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:
| Subject | be | Past participle | Adverbial |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
Hello Rsb,
Both forms (want sb to do and want sb doing) are grammatically possible.
Generally, I think we use want sb doing when we are talking about an existing situation which we want to continue or stop:
We also use this to describe an imagined situation in the future which we hope to find or avoid:
The infinitive form (want sb to do) generally refers to a particular action in the future;
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Nuro,
This is an ambiguous case. The word 'excited' could be an adjective:
On the other hand, you could see it as a past participle in a passive construction:
It doesn't make any difference to the sentence, really; it's simply a question of terminology.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
It's correct that you can interpret the sentence either way. However, I would not say that there are two meanings here. The meaning really doesn't change either way.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
Yes, that's right.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam,
I don't think either of those sound particulary natural, to be honest. Although I don't know the context or exactly what you intend to say, I would guess that you are looking for something like this:
or
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Iman,
All three forms are possible grammatically, but they have different meanings and only one fits the context.
As your example has a context in which 'they don't need preparation anymore' I think it is clear that the third option is the correct choice.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam,
When have is used in a causitive structure it is possible to use it with continuous aspect, so all of these sentences are grammatically correct.
With the adverb 'now', there is no difference between sentences 1a and 1b. Both describe a process which is in progress; the simple and continuous forms do not change this.
The second pair of sentences have some differences, though we really need a context to be sure of the meaning. Sentence 2a describes the person's intention, but does not make it clear whether or not the repair was done. Sentence 2b tells us that the repair began, but may or may not have been completed.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello NicoleID,
I think part of the problem here is that you are confusing two forms. In sentence 1a there is no present perfect. The construction 'be thought to...' is followed by an infinitive, but there are many infintive forms:
to work - infinitive
to be working - continuous infinitive
to have worked - perfect infinitive
to have been working - continuous perfect infinitive
etc.
In 1a, to have been is a perfect infinitive. The form is consistent with the pattern.
In 2a, to have been working is a continuous perfect infinitive. Again, it is consistent with the pattern.
If the normal infinitive had been used, the sentences would have been about the present; the perfect infinitive make the past time reference clear.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam,
I think options 1 and 3 are correct. Option 2 does not sound correct to my ear.
However, as the subject in the original sentence is 'he' you should say 'him' rather than 'me'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello MJEnglishLearner,
With questions like this it's generally helpful to give an example so we can be sure that we understand what you mean.
If I understand you correctly, you are asking about the order of phrases in passive voice sentences. For example:
Both of these are grammatically possible. I don't think there is any preference in terms of style and clarity.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rafaela1,
This is something people say when, for example, you have apologised to them but they don't think you needed to apologise, though there are other possibilities depending on the context.
I've normally heard it in the singular ('no apology is necessary') and in speaking it's often used without the verb 'be' ('no apology necessary').
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again AllyEnglish,
Yes, you are right -- those sentences are all written in the active voice already. Perhaps they got the instructions backwards.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello sarahmh,
I'm afraid I'm not completely certain I understand your question, but I'll try to explain this.
When we change an active verb form into the passive without changing any other feature of the verb (person, number, tense, etc.), there is a change in meaning. Roughly speaking, the subject of the active verb becomes the object of the passive verb.
In terms of the form, where a passive form always has a form of the verb 'be' in the appropriate tense (in your example, 'am') and a past participle form of the verb that carries the meaning (in your example, 'called'). This is just how passive verbs are formed in English (and many other Indo-European languages).
Does that help you?
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again sarahmh,
I can see why you find that confusing and I agree that it could probably be represented in a clearer way, though it sounds to me as if the chart is representing the verb forms and not the meaning of the sentences.
It sounds to me as if you understand this grammar well, but if you have any other questions please feel free to ask us.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello ra,
Those are almost correct. There are slightly different possible answers, but what I'd write is:
1. Earthquake-resistant buildings in San Francisco were designed by architects.
2. An international driving license must be shown when a car is hired overseas.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello ra,
1. Production engineering skills are needed to develop ...
2. At a factory, the coffee beans are roasted by the workers in ...
3. The engineers are taught another way of coping ...
But I wouldn't recomming you use the passive versions of sentences 2 or 3.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Raja Muhammad Bashir,
'needed to be developed' is a grammatically correct phrase, but it would change the meaning to simply change that part of the sentence, and the remaining part of the sentence would also need some changing to adjust to that.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Abdul Azeez Ibrahim,
The original sentence is in the present (avoid) and there is no reason to change this when forming the passive construction. Thus, the second option (avoids) is better.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Saeed Alnaqbi,
People are made to buy things without thinking by the science behind consumerism.
Things that they don't actually need are bought by people.
I would not recommend you use either of those sentences in the passive voice, however.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
Yes, those are stative verbs.
The most common types of stative verbs are as follows:
Your sentences contain examples of verbs of perception/sensation.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Tea
Hello Rsb,
Sentence 1 is simply an active verb in the present continuous, with 'train' as the subject. Since 'come' is an intransitive verb, there is no way to use it in the passive.
The verb 'looks' in sentence 2 is a link verb and therefore also has no passive form.
I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the term 'quasi-passive'.
By the way, both of the sentences are not correct in standard British English -- an article such as 'a' or 'the' is needed before 'train': 'A train is coming' or 'The train looks nice'.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
It's entirely normal for an inanimate object to perform an action. It does not imply a decision or consciousness.
Sometimes in English we describe inanimate objects as having their own will and power to decide on something. This is called anthropomorphism. For example:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team