Passive Voice

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Passive Voice
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• In the last unit, we talked about the passive
  voice.
• Do you remember what passive voice is?
• Bingo! Passive voice is formed by making the
  object of the sentence into the subject of the
  sentence.
• John broke the window.
• The window was broken by John.

3

• Do you remember the function of the passive
  voice?
• focusing on the person or the things affected by
  the action. In the following dialogue
• Uncle Bill comes to visit Mum.
• Mum Bill, Im going to show you a beautiful
  vase. It was given to me by my grandpa. (Mum is
  looking for it) Susan, have you seen my vase?
• Susan Sorry. It was broken by me yesterday.
• In the above situation, the vase is the focus/
  the topic of the dialogue. Therefore, the two
  underlying sentences are written in passive voice
  to make the object that being affected by the
  action be the subject of the sentence.

4

• we dont k now who did the action.
• My wallet was stolen.
• Mr. Smith was murdered.
• The cak e has been eaten.
• In the above sentences, the speaker does not
  know who did the actions. So they use passive
  voice to avoid mentioning the subject, instead of
  using someone or somebody to stand for an
  unknown person.

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Forms of PASSIVE Present Tense
is / am / are killed / hurt Past Tense was /
were broken / stolen Future Tense will be
built / done Present Perfect Tense has / have
been given Verbs with modals can be done/ should
be followed
action verb (past participle)
verb to be
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The MTRs Tseung Kwan O line connects Tseung Kwan
O to Po Lam.
Tseung Kwan O is connected to Po Lam by the MTRs
Tseung Kwan O line.
7
The government will build a swimming pool in our
neighbourhood.
A swimming pool will be built in our
neighbourhood by the government.
8
The government built an air-conditioned market in
our neighbourhood last year.
An air-conditioned market was built in our
neighbourhood by the government last year.
9
The developer will build a new theme park in this
area.
A new theme park will be built in this area by
the developer.
10
The developer built a new shopping mall in Kwun
Tong last year.
A new shopping mall was built by the developer
last year.
11
The government built Hong Kong Central Library in
2001.
Hong Kong Central Library was built by the
government in 2001.
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Club House
The club house provides laundry services.
Laundry services are provided by the club house
13
The housing estate provides shuttle bus services.
Shuttle bus services are provided by the housing
estate.
14
Nancy has booked the badminton court.
The badminton court has been booked by Nancy.
15
Uncle Bill has bought this beautiful villa.
This beautiful villa has been bought by Uncle
Bill.