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Writing: Describing a Process 5
Compare Active and Passive
Present Tense:
- Active: Somebody cleans the office every day.
- Passive: The office is cleaned every day.
Past Tense:
- Active: Somebody cleaned the office yesterday.
- Passive: The office was cleaned yesterday.
The passive is the verb to be and the past participle
Note: The past participle of regular verbs is -ed (cleaned/ damaged etc.) You need to check the past participle of irregular verbs!
- Butter is made from milk.
- Oranges are imported into Britain.
- How often are these rooms cleaned?
- I am never invited to parties.
- This house was built 100 years ago.
- These houses were built 100 years ago.
- When was the telephone invented?
- We weren't invited to the party last week.
- “Was anybody injured in the accident?” “Yes, two people were taken to hospital.”
was/were born
- I was born in London in 1962. (not 'I am born').
- Where were you born?
Passive + by ...
- We were woken up by a loud noise. (= The noise woke us up.).
- The telephone was invented by Alexander Bell in 1876.
- My brother was bitten by a dog last week.
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