Passive Voice

It’s important to understand how to report in the passive voice. Why? Many times what we report is more important than WHO completed what we’re reporting...

Take a look at this sentence:

We’ll migrate two projects tomorrow morning.

Let’s transform the sentence into the passive voice....Remember, we don't care about "we" (or whomever completed the task) anymore...we care about the task itself...so our NEW subject becomes:

Two projects will be migrated tomorrow morning.

Notice, "We will" is removed from the sentence and now, task becomes the new subject...

Now, Practice...

EXERCISES
Complete the sentences with the correct passive form of the verbs in brackets. Use the Present Simple.
1.) English ____________________ (speak) in many countries.
2.) The mail ______________________ (deliver) at about 7 o’clock every morning.
3.) How often ______________________________ (the Olympic Games(hold)?
4.)How _______________________ (your name/spell)?
5.) My salary _____________________ (pay) every month.
6.) These cars _________________________ (not make) in Japan.
7.) The name of the person who committed the crime _____________________ (not know).
8.) His travel expenses ________________________ (not pay) by his company.

Answers: 1.) is spoken, 2.) is delivered, 3.) are the Olympic Games held? 4.) is your name spelled 5.) is paid 6.) aren’t made 7.) isn’t known, 8.) aren’t paid

Complete the sentences with the correct passive form of the verbs in brackets. Use the Past Simple.

1.) My car ______________________ (repair) last week.
2.) This song ________________________ (not write) by John Lennon.
3.) ________________________________ (the phone/answer) by a young girl?
4.) The film ________________________ (make) ten years ago.
5.) When ______________________________ (tennis/invent)?
6.) The car ________________________ (not damaged) in the accident.
7.) The original building _________________________ (taken) down in 1965.
8.) Where ______________________________ (this pot/make)?
9.) When _______________________________ (this bridge/build)?

Answers:
1.) was repaired, 2.) wasn’t written, 3.) Was the phone answered, 4.) was made, 5.) was tennis invented?, 6.) wasn’t damaged, 7.) was taken down 8.) was this pot made, 9.) was this bridge built

Choose the correct form of the verbs in brackets.

Fiat 0_was started__(started/was started) by a group of Italian businessmen in 1899. In 1903, Fiat,1_________________ (produced/was produced) 132 cars. Some of these cars
2_____________________ (exported/were exported) by the company to the United States and Britain. In 1920, Fiat
3_________________ (started/was started) making cars at a new factory at Lingotto, near Turin. There was a track on the roof where the cars 4____________________ (tested/were tested) by
technicians. In 1936, Fiat launched the Fiat 500. This car
5 ___________________ (called/was called) the Topolino
. The company grew, and in 1963 Fiat 6_____________________ (exported/was exported) more than 300,000 vehicles. Today, Fiat is based in Turin, and its cars 7________________ (sold/are sold) all over the world.

Answers: 1.) produced 2.) were exported 3.) started 4.) were tested 5.) was called 6.) exported 7.) are sold

Change the following sentences into passive sentences using the words in brackets.
1.) We sell tickets for all shows at the Box Office.
(Tickets for all shows/sell/at the Box Office)
__________________________

2.) Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb. (The electric light bulb/invent/by Thomas Edison) ______________________________

3.) Someone painted the office last week. (The office/paint/last week)_____________________________________________

4.) Several people saw the accident. (The accident/see/by several people)________________________________________

5.)Where do they make these video recorders? (Where/these video recorders/make)___________________________________

Answers: 1.) Tickets for all shows are sold at the box office. 2.) The electric light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison. 3.) The office was painted last week. 4.) The accident was seen by several people. 5.) Where are these video recorders made?

Taken from:
http://inglescarmelitaslb.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/the-passive-voice1.pdf