Formation of passive security

THE PASSIVE VOICE:

*We have to use the verb “TO BE” in the same tense as the lexic verb of the active sentence. And the past participle of the lexic verb.

*The subject of the active sentence will be the agent complement in the passive sentence; the complement of the active sentence will be the subject in the passive sentence.

For example; Cervantes wrote Don Quixote.

Don Quixote was written by Cervantes.

-wrote = past simple.

To be in the past simple: was.

Past participle of write: written.

-agent complement:

it´s always introduced by the preposition “by”, followed by the

complement.

If the complement is a pronoun, it will be: me /you /him /her /us

them.

*There are some sentences with two complements (also called objects). They are usually a complement of person and a thing, animal,... In this case it is more common to use the complement of person as the subject of the passive and the other complement after the verb.

For example: David gave me three tickets for a concert.

I was given three tickets for a concert by David.

It could also be: three tickets for a concert were given me by David.

PASSIVE FORMS:

1. Present simple: am / is / are + participle

2. Present continuous: am / is / are + being + participle

3. Past simple: was /were + participle.

4. Past continuous: was /were + being + participle.

5. Present perfect: have / has + been + participle.

6. Present perfect continuous: have / has + been + being + participle. ---not very used.

7. Past perfect: had been + participle.

8. Past perfect continuous: had been + being + participle. ---not very used.

9. Future simple: will be + participle.

10. Future continuous: will be + being + participle.

11. Future perfect: will have been + participle.

12. Future perfect continuous: will have been + being + participle. ----not very used.

13. Conditional simple: would be + participle.

14. Conditional continuous: would be + being + participle.

15. Conditional perfect: would have been + participle. --- not very used.

16. Conditional perfect continuous: would have been + being + participle. ----not very used.

EXERCISES:

*Put the verb in passive, in the tense shown in brackets:

1. My car __________ (damage) last night. (past simple)

2. This computer _________ (make) in the U.S.A. (present simple)

3. The machine ___________ (make) in Scotland. (present simple)

4. The president ____________ (kill) last night. (past simple)

5. The money ______________ (change) into dollars at the bank. (present simple)

6. The house _____________ (paint) every year. (present simple)

7. Several people _____________ (hurt) in an accident last night. (past simple)

8. The children ___________ (give) some food. (present simple)

9. The cars _____________ (take) to Australia. (future simple)

10. She ___________ (give) a present. (past simple)

11. Cheese ___________ (make) from milk. (present simple)

*Rewrite these sentences, active into passive. Some of them have two complements, so they have two solutions:

1. I clean the garages every day.

The garages.......

2. Someone has given him a lot of money.

He ............

3. The police arrested two hundred students.

Two hundred students ...........

4. We export this computer to seven countries.

This computer ...........

5. They have invited all the students in the school.

All .........

6. They send two million books to America every year.

7. We had told him not to be late again.

8. Her father gave her a doll for her birthday.

9. They were painting the outside of the ship when the accident happened.

10. You should keep the flowers in a warm sunny place.

11. You musn´t use the machine after 3.oo p.m.

*Rewrite these sentences, passive into active:

1. “Romeo and Juliet” was written by Shakespeare.

2. Mr. Douglas was questioned by the police.

3. They were brought a new house.

4. Two

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