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Immagine del redattoreDavid MacFarlane

The passive - B2

Aggiornamento: 9 feb 2022

Passive verbs; to have/get something done; it is said that …

 

Context listening

 

You are going to hear a radio news bulletin. Before you listen, look at the pictures and decide what happened. Put the pictures in the correct order.


  1. ____

  2. ____

  3. ____

  4. ____


Listen and check if you were right.


3. Read this article from a news website.

Then listen again and fill in the gaps. Stop the recording when you need to.


Burglars’ ‘luck’ was well planned

FOUR BURGLARS have escaped from custody only hours after (1) being sentenced to ten years in prison. They (2) __________ transferred from the law courts in Manchester to Strangeways Prison. They (3) __________ found guilty of stealing electrical goods and money from shops in the Manchester area. It (4) __________ thought that they were all members of the same gang. They escaped from the van in which they (5) __________ transported, when the driver (6) __________ forced to stop because of a tree across the road. It (7) __________ believed that the tree (8) __________ placed there by other members of the gang, who (9) __________ informed of the route (10) __________ taken by the van. A full investigation of the events leading to the escape (11) __________ ordered and anyone with information (12) __________ asked to contact the police to help with their inquiries.


How many of the verbs that you completed in Exercise 3 are in the passive?


 

Log into Learnclick to do the exercise and check your answers.

 

GRAMMAR

 

The passive


How the passive is formed

We form the passive by using the verb to be followed by the past participle:



Active:

The police officer saw the robber at the airport.
She’s following him.
She’ll catch him soon.


Passive:

The robber was seen at the airport.
He’s being followed.
He’ll be caught soon.




 

When the passive is used?


The passive is used quite often in English, both in speech and writing.


We use the passive when:

  • we don’t know who or what did something:

My phone has been stolen. (= Someone has stolen my phone.)
The first tools were made in Africa two million years ago. (= People made the first tools …)

We use the passive when:

  • the action is more important than who did it:

Income tax was introduced in England in 1798.

We use the passive when:

  • it is obvious who or what did something:

The thief has been arrested.

 

by

We can use by + person/thing to show who/what did the action if this information is important:

The robber was seen by the police officer. (= The police officer saw the robber.)

Verbs with two objects


Some verbs (e.g. give, send, buy, bring) can have two objects:

A witness gave the police some information.
A witness gave some information to the police
Lots of fans sent the footballer birthday cards.
Lots of fans sent birthday cards to the footballer.

Either of the objects can be the subject of a passive sentence:

The police were given some information by a witness.
Some information was given to the police by a witness.
The footballer was sent birthday cards by lots of fans.
Birthday cards were sent to the footballer by lots of fans.

 

It is said that …

We often use it + passive + that when we report what people in general say or believe:

It is believed that the tree was placed there by other members of the gang. (= Everyone believes that …)

We can use a number of verbs in this pattern, e.g. agree, announce, believe, decide, report, say, think:

It’s (is) said that a famous singer used to live in this house. (= People say that …)
It was agreed that the theatre must be closed. (= The theatre’s owners agreed that …)
It’s (is) reported that the damage will cost millions of pounds to repair. (= The news media report that …)

It’s (has) been announced that a new road will be built along the river. (= The council has announced …)
Until the 16th century it was thought that the sun revolved around the Earth. (= People generally thought that …)

 

to have/get something done


When we ask someone else to do something for us, we often use the structure to have something done.


It is not usually necessary to say who did the action:

The president had his speeches written (by his staff). (= The president’s staff wrote his speeches.)
I had my hair cut. (= The hairdresser cut my hair.)

I’m having my kitchen painted. (= The decorator is painting my kitchen.)
They want to have their car fixed. (= They want the garage to fix their car.)

In informal speech, we often use get instead of have:

I got my hair cut. (= I had my hair cut.)
When are you getting that window repaired?
We need to get something done about this leak in the roof.
 

GRAMMAR PRACTICE

 

Now click on the button below and login to your Learnclick account to practice what you've learned.


 

EXAM PRACTICE

 

Now do Reading and Use of English Part 4 - B2 - Grammar Focus: The Passive

 




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