Passive review

Review syntax and passive verb forms.

1. Passive: review.

Look at the examples and explanations.

Active and passive verb forms

The islanders made the statues.

Active voice (past simple): The person or thing doing the action is the subject of the verb.

The statues were made by the islanders more than 500 years ago.

Passive voice (past simple): The person or thing doing the action is not mentioned or is not important. We are more interested in the object of the active sentence (the statues).

Look at sentences from a text about the statues that were built on Easter Island. Choose the correct category for these sentences.

2. Passive.

Choose the correct word (or no word ----) to complete these sentences.

3. Passive.

Passive

Patricia VanLester was knocked to the ground.
She was flown to Halifax Medical Center.

We use the passive here because:

a. Patricia is the main topic
b. it's not important or it's obvious who caused the action

 

Rewrite these sentences using the passive.

Passive

She got pushed down.

This is an informal way of saying: She was pushed down.

Note:

  • The passive with get often describes a process: The cut got infected.
  • The passive with be often describes a state: The cut was infected.
  • The passive with get is often used with verbs that have a negative meaning: I got caught in traffic. I got robbed. An exception is to get married.

 

4. Passive with get.

Choose the best word to complete the sentences. Sometimes both words are possible.