Juan Fco Blesa

The passive sentence

ACTIVE VOICE Robert
Active Subject

gave
Active Verb

a coin
Direct Object

Passive Subject

Passive Verb

by

Agent

PASSIVE VOICE was given by

Structure of the sentence

Subject: Subject Person or object that suffered/enjoyed the results of an action. (Persona u objeto que sufre o disfruta los resultados de
una accin.

The verb "to be in the tense the action ocurred. (El to be"
verbo to be en el tiempo que ocurri la accin.)

The Past Participle of the verb that represents the action itself. (El participio de pasado del verbo que representa la accin.) Whatever complements that verb needs. (Los complementos
que el verbo necesite.)

In a few special cases we can also use by + the agent agent.

(En algunos casos usaremos el complemento agente introducido por la preposicin by)

We can only have passive sentences from transitive verbs, never with intransitive verbs. (Solo podemos hacer oraciones
pasivas de verbos transitivos y nunca de verbos intransitivos)

Structure of the verb

TENSES Present Simple Present Continuous Present Perfect Past Simple Past Continuous Past Perfect Future Simple Going to - Future Conditional Simple Conditional Perfect EXAMPLES Pigs are often used to find truffles My house is being redecorated at the moment I have never been given flowers on my birthday This picture was painted by Picasso When I saw him he was being followed by the police She was angry because she had already been told three times When you get there everything will be finished They are not going to be easily convinced You would be punished if they found out If you hadn t told them would I have been invited?

THE PASSIVE VERB

to BE (in the active tense) + Past Participle (main verb)

to BE gives us the tense of the action(be en el

tiempo de la accin)

the principal verb is always in Past Participle

(El verbo principal no lo encontraremos siempre en pasado de participio) participio)

ACTIVE
She wants an ice-cream He sent a letter We will buy a new car next week They have

PASSIVE
An ice-cream is wanted A letter was sent A new car will be The grass has

bought

been cutting the grass

been being cut

When do we use it?

Highlight the action more than the subject who makes the action.
Resaltar la accin ms que al sujeto que la realiza.
They built this house in 1944. / This house was built in 1944.

When the agent is unknown or we don t want to mention it.

Cuando el sujeto que realiza la accin es obvio, o desconocido, o no se lo quiere nombrar. Spanish "SE" : Se venden pisos: Flats are sold Spanish "Ellos/as" omitted : Le dieron un beso a Pepita: Pepita was given a kiss

When do we use it?

To make the object of the active verb more important
Para hacer el objeto del verbo activo ms importante.

America was discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus

When the description of the agent is very long
Cuando la descripcin del agente es muy larga.

A charity record has been made by many famous names in the world of pop music.

The passive sentence

Robert
Active Subject

ACTIVE VOICE gave a coin

Active Verb Direct Object

to Tom
Indirect Object

Passive Subject

Passive Verb

Direct Object

by

Agent

PASSIVE VOICE was given

by

Direct and Indirect Objects

Si una oracin tiene dos complementos, ponemos como sujeto el primer complemento que vaya detrs del verbo en activa, sea el directo o el indirecto. They will send some books to Pam / Some books will be sent to Pam. They will send Pam some books. / Pam will be sent some books. Si el complemento indirecto es un pronombre, hay que cambiarlo a la forma de sujeto. - She showed me her new house - I was shown her new house. Esta pasiva se suele utilizar con los verbos ask, give, lend, pay, offer, promise, sell, send, show y tell, que llevan el doble complemento: directo e indirecto.

Examples
1/They built this house in 1466 2/ This house was built in 1466 1/ Channel islanders speak French & English 2/ French & English are spoken by Channel islanders 1/ This book will change your life 2/ Your life will be changed by this book

Examples
1/ They have cut the grass 2/ The grass has been cut 1/ My mother is going to give me a present 2/ I am going to be given a present by my mother 1/ Susan wrote an e-mail to him 1/ He was written an e-mail by Susan

More examples
1/ They can t answer your question 2/ Your question can t be answered 1/ Someone had to take her to hospital after this 2/ She had to be taken to hospital after the crash 1/ They shouldn t allow the children to do these things 2/ The children shouldn t be allowed to do these things 1/ Someone must tell him if we want him to know 2/ He must be told if we want him to know

More passive stuff

HAVE/ GET something done: Arranging for or paying for somebody to do something for you. (Get is more informal).
(Esta estructura tiene un sentido pasivo, pues el nombre que va en medio recibe la accin del verbo que va en participio) They cut his hair He had his hair cut They cleaned her carpet She got her carpet cleaned They has mended our car. We have had our car mended They translated their book. They had got their book translated

HAVE + Object + Past Participle

More passive stuff

Verbs like: Believe, Think, Consider, Say, Report, Know, Expect, Feel, Understand, Find
1. Introductory IT is used (It introductorio)

IT + passive verb + complete subordinate sentence without changes

Look at the following examples

EXAMPLES
Police say that he started the fire. It is said that he started the fire.
(Se dice que el empez el fuego) fuego)

People think that she doesn t live in London It is thought that she doesn't live in London
(Se piensa que ella no vive en Londres) Londres)

They knew that the King is coming tomorrow It was known that the King is coming tomorrow
(Se saba que el Rey viene maana) maana)

More passive stuff

Verbs like: Believe, Think, Consider, Say, Report, Know, Expect, Feel, Understand, Find

Subordinate subject + verb passive + subordinate active verb in INFINITIVE.

Look at the following examples

EXAMPLES
It is said that he started the fire (action in the Past) He is said to have started the fire (Infinitive Perfect) It is thought that she doesn't live in London (Present) She is thought to live in London (Infinitive Present) It was known that the King is coming tomorrow (Present) The King was known to be coming tomorrow. (Infinitive Present)

By JFBS