Ch 4
The Passive: Present and Past
Cheese is made from milk · The bridge was built in 1890 · by …
In an active sentence the subject does the action. In a passive sentence the subject receives it.
Millions of people visit Rome every year.
Active: the people are important.
Rome is visited by millions of people every year.
Passive: Rome is important.
am / is / are + past participle
Cheese is made from milk.
English is spoken in many countries.
These phones are made in Korea.
was / were + past participle
The bridge was built in 1890.
My bike was stolen last night.
The windows were broken in the storm.
regular
clean → cleaned · invent → invented
irregular
make → made · build → built · sell → sold · find → found
irregular
write → written · steal → stolen · speak → spoken · break → broken
Harry Potter was written by J.K. Rowling.
The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell.
Often we don't say who: My bike was stolen (we don't know who).
Cheese is make from milk.
→
Cheese is made from milk.
be + past participle
The bridge built in 1890.
→
The bridge was built in 1890.
the passive needs be
The phones is made in Korea.
→
The phones are made in Korea.
plural → are
The book was written from Rowling.
→
The book was written by Rowling.
the person → by
Use the passive.
1
Where were you born? (I was born in…)
2
What is your country famous for? What is made or grown there?
3
Name a famous building. When was it built?
4
Name a song or a book. Who was it written by?
Recap
present
am / is / are + past participle
Cheese is made from milk.
past
was / were + past participle
It was built in 1890.
regular participle
-ed
cleaned
irregular participle
made · built · written
It was written in 1997.
who did it
by + person
written by Rowling