Passive voice actions are done by people who are unknown or unimportant.
In present tenses and forms, passive voice is made as follows:
Present Simple Passive: The laptop is stolen.
Present Continuous Passive: The laptop is being stolen.
Present Perfect Passive: The laptop has been stolen.
Present Perfect Continuous Passive: The laptop has been being stolen.(rare)
Zero Conditional Passive: If the laptop is stolen, I buy a new one.
Modal Present Passive: The laptop can / must / has to / may / should be stolen.
Imperative Form Passive: Let the laptop be stolen. / You are advised / requested to steal the laptop.
We normally use passive voice in formal spoken and written contexts. We don’t normally use it to talk about everyday informal actions, e.g. I ate toast for breakfast. = Toast was eaten for breakfast.
Passive voice is most often seen / heard in the following contexts:
A. business English
B. creative arts
C. production
D. crime and punishment
E. natural disasters
F. invention / discovery
G. historical events
H. life story / obituary
Write sentences using the prompts. Embellish where possible. Say which context they belong to A-H:
1) Discuss these quotes with a partner. What do you think the message of each quote is? What is your opinion about the quote, do you agree or disagree?
• “The time is always right to do what is right” (Martin Luther King, Jr.).
• “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men” (Frederick Douglas).
• “Racism isn’t born, folks, it’s taught. I have a two-year old son. Do you know what he hates? Naps! End of list” (Denis Leary).
2) Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right:
3) Black History Month Quiz:
In pairs, decide whether the statements below are true or false.
When you have finished, check your answers:
The United Kingdom abolished slavery in 1833.
The United Kingdom spent 20 million pounds on compensating slaves after they abolished slavery.
Garrett Morgan invented the traffic signal in 1923.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” is a quote from James Baldwin.
The first African American to travel to space was Bernard A. Harris Jr. in 1995.
In 1955, police arrested Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat to a white man in Alabama.
Missy Elliot was the first African American woman to win five Grammy Awards in one year.
In 1953, the song “Hound Dog” was released by “Big Mama Thornton” and made it to number one in the R&B charts.
K’Naan is considered the creator of the music genre “Afrobeat”.
Nelson Mandela was the first African American Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Between 15 and 26 million people participated in the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States in 2020.
The Black Lives Matter movement was founded in 2014 in response to the killing of Michael Brown.
A statue of Edward Colston was toppled by Black Lives Matter protestors in the city of Brighton in the UK in 2020.
Michael Jackson’s 1982 album “Thriller” is the best selling album of all time.
4) Grammar – the passive voice:
Which of the quiz questions are written using the passive voice?
5) Change these statements to the past simple passive. The first one has been done for you. When you have finished, check your answers:
The United Kingdom abolished slavery in 1833. Slavery was abolished in the United Kingdom in 1833.
The United Kingdom spent 20 million pounds on compensating slave owners after they abolished slavery.
Garrett Morgan invented the traffic signal in 1923.
In 1955, police arrested Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat to a white man in Alabama.
Lauren Hill won a Grammy for “Album Of The Year” in 1998.
Nelson Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
Michael Jackson premiered his music video for “Thriller” in December 1983.