Titolo della lezione: Passive Voice of Verbs Compared to Active Voice of Verbs

Passive Voice of Verbs

Compared to
Active Voice of Verbs
 Active Voice – Passive Voice
Formation and Present Tense

Active infinitive Passive infinitive

Simple Present
The active infinitive of the verb: The passive infinitive of the verb:

to be + past participle =
to sell; to buy; to read; to load to be sold; to be bought; to be read;
to be loaded
Present Passive:
Present Tense:
• The houses and flats are sold by James /
• James is a real estate agent. He sells
the real estate agent.
houses and flats.
• Two newspapers are bought by us every
• We generally buy two newspapers every
day.
day.
• The contracts are read before they are
• The solicitor reads the contracts before he
signed.
signs them.
• The gun is loaded before target shooting
• The policeman loads the gun before target
practice.
shooting practice.
 Active Voice – Passive Voice
Past
Active Voice - Past
I / You / He / She built the house.
We / You / They built the factory in 1970.
1.They all expected the Prime Minister at 10.00.
2.The employees made many mistakes initially.
3.Italians preferred espresso coffee to tea.
4.They drank red wine with their steak.
Passive Voice - Past
The house was built by me / you / him / her.
The factory was built in 1970 by us / you / them.
1.The Prime Minister was expected at 10.00.
2.Many mistakes were made by the new
employees.
3.Espresso coffee was preferred to tea.
4.Red wine was drunk with steak.
 Passive Voice - Questions
Active Voice
Past Questions
1. Did Jane make the Christmas Cake?
2. Did Bill write the report?
3. Did Bob’s children read the books?
4. Did Peter finish the letter before he left?
5. Who invented the radio?
6. When did he go to hospital?
Passive Voice
Past Questions
1. Was the cake made by Jane?
2. Was the report written by Bill?
3. Were the books read by (Bob’s) children?
4. Was the letter finished before he left?
5. Who was the radio invented by?
6. When was he taken to hospital?
 Passive Voice
Use

Use

Spesso la voce passiva Inglese corrisponde all’uso italiano del ‘si’ passivamente:

¾ Jam is made from fruit.

¾ Marmelade is made from oranges.
¾ Where are koalas found?
¾ This word is not often used.

When we use the Passive forms it is unnecessary, and undesirable, to mention

the names or identities of the persons who carry out the action of the verb.