G9 English Language
G&U Unit 3: Passive Voice
Oh no!
Someone stole some diamond rings
from the jeweller’s!!
You are a detective.
真実はいつもひとつ！
There is only one truth!
You are now working on this case.
You arrived at the crime scene.
You now have to look for clues.
Write down what you see on your activity worksheet.
The crime scene
The crime scene
The crime scene
The crime scene
The crime scene
The crime scene
Let’s think
Do we know who that “someone” is?
Was it meaningful to write “someone” so
many times?
What can we use if we don’t want to write
“someone”?
Passive voice
What is the passive voice?
Someone broke the glass. What’s going
on!?
The glass was broken.
There are 3 steps.
Let’s go through them one
by one.
Changing into passive voice
Step 1: Subject <--> Object; + by
Someone broke the glass.
The glass broke by someone
Step 2: be + p.p
Past tense
The glass broke by someone.
The glass was broken by someone
be → was
Step 3: Check (S); V; O
The glass was broken by someone.
Object Verb Subject
Step 3: Check (S); V; O
The glass was broken by someone.
Object Verb Subject
Try it out!
Change the sentences on your WS into passive
voice.
practice
Short summary
● Forming passive voice:
Step 1: Subject Object + by
Step 2: be + past participle
Step 3: Check S, V, O
When do we use passive voice?
Can you use active voice in the following?
•Precipitation is formed when you
mix iron (II) sulphate with sodium
hydroxide.
We use the passive voice when…
● We don’t know the doer
● The action is more important than the doer
● There is no doer
How about other tenses?
How about other tenses?
e.g.:
The students clean the classroom every day.
How do we change this into passive
voice?
How about other tenses?
e.g.: Simple present
The students clean the classroom every day.
The classroom is cleaned by the students every day.
be → is p.p
Key point
● In passive structures,
● The change in tense happens in ‘be’
● The actual verb (the action) stays in p.p
Pop quiz
Personal and impersonal passive
Impersonal passive:
It + be + reporting verb in p.p + that + clause (part of the sentence)
People know that T. Henry is a lazy teacher.
It is known that T. Henry is a lazy teacher.
practice
Personal passive (simple present, present
continuous, future)
Subject + be + reporting verb in p.p + to-infinitive
e.g.:
People know that T. Henry is a lazy teacher.
T. Henry is known to be a lazy teacher.
practice
Personal passive (all past and all perfect
tenses)
Subject + be + reporting verb in p.p + to have p.p
e.g.:
People know that T. Henry has slept all morning.
T. Henry is known to have slept all morning.
practice
Homework: Grammar Book p. 32
