UNIT 43. Passive (3)

UNIT 43. Passive (3)

A. I was born ...

We say: I was born ... (not 'I am born'):

past simple

* I was born in Chicago.

* Where were you born? (not 'where are you born')

but present simple

* How many babies are born everyday?

B. Some verbs can have two objects. For example, give:

* We gave _the police_(object 1) _the information._(object 2) (= We gave the information to the police.)

So it is possible to make two passive sentences:

* The police were given the information. or The information was given to the police.

Other verbs which can have two objects are: ask offer pay show teach tell

When we use these verbs in the passive, most often we begin with the person:

* I was offered the job but I refused it. (= they offered me the job)

* You will be given plenty of time to decide. (= we will give you plenty of time)

* Have you been shown the new machine? (= has anybody shown you ...?)

* The men were paid L200 to do the work. (= somebody paid the men L200)

C. I don't like being ...

The passive of doing/seeing etc. is being done/being seen etc. Compare:

active: I don't like people telling me what to do.

passive: I don5t like being told what to do.

* I remember being given a toy drum on my fifth birthday. (= I remember somebody giving me a toy drum...)

* Mr. Miller hates being kept waiting. (= he hates people keeping him waiting)

* We managed to climb over the wall without being seen. (= ... without anybody seeing us)

D. Get

Sometimes you can use get instead of be in the passive:

* There was a fight at the party but nobody got hurt. (= nobody was hurt)

* I don't often get invited to parties. (= I'm not often invited)

* I'm surprised Ann didn't get offered the lob. (... Ann wasn't offered the job)

You can use get to say that something happens to somebody or something, especially if this is unplanned

or unexpected:

* Our dog got run over by a car.

You can use get only when things happen or change. For example, you cannot use get in these sentences:

* Jill is liked by everybody. (not 'gets liked' - this is not a 'happening')

* He was a mystery man. Nothing was known about him. (not 'got known')

We use get mainly in informal spoken English. You can use be in all situations.

We also use get in the following expressions (which are not passive in meaning):

get married get divorced get dressed (= put on your clothes) get changed (= change your clothes)

UNIT 42. Passive (2) (be/been/being done) Study the following active and passive forms:

UNIT 42. Passive (2) (be/been/being done) Study the following active and passive forms:

A. Infinitive

active: (to) do/clean/see etc. Somebody will clean the room later.

passive: (to) be done/cleaned/seen etc. The room will be clean later.

* The situation is serious. Something must be done before it's too late.

* A mystery is something that can't be explained.

* The music was very loud and could be heard from a long way away.

* A new supermarket is going to be built next year.

* Please go away. I want to be left alone.

B. Perfect infinitive

active: have done/cleaned/seen etc. Somebody should have cleaned the room.

passive: have been done/cleaned/seen etc. The room should have been cleaned.

* I haven't received the letter yet. It might have been sent to the wrong address.

* If you hadn't left the car unlocked, it wouldn't have been stolen.

* There were some problems at first but they seem to have been solved.

C. Present perfect

active: have/has (done) The room looks nice. Somebody has cleaned it.

passive: have/has been (done) The room looks nice. It has been clean.

* Have you heard the news? The President has been shot!

* Have you ever been bitten by a dog?

* 'Are you going to the party?' 'No, I haven't been invited.'

Past perfect

active: had(done) The room looked nice. Somebody had clean it.

passive: had been (done) The room looked nice. It had been clean.

* The vegetables didn't taste very good. They had been cooked for too long.

* The car was three years old but hadn't been used very much.

D. Present continuous

active: am/is/are (do)ing Somebody is cleaning the room at the moment.

passive: am/is/are being (done) The room is being cleaned at the moment.

* There's somebody walking behind us. I think we are being followed.

* (in a shop) 'Can I help you, madam?' 'No, thank you. I'm being served.'

Past continuous

active: was/were (do)ing Somebody was cleaning the room when I arrived.

passive: was/were being (done) The room was being cleaned when I arrived.

* There was somebody walking behind us. We were being followed.

