1. The passive voice
3 types
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2. 1ST BE + PARTICIPLE

3. BE + PARTICIPLE 1 OBJECT
A The postman brings the letters
S V O
P The letters are brought by the postman
S V agent
A They are building a new house
S V O
P A new house is being built ( by them)
S V

4. 2 OBJECTS
A Jane gave Mary a ring ( This is the most common)
S V IO DO
Jane gave a ring TO Mary
S V DO IO
P Mary was given a ring by Jane (this is the most common)
OR
Don’t use BY
A ring was given TO Mary by Jane with: people,
we, he,
someone…

5. REMEMBER…
• El verbo TO BE tiene que estar en el mismo
tiempo que el verbo principal en la activa. El
verbo principal pasaría a PARTICIPIO.
Gave= was/were given
Are building= is/are being built
• Usamos “by” sólo cuando sea necesario.
Usamos la pasiva porque no sabemos quién
realizó la acción, no nos interesa o es obvio.
Cada vez que veáis people, somebody o un
pronombre personal, no lo uséis.

6. •You should open the wine about three hours before you drink it.
•The organizers will exhibit the paintings till the end of the month.
•The closure of the workshop will make a lot of men redundant.
•Children couldn´t have done all this damage.
•The authorities have closed the casino.
•People all over the world speak English.
•Someone left this purse in the classroom yesterday.
•They have to answer the questions on this sheet
•Has anybody put the cases upstairs?
•Somebody should take this rubbish away
•The Queen will open the old people´s home.
•You must pay the bill immediately
•Have they looked at the contract yet?
•many European countries are planting trees faster than they are cutting them down
•They are discussing the matter at the moment

7. Are the following sentences in active or passive?
•The plane crashed in Thailand.
•Wheat is grown in America.
•The house was completely destroyed by the fire.
•An earthquake shook the city of Los Angeles.
•Radium was discovered by Marie Curie.
•I have knitted a warm sweater.
•They finished building the new motorway last
month.
•Satnam was born in India.
•Carl Lewis has won several Olympic medals.
•The Opera Carmen was written by Bizet.

8. CORRECT THE MISTAKES
• This music has be played by many musicians.
• Those films have directed by Spilberg.
• The message has been sent yesterday.
• Camacho had been trained the Olympic team.
• The injured man was been taken to hospital.
• A new bridge is be built across the river.
• All the food at the party was ate.
• Nothing will being decided before next Saturday.
• The match is playing on Friday evening.
• The robber unlocked the door by a false key.
• This book was writing by Sam´s father.
• Many new houses are being building in this area.
• The passive voice did not taught last year.
• English and French is spoken in this shop.
• My car is been repaired at the moment.
• John have been punished by his parents.

9. •
• PUT THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES INTO ACTIVE VOICE
•
• Many pages have been written about Bill Gates.
•
• Numerous cancellations have been made in the following weeks.
•
• the portrait was completed in 1650.
•
• The late nineties have been marked by a dramatic increase in aggressive behaviour.
•
• they were shown a picture of an attacking shark.
•
• The company has been asked to reduce violence in the programme.
•
• Many dictionaries have already been published.
•
• He was given a four-year-sentence in 1995.
•
• In 1995 a new version of the New Testament was published.
•
• a diary was being kept by her husband during her illness.
•
• The “Blue Millenium” idea has already been picked up by Pepsi.
•
• I felt I was being ignored by my headmaster.
•
• Elena Sánchez was arrested, imprisoned and tortured in 1974.
•
• Allergic rhinitis can be caused by histamine.
•
• Compulsive shopping is motivated by irresistible impulses.

10. 2ND REPORTING VERBS

11. Reporting verbs
Verbs of thinking or opinion
Say believe understand know
Consider report think find
THERE ARE 2 WAYS…
Pasiva refleja: se cree, se dice…

12. •
•
•
•

13. These are the infinitive forms which we will use
depending on the tense we have in the active
sentence.
present or future to write
past* (simple, past/present perfect)to have written
Continuous form to have been writing or to be writing
active passive
They say Kelly is good at chess. She is said to be good at chess.
They say Liverpool will win the League Liverpool is said to win the League.
They say Toni played cards. He is said to have played cards.
They said she has done the exercise. She was said to have done the exercise.
They consider I am doing it well. I am considered to be doing it well.
They believe he has been watching it. He is believed to have been watching it.
She believes they have been advised. They are believed to have been advised.

15. PEOPLE THINK THAT HE IS
CRAZY
It is thought that he is crazy
He is thought to be crazy
Éstas son las 2 maneras de decir lo mismo de
manera diferente.

16. A BIT OF PRACTICE
•
•
•

17. ANSWERS
It is assumed that Mr. Burn is a mean person
OR
Mr. Burns is assumed to be a mean person
It is considered that he acts as a rebel
OR
He is considered to act as a rebel
It is thought that dolphins are extremely intelligent
animals.
OR
Dolphins are thought to be extremely intelligent animals.

18. 3rd HAVE SOMETHING DONE

19. Have something done
’

20. Practice
• He/always/ his teeth/ check/ once a year
• He was very upset when he found (he/
all/his money/ steal
• I/my boots/ mend/ twice this month
• It was rather messy, but in the end we/
the kitchen/ paint

21. TRANSLATE
Me pintaron la casa la semana pasada
Me acaban de cortar el pelo
Me arreglarán el coche la semana que
viene
A Raúl le robaron la bici ayer
A Ana le están revelando las fotos ahora

22. A PIECE OF ADVICE
I HAD MY PICTURES DEVELOPED YESTERDAY
ME REVELARON LAS FOTOS AYER
“Revelar” está en pasado, pues tenéis que escribir “have”
en pasado (had) y el verbo principal siempre debe ir en
participio.
SHE WILL HAVE HER HOUSE PAINTED SOON.
LE PINTARÁN LA CASA PRONTO
La marca de futuro, will, está con “have” mientras que el
verbo principal, paint, está en participio.