THE PASSIVE
we use the passive when we are interested in the action itself,not in who or what makes it happen (the doer
the present simple
to be(am,is,are)+past participle
eg:english is spoken all over the world
the present continuous
to be(am,is,are)+being+past participle
eg:a new mosque is being built near our house
the past simple
to be(was,were)+past participle
eg:the window was broken
the past continuous
to be(was,were)+being+past participle
eg:the exam were being corrected all the week
the present perfect
to have(have,has)+been+past participle
eg:exams have already been given back to students
the past perfect
had+been+past participle
eg:dinner had been served before the guests arrived
the future
shall/will+be+past participle
eg:he will be offered a card on his birthday
the infinitive
to be+past participle
eg:I want you to take the corrections completely
I want the correction to be taken completely
used to is a modal
ghosts used to be believed in
examples (modals
cigarettes ought to be banned from public places
a delicious cake could be prepared by some ingredients
if you asked for help,you would be given
the future perfect
shall/will+have+past participle
eg:you will have perfected your english by the time you come back from the US
people say=it is said
or
is/are said +infinitive
we use this form of the passive when we don't want to involve anyone in this action
egeople say figs are better for us than bananas
passive1:it is said that figs are better for us than bananas
passive2:figs are said to be better for us than bananas (is the best form
egeople say that there is a big problem of security in Algeria
it is said that there is a big problem of security in Algeria
there is said to be a big problem of security in Algeria
NOTE:when the verb takes 2 objects the personal object(indirect object) is more often used as a subject of passive
eg:she gave me a book
passive1:a book was given to me
passive2:I was given a book(the most used