UNIT 41. passive (1) (is done/was done)

UNIT 41. passive (1) (is done/was done)

A. Study this example:

This house was built in 1930.

'Was built' is passive. Compare active and passive:

Somebody built this house (object) in 1930. (active)

This house (subject) was built in 1930. (passive)

We use an active verb to say what the subject does:

* My grandfather was a builder. He built this house in 1930.

* It's a big company. It employs two hundred people.

We use a passive verb to say what happens to the subject:

* This house is quite old. It was built in 1930.

* Two hundred people are employed by the company.

B. When we use the passive, who or what causes the action is often unknown or unimportant:

* A lot of money was stolen in the robbery. (somebody stole it but we don't know who)

* Is this room cleaned every day? (does somebody clean it?--it's not important who)

If we want to say who does or what causes the action, we use by...

* This house was built by my grandfather.

* Two hundred people are employed by the company.

C. The passive is be (is/was/have been etc.) + the past participle (done/cleaned/seen etc.):

(be) done (be) cleaned (be) seen (be) damaged (be) built etc.

For irregular past participles (done/known/seen etc.), see Appendix 1.

Study the active and passive forms of the present simple and past simple:

Present simple

active: clean(s)/see(s) etc.

Somebody cleans this every day.

passive: am/is/are cleaned/seen etc.

This room is cleaned every day.

* Many accidents are caused by careless driving.

* I'm not often invited to parties.

* How is this word pronounced?

Present simple

active: cleaned/saw etc.

Somebody cleaned this room yesterday.

passive: was/were cleaned/seen etc.

This room was cleaned yesterday.

* We were woken up by a loud noise during the night.

* 'Did you go to the party?' 'No, I wasn't invited.'

* How much money was stolen?

UNIT 40. Would I wish ... would

UNIT 40. Would I wish ... would

A. We use would ('d) when we imagine a situation or action:

* It would be nice to have a holiday but we can't afford it.

* I'm not going to bed yet. I'm not tired and I wouldn't sleep.

We use would have (done) when we imagine situations or actions in the past:

* They helped me a lot. I don't know what I would have done without their help.

* I didn't go to bed. I wasn't tired, so I wouldn't have slept.

For would in sentences with if see Units 37-39.

B. Compare will ('11) and would ('d):

* I'll stay a bit longer. I've got plenty of time.

* I'd stay a bit longer but I really have to go now. (so I can't stay longer)

Sometimes would/wouldn't is the past of will/won't. Compare:

present -> past

Tom: I'll phone you on Sunday. -> Tom said he'd phone me on Sunday.

ANN: I promise I won't be late. -> Ann promised that she wouldn't be late.

Liz: Damn! The car won't start. -> Liz was angry because the car wouldn't start.

C. I wish ... would...

Study this example situation:

It is raining. Jill wants to go out, but not in the rain. She says:

I wish it would stop raining.

This means that Jill is complaining about the rain and wants it to stop.

We use I wish ... would... when we want something to happen or when we want somebody to do something.

The speaker is not happy with the present situation.

* The phone has been ringing for five minutes. I wish somebody would answer it.

* I wish you would do something instead of just sitting and doing nothing.

You can use I wish ... wouldn't ... to complain about things people do repeatedly:

* I wish you wouldn't keep interrupting me.

We use I wish ... would ... for actions and changes, not situations. Compare:

* I wish Sarah would come. (= I want her to come)

but * I wish Sarah were (or was) here now. (not 'I wish Sarah would be...')

* I wish somebody would buy me a car.

but * I wish I had a car. (not 'I wish I would have...')

For 'I wish ... were/had (etc.)' see Units 38B and 39C.

D. You can also use would when you talk about things that happened regularly in the past:

* When we were children, we lived by the sea. In summer, if the weather was fine, we would all get up

early and go for a swim. (= we did this regularly)

* Whenever Arthur was angry, he would walk out of the room.

With this meaning, would is similar to used to (see Unit 18):

* Whenever Arthur was angry, he used to walk out of the room.