Unit 42: Passive 1 (is done / was done)

English Grammar in Use With Answers » Unit 42: Passive 1 (is done / was done)

Study this example:

This house was built in 1961.

Was built is passive.

Compare active and passive:

When we use an active verb, we say what the subject does:

My grandfather was a builder. He built this house in 1961.
It's a big company. It employs two hundred people.

When we use a passive verb, we say what happens to the subject:

'How old is this house?' 'It was built in 1961.'
Two hundred people are employed by the company.

When we use the passive, who or what causes the action is oft en unknown or unimportant:

A lot of money was stolen in the robbery. (somebody stole it, but we don't know who)
Is this room cleaned every day? (does somebody clean it? - it's not important who)

If we want to say who does or what causes the action, we use by:

This house was built by my grandfather.
Two hundred people are employed by the company.

The passive is be (is/was etc.) + past participle (done/cleaned/seen etc.):

(be) done
(be) cleaned
(be) damaged
(be) built
(be) seen etc.

For irregular past participles (done/seen/known etc.), see Appendix 1.

Study the active and passive forms of the present simple and past simple:

Present simple

active clean(s) / see(s) etc.	Somebody cleans this room every day.
passive am/is/are + cleaned/seen etc.	This room is cleaned every day.

Many accidents are caused by careless driving.
I'm not invited to parties very often.
How is this word pronounced?

Past simple

active cleaned/saw etc.	Some body cleaned this room yesterday.
passive was/were + cleaned/seen etc.	This room was cleaned yesterday.

We were woken up by a loud noise during the night.
'Did you go to the party?' 'No, I wasn't invited.'
How much money was stolen in the robbery?

42.1 Complete the sentences using one of these verbs in the correct form, present or past:

~~cause~~
damage
hold
invite
make
overtake
show
surround
translate
write

Many accidents ⁽¹⁾ by dangerous driving.
Cheese ⁽²⁾ __________ from milk.
The roof of the building ⁽³⁾ __________ in a storm a few days ago.
You ⁽⁴⁾ __________ to the wedding. Why didn't you go?
A cinema is a place where films ⁽⁵⁾ __________ .
In the United States, elections for president ⁽⁶⁾ __________ every four years.
Originally the book ⁽⁷⁾ __________ in Spanish, and a few years ago it ⁽⁸⁾ __________ into English.
Although we were driving fast, we ⁽⁹⁾ __________ by a lot of other cars.
You can't see the house from the road. It ⁽¹⁰⁾ __________ by trees.

42.2 Write questions using the passive. Some are present and some are past.

Ask about glass. (how / make?) ?
Ask about television. (when / invent?) __________ ?
Ask about mountains. (how / form?) __________ ?
Ask about antibiotics. (when / discover?) __________ ?
Ask about silver. (what / use for?) __________ ?

42.3 Put the verb into the correct form, present simple or past simple, active or passive.

It's a big factory. Five hundred people ⁽¹⁾ (employ) there.
⁽²⁾ (somebody / clean) this room yesterday?
Water ⁽³⁾ __________ (cover) most of the earth's surface.
How much of the earth's surface ⁽⁴⁾ __________ (cover) by water?
The park gates ⁽⁵⁾ __________ (lock) at 6.30 p.m. every evening.
The letter ⁽⁶⁾ __________ (send) a week ago and it (arrive) ⁽⁷⁾ __________ yesterday.
The boat hit a rock and ⁽⁸⁾ __________ (sink) quickly. Fortunately everybody ⁽⁹⁾ __________ (rescue).
Robert's parents ⁽¹⁰⁾ __________ (die) when he was very young. He and his sister ⁽¹¹⁾ __________ (bring up) by their grandparents.
I was born in London, but I ⁽¹²⁾ __________ (grow up) in Canada.
While I was on holiday, my camera ⁽¹³⁾ __________ (steal) from my hotel room.
While I was on holiday, my camera ⁽¹⁴⁾ __________ (disappear) from my hotel room.
Why ⁽¹⁵⁾ __________ (Sue / resign) from her job? Didn't she enjoy it?
Why ⁽¹⁶⁾ __________ (Ben / fire) from his job? Did he do something wrong?
The company is not independent. It ⁽¹⁷⁾ __________ (own) by a much larger company.
I saw an accident last night. Somebody ⁽¹⁸⁾ __________ (call) an ambulance but nobody ⁽¹⁹⁾ __________ (injure), so the ambulance ⁽²⁰⁾ __________ (not / need).
Where ⁽²¹⁾ __________ (these pictures / take)? In London? ⁽²²⁾ __________ (you / take) them, or somebody else?
Sometimes it's quite noisy living here, but it's not a problem for me - I ⁽²³⁾ __________ (not / bother) by it.

42.4 Rewrite these sentences. Instead of using somebody, they, people etc., write a passive sentence.

Somebody cleans the room every day.
.
They cancelled all flights because of fog.
All __________ .
People don't use this road much.
__________ .
Somebody accused me of stealing money.
I __________ .
How do people learn languages?
How __________ ?
People warned us not to go out alone.
__________ .

Answer Key

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