ENGLISH WORKSHEET 5 Active and Passive Voice

Transcription

1 ENGLISH WORKSHEET 5 Active and Passive Voice Active voice describes a sentence where the subject performs the action stated by the verb. These examples show that the subject is doing the verb's action. In passive voice sentences, the subject is acted upon by the verb. In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence RECEIVES the action. The house was painted last week. Subject / verb Notice that the object of the active sentence (house) became the subject of the passive sentence. Note in these examples how the subject-verb relationship has changed. Because the subject is being "acted upon" (or is passive), such sentences are said to be in the passive voice. NOTE -- The passive voice is used when we want to emphasize the action (the verb) and the object of a sentence rather than subject. This means that the subject is either less important than the action itself or that we don t know who or what the subject is. 1

2 1. Passive: Twenty civilians were killed in the bomb explosion. 2. Active: Someone killed twenty civilians in the bomb explosion. The passive agent When we know who the subject is, we put it at the end with by. We call this an agent. 1. Passive: The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. (agent =Leonardo Da Vinci ) 2. Active: Leonaro Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa. The passive is often used to report something or to state a fact. 1. Highway 15 was closed yesterday due to a serious road accident. 2. A lot of corn is grown in Iowa. Rules for changing Active Voice into Passive Voice: 1. Identify the subject, the verb and the object: SVO 2. Change the object into subject 3. Put the suitable helping verb or auxiliary verb. In case helping verb is given, use the same. But note that the helping verb given agrees with the object. 4. Change the verb into past participle of the verb. 5. Add the preposition "by" 6. Change the subject into object. 7. Subject may not be always mentioned in the passive voice. A passive voice sentence can be written without a subject, if it gives clear idea about the subject. E.g Women are not treated as equals. Sugar is sold in kilograms. 8. Verbs with Two Objects ( DIRECT OBJECT/ INDIRECT OBJECT) Active: They gave Spielberg an award. Passive 1: Spielberg was given an award. Passive 2: An award was given to Spielberg. When an active sentence has two objects, the passive sentence can begin with either object. 9. Other words such as with or to may also be used instead of word by depending upon the subject of the sentence. These words are used in a very few cases. 2

3 e.g I know him --- He is known to me. Water fills a tub --- A tub is filled with water. Passive Voice Exercise--1 Fill in the correct passive form of the verb in parentheses. 1. After the earthquake, aid was sent to the people of Haiti. (sent) 2. The electricity was cut off because the bill hadn t been paid. (not pay) 1. Penicillin by Alexander Fleming in (discover) 2. Statements from all the witnesses at this moment. (take) 3. Whales by an international ban on whaling. (must protect) 4. Both weddings by Good Taste. (cater) 5. A Picasso from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.(steal) this washing machine in Germany? (make) 7. Tea in China. (grow) 8. When we reached the airport, we found that all the flights due to the storm. (cancel) 9. The fax until tomorrow morning. (not send) 10. The soundtrack of a movie always after the filming is finished. (is/add) EXERCISE -- 2 For each sentence, choose either the active or the passive form of the verb...and the correct tense! 1. That door (paint) yesterday. 2. Michelangelo (paint) the Sistine Chapel. 3. Michael Schumacher (drive) for Ferrari in In the UK, everyone (drive) on the left. 5. Inter-city trains (usually/drive) by men. 6. The 'La Stampa' newspaper (read) by two million people in Italy. 3

4 7. My car (steal)! Call the police!!!! 8. The thieves (steal) the gold last week. 9. The Queen (open) the bridge tomorrow. 10. The bridge (destroy) by the storm last night. 11. I (learn) Japanese when I was in Tokyo. 12. I (teach) by an old Japanese man. 13. This letter (should/type), not handwritten! 14. The new secretary (type) at 100 wpm. EXERCISE Fill in the blanks with the active or passive voice of the verb in parentheses ( ). Use the tense indicated. I saw an old movie on TV last night. (past: see) The movie was filmed in black and white. (past: film) It will be shown again on TV tonight. (future: show) 1. Many movies in Hollywood. (present: make) 2. Steven Spielberg many movies. (present perfect: make) 3. We a DVD this weekend. (future: rent) 4. Vera Wang beautiful dresses. (present: design) 4

5 5. The actress a dress that by Ralph Lauren. (past continuous: wear) (past: design) 6. Who the music for the movie? The music by Randy Newman. (past: write) 7. The first Academy Awards presentation guests (past: have) 8. I Star Wars. (present perfect: never/see) 9. Computer animation in many movies. (present: use) 10. Movie reviewers predictions weeks before the Oscar presentation. (present: make) 11. Oscar winners the people who helped them. (present: always/thank) EXERCISE 4 Sentences are given in the active voice. Change them into the passive voice. 1. He teaches English. / English... by him. Taught is taught was taught 2. The child is eating bananas. / Bananas...by the child. are eaten are being eaten have been eaten 3. She is writing a letter. / A letter...by her. is written is being written has been written 4. The master punished the servant. / The servant... by the master. is punished was punished has punished 5. He was writing a book. / A book...by him. was written had written was being written 6. Who wrote this letter? / By whom...? was this letter written was this letter being written had this letter written 7. Somebody cooks meal every day. / Meal... by someone every day. is cooked has cooked is cooking 5

6 8. He wore a blue shirt. / A blue shirt...by him. Wore was wore was worn 9. May God bless you with happiness! /... with happiness. May you blessed May you be blessed May blessed you be 10. They are building a house. / A house... by them. is built is being built was built 11. I have finished the job. / The job...by me. has finished has been finished is finished 12. I sent the report yesterday. / The report... yesterday. is sent was sent had sent 6