Forming the passive.
Tense
| Structure
| Examples
| Simple Present
| Am/is/are + past participle(V3)
| Italian is spoken in Italy.
| Present Progressive.
| Am/is/are + being + past participle(V3)
| The house is being painted.
| Simple Past
| Was/were + past participle(V3)
| I was invited to the party.
| Past Progressive
| Was/were + past participle(V3)
| I felt I was being watched.
| Present Perfect
| Have/has+ been + past participle(V3)
| Has the book been read?
| Past Perfect
| Had been + past participle(V3)
| I knew I had been forgotten.
| Will future.
| Will be + past participle(V3)
| He will be told soon.
| Future Perfect
| Will have been + past participle(V3)
| Everything will have been done by Monday.
| Going to Future
| Am/is/are going to be + past participle(V3)
| Who is going to be invited?
| It is said that… He is said to…
It is said that he is 95 years old. = He is said to be 95 years old.
These sentencesmean: People say that he is 95 years old. We can use these structures with a number of verbs: believed, considered, expected, known, reported, thought, understood. It is expected that the strike will end soon. = The strike is expected to end soon.
Some verbs are not used in passive voice: die, arrive, fit, have, lack, suit, resemble, agree etc. He has a nice house. (But not! A nice house is had by them) My shoes don’t fit me (But not!I’m not fitted by my shoes.).
The Passive form of modals.
Active voice
| Passive voice Modal + be + past participle
| 1. They will invite Marat to the picnic.
| 1. Marat will be invited to the picnic.
| 2. He can’t open the door.
| 2. The door can’t be opened.
| 3. Parents should teach children to respect.
| 3. Children should be taught to respect the elders.
| 4. I had better return this book to the library.
| 4. This book had better be returned to the library.
| 5. You ought to send the telegram right away.
| 5. This telegram ought to be sent right away.
| 6. You have to tell Alina about his plans.
| 6. Alina has to be told about his plans
| Active voice
| The Past Passive form Modal + have been + past participle.
| 1. I should have sent the book last week.
| 1. The book should have been sent last week
| 2. They must have built this house over 100 years ago.
| 2. This house must have been built over 100 years ago.
| 3. She ought to have invited Saule to the party.
| 3. Saule ought to have been invited to the party.
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Have something done.
We use have something done to say that we arrange for somebody else to do something for us.
Nazgul repaired the roof. ( = she repaired it herself)
Nazgul hadthe roof repaired. ( = she arranged for somebody else to repair it.) Where did you haveyour hair cut?
How often do you have your car serviced?
Our neighbor has just hada garage built.
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