE

b) He got his son to mow the lawn for him. (He persuaded his son to do it for him.)

GET + OBJECT + TO INFINITIVE

c) He got the lawn mown by his son. (He asked him to do it for him.)

GET + OBJECT + PAST PARTICIPLE

d) He made his son mow the lawn. (He insisted or ordered his son do it.)

MAKE + OBJECT + BARE INFINITIVE

5) Although HAVE and MAKE give the impression that someone causes an action to be
done by a third PERSON, you might have noticed that there is a difference between the two.

a) She has her son’s bedroom cleaned.

b) She made her son clean his bedroom.

c) They always get their homework done on time.

d) The teacher always makes them do their homework.

6) GET is considered more informal and we tend to use it in spoken English. We shall also
use GET when the subject does the action.

a) They always get their homework done on time.

b) He got the lawn mown before lunch.

c) I got all the ingredients prepared before cooking the paella.

d) You had better get organized or you’ll be late.

TENSE ACTIVE CAUSATIVE FORM

PRESENT SIMPLE He makes Sushi. He has Sushi made.

-ING FORM He loves making Sushi. He loves having Sushi made.

PRESENT CONTINUOUS He is making Sushi. He is having Sushi made.

PAST SIMPLE He made Sushi. He had Sushi made.

PAST CONTINUOUS He was making Sushi. He was having Sushi made.

PRESENT PERFECT He has made Sushi. He has had Sushi made.

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS He´s been making Sushi. He´s been having Sushi made.

PAST PERFECT He had made Sushi. He had had Sushi made.

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS He´d been making Sushi. He´d been having Sushi made.

BE GOING TO He is going to make Sushi. He is going to have Sushi made.

FUTURE SIMPLE He will make Sushi. He will have Sushi made.

FUTURE CONTINUOUS He will be making Sushi. He will be having Sushi made.

PRESENT CONDITIONAL He would make Sushi. He would have Sushi made.

PRESENT CONDITIONAL CONTINUOUS He would be making Sushi. He would be having Sushi

made.

PRESENT PERFECT CONDITIONAL He would have made Sushi. He would have had Sushi
made.

MODALS & SEMI- MODALS

can He can make Sushi. He can have Sushi made.

could He could make Sushi. He could have Sushi made.

must He must make Sushi. He must have Sushi made.

should He should make Sushi. He should have Sushi made.

ought to He ought to make Sushi. He ought to have Sushi made.

may He may make Sushi. He may have Sushi made.

might He might make Sushi. He might have Sushi made.

will He will make Sushi. He will have Sushi made.

have /has to He has to make Sushi. He has to have Sushi made.

have / has got to He has got to make Sushi. He has got to have Sushi made.

needs to He needs to make Sushi. He needs to have Sushi made.

needn’t He needn’t make Sushi. He needn’t have Sushi made.

had better He´d better make Sushi. He´d better have Sushi made.

used to He used to make Sushi. He used to have Sushi made.

MODAL PERFECT

can’t have He can’t have made Sushi. He can’t have had Sushi made.

could have He could have made Sushi. He could have had Sushi made

must have He must have made Sushi. He must have had Sushi made.

should have He should have made Sushi. He should have had Sushi
made.

may have He may have make Sushi. He may have had Sushi made.

might have He might have made Sushi. He might have had Sushi made.

will have He will have made Sushi. He will have had Sushi made.

Now select the correct form of the causative from the following:

1. Which is correct?

Where can I have my watch fixed?

Where can I have fixed my watch?

2. Which is correct?

I wish I need to do my washing by someone. I hate doing it myself.

I wish I could have my laundry done. I hate doing it myself.

3. Which is correct?

Jane is at the hairdresser at the moment. She's having her hair done.

Jane is at the hairdresser at the moment. She has her hair done.

4. Which is correct?

This is the third time I have the air conditioner repaired in four days.
This is the third time I've had the air conditioner repaired in four days.

5. Which is correct?

Joan had made a new dress for the wedding.

Joan had a new dress made for the wedding.

6. Which is correct?

Sarah is going to take her TV had it repaired.

Sarah is going to take her TV to have it repaired.

Rewrite the sentences, using the appropriate causative form:

1. He gets people to make all his shoes in Italy.

He   in Italy.

2. Gary asked someone to translate the article for him.

Gary  .

3. Did the dressmaker shorten the skirt for her?

Did she  ?

4. The doctor is testing my son's eyes at the moment.

My son  .

5. He will ask someone at the garage to repaint his car.

He  .

6. You can ask someone to collect your mail.

You  .
7. We got some people to build our garage last year.

We  .

8. Philip isn't here – someone is cutting his hair for him.

Philip isn't here – he  .

9. I am going to ask them to send me a copy of the contract.

I   a copy of the contract sent.

10. How long has this butcher been delivering meat for you?

How long   you   meat delivered?