Passives

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

The passive

The passive

The little boy kicked the ball.

The ball was kicked by the little boy.

Do you notice any difference in meaning between these two sentences?

The passive

Active sentences-> To indicate what subject does or did

Passive sentences-> To focus on what is happening

The passive

To make an active sentence passive, you have to be able to recognise the following:

Subject

Verb 

Object

Indicate the subject, verb and object:

The student handed in the exam paper.

The man bought a phone.

The police officer arrested him.

What is the subject in the following sentence:

I am cleaning the room

What is the object in the following sentence:

I am cleaning the room

What is the verb in the following sentence:

I am cleaning the room

Why do you use the passive?

You use the passive to focus on what is happening, rather than who is doing it.

In other words:

What happened is more important than who did it.

From active to passive

The police officer arrested him.

He was arrested by the police officer.

From active to passive

The subject and object switch places. 

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Form of "to be" + past participle

Which form of "to be" do I use?

-Look at the tense of the active sentence (e.g. present simple)

-Use that same tense for the form of to be!

His great grandfather built this church.

This church ....... built by his great grandfather.

They manufacture these cars in Germany

These cars ........... manufactured in Germany

Make this sentence passive:

The dog catches the ball.

Make this sentence passive:

The dog chases the cat.

The rule!

-You use the passive to..................

You make the passive by switching the ............... and .................

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Form of ........... + ............

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