The Passive

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3

The Passive

Today's Goals

• Introduction to the Passive Voice
• Show examples - compare
• When to use the passive
•  Differrent steps to take
• Practice
• Round up

 ACTIVE: He steals a bike.

What is the difference?

PASSIVE: The bike is stolen.

Translate the sentence:
The bike is stolen.

Difference Active and Passive

The dog bites the man --> The man is bitten by the dog.

 Dan wrote a book last year. --> A book was written by Dan last year

(In Dutch we talk about the Bedrijvende vorm (active) and lijdende vorm (passive)

When to use the passive?

1. When we want to change the focus of the sentence:

The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. 

2. When who or what causes the action is unknown, unimportant, obvious or 'people in general':

He was arrested . (obvious)

My bike has been stolen . (unknown)

The road is being repaired. (unimportant)

The form can be obtained from the post office. (people in general)

IN ENGLISH THE PASSIVE IS USED MUCH MORE OFTEN THAN IN DUTCH.

THE STEPS....

1) The structure of an English sentence

THE STEPS....Active naar passive 

IMPORTANT TO KNOW:

 The structure of an English sentence

Subject + verb + direct object / indirect object + place + time. 

THE STEPS.... Active to passive 

Active = Gert walks his dog Samson every day. 

1) Find the (in)direct object - Start the passive sentence with the object.

THE STEPS.... Active to passive 

Active = Gert walks his dog Samson every day. 

Passive = His dog Samson

2)  Decide which tense the active sentence is in. Passive always has a form of the verb ‘TO BE’ – put the verb TO BE in the tense of the active sentence 

THE STEPS.... Active to passive 

Active = Gert walks his dog Samson every day. 

Passive = His dog Samson is

3)   Add the past particple of the main verb 

THE STEPS.... Active to passive 

Active = Gert walks his dog Samson every day. 

Passive = His dog Samson is walked

4)   Add place and time

THE STEPS.... Active to passive 

Active = Gert walks his dog Samson every day. 

Passive = His dog Samson is walked every day

5)   Add By + Subject of the active sentence

THE STEPS.... Active to passive 

Active = Gert walks his dog Samson every day. 

Passive = His dog Samson is walked every day by Gert.

make passive:
They make beer out of water.

make passive:
John sends Jenny an email every week.

 Active to passive 

Active = Gert walked his dog Samson yesterday. 

Passive =?

THE STEPS.... Active to passive 

Active = Gert walked his dog Samson yesterday. 

Passive = His dog Samson

2)  Decide which tense the active sentence is in. Passive always has a form of the verb ‘TO BE’ – put the verb TO BE in the tense of the active sentence 

Past simple... Active to passive 

Active = Gert walked his dog Samson yesterday. 

Passive = His dog Samson was walked yesterday by Gert.

THE TENSES....Active naar passive 

PRESENT SIMPLE = 

AM / ARE / IS + PAST PARTICIPLE

PAST SIMPLE = 

WAS / WERE + PAST PARTICIPLE

make passive:
Doctors don't recommend smoking.

make passive:
Tornados destroyed many houses in the USA in 2022.

make passive:
Do snakes eat mice?

make passive:
The mechanic repaired John's car.

make passive:
The famous baseball player hit a homerun.

make passive:
Harry throws spells at Voldemort several times in the final scene of the movie.

Hoe weet je zeker dat een zin in de passive staat? (1)

Als het persoon, dier of ding dat iets doet in de zin staat, staat er altijd "by" in de zin:

The dog ate the cake.

The cake was eaten by the dog.

Hoe weet je zeker dat een zin in de passive staat? (2)

Als "by" niet in een passive zin staat kun je deze altijd toevoegen. Verzin dan zelf wie of wat de actie heeft gedaan:

The plate was broken

The window has been cleaned

My brother ate the last cookie

The paintings will be stolen

Actieve zinnen Passief maken 2

Present continuous + Past continuous

Vorm van to be + being + voltooid deelwoord

He is playing a game --> A game is being played (by him)

We were having a good time --> A good time was being had (by us)

Actieve zinnen Passief maken 3

Present Perfect

Have/has been + voltooid deelwoord

I have done my work --> My work has been done (by me)

They have asked a question --> A question has been asked (by them)

Actieve zinnen passief maken 4

The future simple

will be + past participle

I will help him tomorrow --> He will be helped tomorrow (by me)

They will fly the aeroplane --> The aeroplane will be flown (by them)

Samen oefenen

• My dog eats a lot of food.
  
• A lot of food is eaten by my dog.
• Our friends bought a tent.
  
• a tent was bought by our friends.
• Did the girls enjoy the holiday?
• Was the holiday enjoyed by the girls?
• John doesn't repair Ipads.
• Ipads aren't repaired by John.

The Government planned a new road near my house.

1. passive
2. active

Boys like to play soccer.

1. passive
2. active

This room was painted blue.

1. passive
2. active

Cricket is played in Australia.

1. passive
2. active

The friends are looking forward to meeting her.

1. passive
2. active

The search is stopped because of the storm.

1. passive
2. active

Make a passive:
Lots of books ...(read, not) by those children.

1. aren't read
2. isn't read
3. were reading
4. weren't read

Make a passive:
Lots of books ... (buy) by my father every year.

1. are bought
2. is bought
3. are buyed
4. buys

Make a passive. Start with 'a goal'...

Make a passive. Start with 'the oranges'...

Extra oefenen

Klik op de tijd die je wilt oefenen om naar de juiste website gestuurd te worden:

PRESENT SIMPLE

PAST SIMPLE

PRESENT PERFECT

FUTURE SIMPLE