Passives 1º Bachillerato

Dear students,

today we are going to study the passive voice. We are going to focus on two types on passives, the "normal" one and the structure HAVE/GET SOMETHING DONE.

Links to the Prezi presentation: Prezi

We use the passive voice when the performer of the action is not relevant. The important thing is the action, not the subject.

To write passive sentences, we need a SUBJECT+ TO BE+ P.PARTICIPLE (+BY+ AGENT).

Let's see some examples:

We look at the TENSE (tiempo verbal) and we "give" it to the verb to be. Then, we take the main verb (in this case "write"), and we use the past participle (-ed for regular verbs; 3rd column for irregular verbs). You can get a copy of this grammar worksheet here.

PRESENT SIMPLE Students study English	English is studied (by the students)
PRESENT CONTINUOUS Students are studying English	English is being studied (by the students)
PAST SIMPLE Students studied English	English was studied (by the students)
PAST CONTINUOUS Students were studying English	English was being studied (by the students)
PRESENT PERFECT Students have studied English	English have been studied (by the students)
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS Students have been studying English	English have been being studied (by the students)
PAST PERFECT Students had studied English	English had been studied (by the students)
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS Students had been studying English	English had been being studied (by the students)
FUTURE SIMPLE Students will study English	English will be studied (by the students)
GOING TO Students am going to study English	English is going to be studied (by the students)
FUTURE CONTINUOUS Students will be studying English	English will be being studied (by the students)
FUTURE PERFECT Students will have studied English	English will have been studied (by the students)
CONDITIONAL Students would study English	English would be studied (by the students)
CAN Students can study English	English can be studied (by the students)
MUST Students must study English	English must be studied (by the students)
SHOULD Students should study English	English should be studied (by the students)

PASSIVE WITH TWO OBJECTS:

When we have a DIRECT object AND an INDIRECT object, native speakers prefer to put the INDIRECT object as the subject of the passive sentence. The rest remains the same as in a "normal" passive.

They gave me a present  →  A present was given to me → I was given a present.


HAVE/GET SOMETHING DONE

When we talk about a service performed for us, we use the structure HAVE/GET SOMETHING DONE. Note that get is more informal.

We use the verb HAVE/GET in the appropriate tense, then the thing and then the verb in the PAST PARTICIPLE.

Te has cortado el pelo (pero has ido a la pelu): You have had/got your hair cut.
Me van a pintar la casa: I am going to have/get my house painted.
Me arreglaron el coche la semana pasada: I had/got my car fixed last week.


PRACTICE:

active to passive 1
Active to passive 2
Active to passive 3
 
Passive to active 1 

Passives with two objects

Passives

Have something done
Have something done2

Here you have the video, I hope you find it useful.

 

See you in class!

Natalia