52. Passive voice

52.1 Complete the following in the passive with the tenses suggested & using "to be".

1. The picture (always admire) - present.
2. His leg (hurt) in an accident - past.
3. This exercise (do) very carefully - present continuous.
4. The box (not open) for the last hundred years - present perfect.
5. The Tower of London (formerly use) as a prison - past.
6. Two of my dinner plates (break) - present..
7. A gig batter (fight) here 200 years ago - past.
8. You (invite) to lunch tomorrow - present perfect
9. This play (forgot) in a few years' time - future
10. This bridge (build) last year - past.
11. My brother (never beat) at tennis - present perfect.
12. English (speak) all over the world - present
13. Any questions (ask) about me? - past
14. The answers must (write) on one side of the paper only - infinitive.
15. These books must (not take away) - infinitive
16. I (punish) for something I didn't do - past.
17. Milk (use) for making butter and cheese - present.
18. You (want) to help lay the table - present
19. A pupil (praise) when he works hard - present
20. The stolen car (find) in another town - present perfect
21. Hats and coast must (leave) in the cloakroom - infinitive.
22. The piano (play) far too loudly - past continuous
23. The matter (discuss) tomorrow - future
24. Progress (make) every day in the world of science - present.
25. The chickens (not feed) this morning - past.
26. Some ink (spill) on the carpet - present perfect.
27. She said that some ink (spill) on her carpet - past perfect.
28. Not a sound (hear) - past.
29. The door can (easily mend) - infinitive (remember to put adverb of manner before the past participle).
30. What (do) about this? - present perfect
31. The door (already shut) - present perfect.
32. Your question (answer)? - present perfect.
33. The book (finish) next month - future
34. He saw that the table (push) into the corner - past perfect.
35. The article (beautifully written) - present perfect.

The passive voice is very important in English - mostly to replace the use of the indefinite pronoun (on in French, man in German, se in Spanish). It talks about something that happened to an object without saying who or what carried out the action.

• Three stores were robbed last night (the identity of the subject may be unknown).
• A new cancer drug has been discovered (the identity of the subject may be unimportant in the context).
• Mistakes have been made on this project (the speaker may not wish to identify the subject).
• The mixture was heated to 300 °C (common in scientific writing).

But the subject (or agent) is sometimes present, and can be used for emphasis

• Don't you see? The patient was murdered by his own doctor.

Whether the passive voice is used changes the emphasis

• My taxi hit my mother (active - focus on mother).
• My mother was hit by a taxi (passive - focus on taxi).

It is often used in long compound sentences:

• The breakthrough was achieved by Burlingame and Evans, two researchers in the university's genetic engineering lab

Only transitive verbs (verbs that require a direct object) are used in passive voice in English or "se" constructions in Spanish.

• Se comió la torta. The cake was eaten.
• Se escribió el libro en español. The book was written in Spanish.
• Se alquilan kayaks aquí. Kayaks are rented here.
• Se buscan actores bilingües. Bilingual actors wanted.

The simplest rule in English is: appropriate tense of TO BE + the PAST PARTICIPLE. The SUBJECT is vague or unknown

• ACTIVE: someone has stolen my books.
• PASSIVE: my books have been stolen.

Sometimes the Passive Voice can be formed with TO GET

• Don't get killed
• The window got broken