Level: beginner
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. |
Passive forms are made up of the verb be with a past participle:
| be | past participle | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| English | is | spoken | all over the world. |
| The windows | have been | cleaned. | |
| Lunch | was being | served. | |
| The work | will be | finished | soon. |
| They | might have been | invited | to the party. |
If we want to show the person or thing doing the action, we use by:
She was attacked by a dangerous dog.
The money was stolen by her husband.
- Active and passive voice 1
- Active and passive voice 2
- Active and passive voice 3
Level: intermediate
The passive infinitive is made up of to be with a past participle:
The doors are going to be locked at ten o'clock.
You shouldn't have done that. You ought to be punished.
We sometimes use the verb get with a past participle to form the passive:
Be careful with that glass. It might get broken.
Peter got hurt in a crash.
We can use the indirect object as the subject of a passive verb:
| active | passive | |
|---|---|---|
| I gave him a book for his birthday. | > | He was given a book for his birthday. |
| Someone sent her a cheque for a thousand euros. | > |
She was sent a cheque for a 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 him. | > | He was looked after by his grandmother. |
| They will send him away to school. | > | He will be sent away to school. |
- Active and passive voice 4
- Active and passive voice 5
Level: advanced
Some verbs which are very frequently used in the passive are followed by the to-infinitive:
| be supposed to | be expected to | be asked to | be told to |
| be scheduled to | be allowed to | be invited to | be ordered to |
John has been asked to make a speech at the meeting.
You are supposed to wear a uniform.
The meeting is scheduled to start at seven.
- Active and passive voice 6
- Active and passive voice 7
Comments
John has been asked to get dressed by the staff. "You are supposed to wear a cloth in public. Hurry up! The meaning is scheduled to start soon." ;)
Sir,
1. This is to inform you that below mentioned employee's cab delayed in arriving office at standard time. (Verb delay intransitive) past indefinite tense
2. This is to inform you that below mentioned employee's cab was
delayed in arriving office at standard time.( Here, Delayed as an adjective) simple past sentence
Both the sentences are correct when I use the word delay as an adjective and verb (intransitive) in the context?
Hello Rsb,
'delay' is a transitive verb, so I'm afraid the first sentence is not correct. If you look up the word in the dictionary, you'll see some useful example sentences.
The second sentence is a bit awkward in standard British English, but its use of 'delayed' is correct.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Sir ,
But in dictionary 'delay' is described as an ergative verb.
And can I use "to arrive office" in place of 'in arriving office'?
This is to inform you that employee's cab was delayed/late to arrive/reach office at standard time.
Hi Rsb,
Actually, delay has several meanings! For the meaning of 'to make something late', it's only transitive (see the second meaning of delay in the Cambridge Dictionary). It's not intransitive or ergative for this meaning.
About the arrive phrase, it should be: The employee's cab was delayed (in) arriving at the office. You can use it with or without in. It has the same meaning.
Using 'to + verb' (to arrive at the office) doesn't work here, unless you want to show the purpose of the delay (e.g. The event was delayed, to give us more time to prepare).
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Sir,
Cab was late .
Can we use 'delay' in place of late?
Cab was delay
Hi Rsb,
Delay is a noun and a verb but not an adjective, so we should use the -ed form here: The cab was delayed.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
How delayed is noun here sir?
It is not behaving like an adjective describing the cab noun
Hello Rsb,
I just wanted to point out that Jonathan didn't say that 'delayed' is a noun -- he said that 'delay' is a noun. In this sentence, 'delayed' is an adjective.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Can't we write "cab was delay"?
What kind a noun is delay?
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