Grammar Passive

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3-6

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Passives

What makes a sentence passive?

The combination of 'to be' + past participle (volt. dlw) makes a sentence passive

The woman is bitten (by the dog).

The wound was stitched (by the doctor).

ACTIVE= He is stealing a bike.

ACTIVE

SUBJECT = WHO / WHAT it does 

is at the front of the sentence.

PASSIVE: The bike is stolen.

PASSIVE

THE ACTION is front and centre. NOT who does it

Active sentence: what does the subject do?

Passive sentence: what happens to the subject? What is someone else doing to the subject?

The government is planning to construct a new road near my house.

1. passive
2. active

This room has been painted blue.

1. passive
2. active

Cricket is played in Australia.

1. passive
2. active

The friends have been looking forward to meeting her.

1. passive
2. active

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

1. are bought
2. is bought
3. were bought
4. have been bought

Make a passive sentence:
Lots of books ... (read) by children in 1890.

1. are read
2. is read
3. were read
4. have been read

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

1. aren't read
2. isn't read
3. weren't read
4. haven't been read

Drag and drop the passive sentence(s) into the box.

The man is eating his bread.

The thief was caught by the police.

The government was shut down.

The secretary writes an email

The musicians play another song

The emails are sent by the secretary now

The songs are played in a different order

Active

Passive

Thanos ___________ ___________ by the mightiest 

heroes  of the Earth.

is

are

was

being

be

defeated

defeat

been

My broken tap                      ____        _________       yesterday.

is

repaired

was

being

be

fix

repair

been

___________ your room __________  ___________ yet?

is

has

was

cleaned

has

have

clean

been

Passive: simple tenses 

	Active	Passive
present simple	I do the homework. She eats the apples.	The homework is done (by me). The apples are eaten (by her).
	werkwoord present	am/is/are + voltooid deelwoord
past simple	I did the homework. She ate the apples.	The homework was done (by me). The apples were eaten (by her).
	werkwoord past	was/were + voltooid deelwoord
present perfect	I have bought groceries	Groceries have been bought
	have/has + derde rijtje	Have/has been + derde rijtje

Passive: continuous tenses 

	Active	Passive
present continuous	I am doing the homework. She is eating the apples.	The homework is being done (by me). The apples are being eaten (by her).
	am/is/are + werkwoord + ing	am/is/are being+ voltooid deelwoord
past continuous	I was doing the homework. She was eating the apples.	The homework was being done (by me). The apples were being eaten (by her).
	was / were + werkwoord+ ing	was/were being + voltooid deelwoord

Verb tenses: active vs passive

Find the mistake...

Verb tenses: active vs passive

is carrying

_________

Make a passive. Tom scored a goal.

Make a passive. They haven't opened the boxes yet.

Make a passive. The farmer takes care of the cows.

Cedric ... by Voldemort. (murder)

Hogwarts ... chosen to host a legendary event.

He ... to Russia a few years ago. (send)

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