Explanation

Active and passive

voice
Transitive verbs have both active and passive
forms:
Active Passive
The hunter killed the lion. The lion was killed (by the
hunter).

Someone has cleaned the

windows. The windows have been cleaned
 English is spoken all over the world.
The windows have been cleaned.
The work will be finished soon.
They might have been invited to the party.

The passive forms are made up of

the verb be with a past participle:
Be careful with the
glass. It might get We
broken. sometimes
use the verb
get to form
Peter got hurt in a the passive:
crash.
 She was attacked by a dangerous dog.
The money was stolen by her husband.

If we want to show the person or thing doing

the action we use by:
We can use the indirect object as the subject
of a passive verb:
Active Passive
I gave him a book for his He was given a book for his
birthday. birthday.

Someone sent her a cheque for She was sent a cheque for a
a thousand euros thousand euros.
We can use phrasal verbs in the passive:

Active Passive
They called off the meeting. The meeting was called off.

His grandmother looked after He was looked after by his

him. grandmother.
1 be supposed to
Some verbs
very
2 be expected to frequently
used in the
3 be asked to passive are
followed by
4 be scheduled to
the to-
5 be allowed to
infinitive:
 John has been Example
asked to make a You are supposed
speech at the to wear a uniform. passive
meeting.
followed by
The meeting is
the to-
scheduled to start
at seven.
infinitive:
 There are two special structures for forming the
passive of reporting verbs like say. If we take a
sentence such as:

Passive forms They say that Ken is really good at Chinese

cooking.
of reporting
verbs Ken is said to be really good at Chinese cooking.

Here we form the passive of the reporting verb

say which is then followed by a to-infinitive (to
be).
 They say that Ken is really good at Chinese cooking.

Passive forms Ken is said to be really good at Chinese cooking.

of reporting __________________________

verbs However we can also create an alternative passive

form by using an impersonal 'it' structure, e.g.
It is said that Ken is really good at Chinese cooking.
 Intransitive
verbs (verbs
which do not Jamie arrived
occur with a early.
direct object)
Verbs which can never be The wall fell down.
are not used passive.
There is,
She blames herself
in the passive therefore, no for what
passive happened.
version of (reflexive verbs)
sentences
like:
 The room seemed small.

Some important state verbs cannot be

passive, e.g. be, exist, have (when it means
'own'), lack, seem. There is, therefore, no
passive version of sentences like:

Tom has a new computer.

Verbs which are not used in the passive

 Note however that there are some verbs
referring to states which can be made passive,
possibly because they refer to the thing or
person affected (the object of an active
sentence)
A millionaire businessman owned the land.
The land was owned by a millionaire businessman.
A high fence surrounded the garden.
The garden was surrounded by a high fence.
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 made a cake. A cake will have been made (by me).