Study the following active and passive forms:
A. Infinitive
active: (to) do/clean/see etc. Somebody will clean the room later.
passive: (to) be done/cleaned/seen etc. The room will be clean later.
* The situation is serious. Something must be done before it's too late.
* A mystery is something that can't be explained.
* The music was very loud and could be heard from a long way away.
* A new supermarket is going to be built next year.
* Please go away. I want to be left alone.
B. Perfect infinitive
active: have done/cleaned/seen etc. Somebody should have cleaned the room.
passive: have been done/cleaned/seen etc. The room should have been cleaned.
* I haven't received the letter yet. It might have been sent to the wrong address.
* If you hadn't left the car unlocked, it wouldn't have been stolen.
* There were some problems at first but they seem to have been solved.
C. Present perfect
active: have/has (done) The room looks nice. Somebody has cleaned it.
passive: have/has been (done) The room looks nice. It has been clean.
* Have you heard the news? The President has been shot!
* Have you ever been bitten by a dog?
* 'Are you going to the party?' 'No, I haven't been invited.'
Past perfect
active: had(done) The room looked nice. Somebody had clean it.
passive: had been (done) The room looked nice. It had been clean.
* The vegetables didn't taste very good. They had been cooked for too long.
* The car was three years old but hadn't been used very much.
D. Present continuous
active: am/is/are (do)ing Somebody is cleaning the room at the moment.
passive: am/is/are being (done) The room is being cleaned at the moment.
* There's somebody walking behind us. I think we are being followed.
* (in a shop) 'Can I help you, madam?' 'No, thank you. I'm being served.'
Past continuous
active: was/were (do)ing Somebody was cleaning the room when I arrived.
passive: was/were being (done) The room was being cleaned when I arrived.
* There was somebody walking behind us. We were being followed.
EXERCISES
42.1 What do these words mean? Use it can ... or it can't... . Use a dictionary if necessary.
If something is
1. washable, _it can be washed._
2. unbreakable, it ---
3. edible, it ---
4. unusable, ---
5. invisible, ---
6. portable, ---
42.2 Complete these sentences with one of the following verbs (in the correct form):
carry cause do make repair send spend wake up
Sometimes you need have ('might have', 'could have' etc.).
1. The situation is serious. Something must be done before it's too late.
2. I haven't received the letter. It might have been sent to the wrong address.
3. A decision will not --- until the next meeting.
4. I told the hotel receptionist that I wanted to --- at 6.30 the next morning.
5. Do you think that less money should --- on armaments?
6. This road is in very bad condition. It should --- a long time ago.
7. The injured man couldn't walk and had to ---
8. It's not certain how the fire started but it might --- by an electrical fault.
42.3 Rewrite these sentences. Instead of using 'somebody' or 'they', write a passive sentence.
1. Somebody has cleaned the room. _The room has been cleaned._
2. They have postponed the concert. The ---
3. Somebody is using the computer at the moment. The computer ---
4. I didn't realise that somebody was recording our conversation. I didn't realise that ---
5. When we got to the stadium we found that they had cancelled the game. When we got to the stadium, we found that ---
6. They are building a new ring road round the city. ---
7. They have built a new hospital near the airport. ---
42.4 Make sentences from the words in brackets. Sometimes the verb is active, sometimes passive.
1. There's somebody behind us. (I think/we/follow) _I think we're being followed._
2. This room looks different. (you/paint?) _Have you painted it?_
3. My car has disappeared. (it/steal!) It ---
4. My umbrella has disappeared. (somebody/take) Somebody ---
5. Tom gets a higher salary now. (he/promote) ---
6. Ann can't use her office at the moment. (it/redecorate) ---
7. The photocopier broke down yesterday, but now it's OK. (it/work/again; it/repair)
8. The police have found the people they were looking for. (two people/arrest/last night)
9. A tree was lying across the road. (it/blow down/in the storm)
10. The man next door disappeared six months ago. (nobody/see/since then)
11. I was mugged on my way home a few nights ago. (you/ever/mug?)
42.1
2 can't be broken.
3 can be eaten.
4 it can't be used.
5 it can't be seen.
6 it can be carried.
42.2
3 he made
4 be woken up
5 be spent
6 have been repaired
7 be carried
8 have been caused
42.3
2 The concert has been postponed.
3 The computer is being used at the moment.
4 I didn't realise that our conversation was being recorded.
5 ... we found that the game had been cancelled.
6 A new ring road is being built round the city.
7 A new hospital has been built near the airport.
42.4
3 It has been stolen!/It's been stolen?
4 Somebody has taken it. or ... taken my umbrella.
5 He has been promoted./He's been promoted. or He was promoted.
6 It is being redecorated./It's being redecorated.
7 It is working again./It's working again . It has been repaired. It's been repaired.
8 Two people were arrested last night.
9 It had been blown down in the storm. or It was blown down.
10 Nobody has seen him since then.
11 Have you ever been mugged?
