Noelia Fantili Picchio PASSIVE The passive is used for the following reasons: 1.

To talk about actions, events and processes when the action, event or process is seen as more important than the agent. This is often the case in scientific writing. Santa Cruz was founded in 1495. The pigeons were fed a diet of seeds and lettuce. To put new information later in the sentence. The film was directed by Quentin Tarantino. To put longer expressions at the end of the sentence. I was offended by the way she pushed past me.

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Verbs that dont take an object dont have passive forms. Stative verbs like have, fit, and suit arent used in the passive with the same meaning: Do you have a car? (have = own) They have only given us $5.00 change. We have been had. (have = deceived) Those jeans dont fit you anymore. (fit = be the right size) The laboratory is being fitted with all the latest equipment. (fit = provided with) That dress suits you. (suit = look nice) Mary and Tom are not really suited to each other. (suit = are not compatible) PASSIVE FORMS Simple Somebody cleans this room every day. Present Present Somebody is cleaning the room right now. Continuous Past Simple Past Continuous Present Perfect Past Perfect Passive Gerund Will; Going to; Want to; Can; (modals) Must; etc. Somebody cleaned this room yesterday. Somebody was cleaning the room when I arrived. The room looks nice. Somebody has cleaned it. The room looked nice. Somebody had cleaned it. I dont like people telling me what to do.

am / is / are + past participle This room is cleaned every day. am / is / are + being + past participle The room is being cleaned right now. was / were + past participle This room was cleaned yesterday. was / were + being + past participle The room was being cleaned when I arrived. have / has + been + past participle The room looks nice. It has been cleaned. had + been + past participle The room looked nice. It had been cleaned. love / hate / etc. + being + past participle I dont like being told what to do. be + Past Participle

Somebody will clean the room later. >>> The room will be cleaned later. + been

Will have; Seem to have; Should have; (modals) Might have; Would have; etc.

Past Participle

Somebody should have cleaned the room. >>> The room should have been cleaned.

I was born... We say I was born in Chicago. OR Where were you born? (Simple Past) BUT to talk about statistics we say How many babies are born every day? (Simple Present)

Some verbs can have two objects: give, ask, offer, pay, show, teach, tell, etc. So it is possible to make two passive sentences. We gave the police the information. (= We gave the information to the police.) The police were given the information. The information was given to the police.

Noelia Fantili Picchio Sometimes you can use get instead of be in the passive. You can use get to say that something happens to somebody or something, especially if it is unplanned or unexpected. There was a fight at the party, but nobody got hurt. Im surprised Ann didnt get offered the job. Our dog got run over by a car. We use get mainly in informal spoken English. You can use be in all situations. You can use get only when things happen or change. For example, you cannot use get in these sentences: Jill is liked by everybody. He was a mysterious man. Nothing was known about him.

It is said that... He is said to... Henry is very old. Nobody knows exactly how old is he. It is said that he is 108 years old. OR He is said to be 108 years old. Both these sentences mean: People say that he is 108 years old.

You can use these structures with a number of other verbs, especially: thought, believed, considered, reported, known, expected, alleged, understood, etc. The police are looking for a missing boy. It is believed that the boy is wearing a white sweater and blue jeans. >>> The boy is believed to be wearing a white sweater and blue jeans. The strike started three weeks ago. It is expected that it will end soon. >>> The strike is expected to end soon. A friend of mine has been arrested. It is alleged that he kicked a police officer. >>> He is alleged to have kicked a police officer. These structures are often used in news reports. It is reported that two people were injured in the explosion. >>>Two people are reported to have been injured in the explosion.

(be) supposed to... Sometimes It is supposed to... = It is said to... Lets go and see that movie. Its supposed to be very good. (= it is said to be very good) Mark is supposed to have kicked a police officer. (= he is said to have kicked) But sometimes supposed to has a different meaning. Something is supposed to happen = it is planned, arranged, or expected. Often this is different from what really happens: Id better hurry. Its almost 8:00 and Im supposed to meet Ann at 8:15. (= I have arranged to meet her; I said I would meet her) The train was supposed to arrive at 11:30, but it was an hour late. (= th e train was expected to arrive at 11:30 according to the schedule) You are not supposed to do something = it is not allowed or advisable for you to do it. You arent supposed to park your car here. (= you arent allowed to park here) Mr. Bruno is much better after his operation, but he is still not supposed to do any heavy work. (= his doctors have advised him not to)

Have something done We use -have something done- to say that we arranged for somebody else to do something for us. Lisa repaired the roof. (= she repaired herself) Lisa had the roof repaired. (= she arranged for somebody else to repair it) You can also say get something done instead of have something done (mainly in informal spoken English) . When are you going to get the roof repaired? I think you should get your hair cut. Have / Get + object + past participle Sometimes -have something done- has a different meaning. We use -have something done- to say that something happens to somebody or their belongings. Usually what happens is not nice: Lisa and Eric had all their money stolen while they were on vacation. James had his nose broken in a fight. Have you ever had your passport stolen?