2C1 Grammar UNIT 8

• Passive voice


  How and why we use the passive voice in comparison to the active
• Common reasons why we use the passive voice

  • To move the focus in the sentence when the agent is unknown
  • When the agent is needed to complete the sentence
  • With a complex agent
  • With a dummy it with reporting or thing verbs when we want to be tentative and avoid saying something is a fact
  • To move the focus in the sentence when the agent is assumed/common knowledge
  • To move the focus in the sentence when the agent is unimportant
  • With a dummy it with reporting or thing verbs when we don't want to pass blame so avoid mentioning the agent
• To move the focus in the sentence when the agent is unknown

  • The house was broken into.
• When the agent is needed to complete the sentence

  • The park was designed by a famous Spanish artist.
• With a complex agent


  • She was robbed by a man wearing a black sweatshirt.
• With a dummy it with reporting or thing verbs when we want to be tentative and avoid saying something is a fact


  • It is thought that the fire started in the science classroom.
• To move the focus in the sentence when the agent is assumed/common knowledge


  • He was fined $100 for driving with no licence.
• To move the focus in the sentence when the agent is unimportant


  • The concert location has been changed.
• With a dummy it with reporting or thing verbs when we don't want to pass blame so avoid mentioning the agent


  • It was decided that no one would get a bonus this year.
• Cohesion and coherence


  The passive voice can help a text be more cohesive and coherent
• The object of the previous clause becomes the subject of the next


  We can use the passive voice to do this
• To make texts more consistent by starting clauses with the same subject


  • Maria has fallen over and broken her leg! She has been taken to the hospital where she will be operated on.
• To make texts more coherent by always starting a sentence with given information


  • Don't worry! I've read about the doctors there. They were all trained at the best universities.
• How to form the passive voice

  Auxiliary verb to be + past participle
• The subject is not the agent (person/thing doing the action)
• To mention the agent, add 'by...' after the past participle
• The verb 'to be' changes depending on the tense
• Changing active to passive

  • The headmaster has spoken to Ariana about her behaviour. -> Ariana has been spoken to about her behaviour.
  • Everyone at the party had eaten all the cake before Jude arrived. -> All the cake had been eaten before Jude arrived.
• Making a text more coherent by starting sentences with given information


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