Explanation & English Practice exercises, active-passive all tenses 2 - EP4-03G
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No subject in the active
· Very often, we do not know or care who/what the subject of a sentence is – i.e. the doer of the action.
· For this type of sentence, we use the passive. There is no ‘by’, because there is no real subject of the active verb
· Such sentences are not written in the active form, If they are, we must invent a subject: ‘you’, ‘we’, ‘they’, ‘people’, ‘someone’ etc
Example
Someone drove the car at over 100miles per hour.
The car was driven at over 100 miles per hour by someone. x
The car was driven at over 100 miles per hour. ü
Further examples
They will operate on my mother tomorrow morning.
My mother will be operated on tomorrow.
They then coat the pizzas with tomato sauce.
The pizzas are then coated with tomato sauce.
You fry the aubergines for three minutes.
The aubergines are fried for three minutes.
Before you wipe the appliance clean, you must switch it off.
Before the appliance is wiped clean, it must be switched off.
· As can be seen from the last examples, the passive is used to describe processes – such as industrial processes – and to give instructions and orders.
· In such cases, the tense of the verbs is likely to be present simple. Here are some other examples:
Finally, we stamp the company name and logo on each box
Finally, the company name and logo is stamped on each box.
We prohibit visitors from feeding the animals.
Visitors are prohibited from feeding the animals
You should slice the apples thinly.
The apples should be thinly sliced.
Now put the following into the passive:
1, We expect the mayor around three o’ clock.
2. They will close this road for repairs from 23rd to 29th April.
3. You can buy souvenirs from the gift shop on the ground floor.
4. You should cook the onions on a low heat for seven minutes.
5. We invite applications for the post of secretary to the director.
6. They do not allow children to enter this area without an adult.
7. We should receive applications no later than 14th August.
8. They may ask you to work extra hours at short notice.
9. We may ask you to show a proof of identity at any time.
10. We will interview successful applicants on October 4th and 5th.
11. We have made every effort to ensure your safety.
12. You can contact us at any time on the following number….