1. Past participles.

A photo of a hand taking a cacao fruit from a tree.

Which verb is regular?

Verb Past Past participle
harvest harvested harvested
grow grew grown

 

2. Irregular verbs.

Now match the participles to these irregular verbs.


For a list of past participles of irregular verbs see the Grammar Reference.

3. Active vs. passive form.

Compare these sentences:

a) Chocolate is made from cacao beans.
The verb is in the passive form.
(It is not stated who makes the chocolate.)

b) They make chocolate from cacao beans.
The verb is in the active form.

The passive form is made up of:

auxiliary be + past participle
Chocolate is made from cacao beans.
The beans are removed from the fruit.
The questions are answered by experts.

Are these sentences active or passive?

When passive forms appear together it is not necessary to repeat the auxiliary be. For example:
The beans are cleaned, are selected, are mixed and are roasted.

is normally written like this:

The beans are cleaned, selected, mixed and roasted.

4. Passive forms.

Select examples of passive forms in the text. (There are 17 examples.)

5. Word order.

Put the words in order to make more passive sentences.

6. Passive forms.

Now change these eight sentences from active to passive.

For example:
They grow oranges in Spain.
Oranges are grown in Spain.
Students write the stories.
The stories are written by students.

For more information about passive verb forms see the Grammar Reference.

7. Speaking: Passive forms.

From active to passive
Here are some examples to help you.
They make the bread in the morning.
The bread is made in the morning.

The children make the sandwiches.
The sandwiches are made by the children.


Can you remember the sentences from the previous exercise? Change the sentences from active to passive, this time, speaking.

7. Active vs. Passive form.

Active vs. Passive form
They make the bread in the morning.
The children make the sandwiches.		 = the active form of the verb
   
The bread is made in the morning.
The sandwiches are made by the children.		 = the passive form of the verb


Listen to the sentences. Are the verbs in active or passive from?

You can see the sentences here.

8. Zero article.

The oranges are on the table.
(The = article)
Oranges are grown in Spain.
(Oranges = zero article)

The zero article is used with indefinite countable and uncountable nouns:

Chocolate is made from cacao beans.
(zero article – indefinite)
Oranges are grown in Spain.
(zero article – indefinite)

The article the is used with specific countable and uncountable nouns:

The chocolate is expensive in this shop.
(definite article: Which chocolate? The chocolate in this shop.)
The oranges on the table are for dessert.
(definite article: Which oranges? The oranges on the table.)

Choose the correct option to complete the sentences.

9. Article and zero article.

Are these sentences correct or incorrect?

For more information about articles see the Grammar Reference.