Departamento de Lnguas

Ano letivo 2012-2013

11th Grade - Classes : D/G

Professora: Margarida Cruz

THE PASSIVE
ACTIVE
Presentsimple
Pastsimple
Presentcontinuous
Pastcontinuous
PresentPerfect
PastPerfect
Future with will
Future with going to
Modal verbs
Infinitive
Make
Let

Theycut downtrees.
They cut down that ancient tree yesterday.
They are cutting down the trees in my street.
They were cutting down the trees in the forest
yesterday.
They have cut down the trees in my street.
They had cut down that ancient tree when the
Greenpeace members arrived.
They will cut down all those ancient trees.
They are going to cut down all those trees for
construction.
We should cut down fewer trees.
The company bought that forest land to use for
construction.
The teacher made me do research on global
warming.
They let me see their work as soon as they finish
it.

PASSIVE
Treesare cut down.
That ancient tree was cut down yesterday.
The trees in my street are being cut down.
The trees in the forest were being cut down
yesterday.
The trees in my street have been cut down.
That ancient tree had been cut down when
the Greenpeace members arrived.
All those ancient trees will be cut down.
All those trees are going to be cut down for
construction.
Fewer trees should be cut down.
The company bought that forest land to be
used for construction.
I was made to do research on global warming.
I am allowed to see their work as soon as
they finish it.

DOUBLE OBJECT VERBS

There are some verbs that can have two objects like, for example, ask, answer, bring, call, give, lend, make, offer, pay, send,
show, tell and write. They are called double object verbs. These verbs form the passive in two ways.
Example:
People gave Greenpeace large sums of money. Active sentence
We make the indirect object the subject of the passive sentence.

Greenpeace was given large sums of money.

We make the direct object the subject of the passive sentence

Large sums of money were given to Greenpeace.

USE
When we use the passive, who or what causes the action is often unimportant or unknown.
The active subject is often omitted from the passive sentence, unless the speaker thinks it is important.
IMPERSONAL REPORT STRUCTURES
It + the passive
Impersonal constructions are often used with these mental process verbs (of cognition or emotion): agree, believe, expect
(with future reference), feel, hope, judge, know, say, suppose, think, understand; speech act verbs: say, tell, etc; and with
these verbs that involve some kind of communication: accept, admit, comment, decide, discover, estimate, explain,
mention, observe, recommend, suggest, etc.
Example:

It is said that CO2 pollution causes a change in the weather.

We can also start the sentence in a different way - subject + passive verb + infinitive:

CO2 pollution is said to cause a change in the weather.

A. Rewrite these sentences in the passive.

1. Students should study environmental problems at school.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
2. In developed countries authorities will lead everybody to cooperate.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
3. In the USA the state has informed every citizen about his duties concerning the environment.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Everybody should throw their bottles into the recycling bottle bank.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Parents must teach their children what to do about rubbish.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Consumers could buy returnable recipients instead of throw-away ones.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
7. If everybody passed their clothes on to others when they no longer used them, it would be better for the
environment.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
8. Rising temperatures due to global warming are threatening the entire Arctic system.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Greenlands massive ice-sheets hold enough melt water to raise sea level by approximately 7 meters.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
10. Global warming worries me particularly.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
11. I think people should drive fewer cars.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
12. Most people still think the earth can be saved.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
B. Rewrite these sentences in the active. Use the subject given in brackets if necessary.
1. Very little is done on air pollution. (We)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
2. A difference can be made by todays children.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
3. The coastlines have been placed under threat by the boom in tourism.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
4. A huge strain on resources is put by the vast influx of holiday makers every year.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
5. People shouldnt be allowed to visit certain sites.(Local authorities)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Citizens are being involved in the recycling campaign. (The Council)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Zero carbon emissions will be produced by electric cars and scooters.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
8. Green electric vans were introduced by Sainsburys for its grocery home deliveries.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Decisive action must be taken to help tackle climate change. (Major companies)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
10. You are given the opportunity to change peoples life by volunteering.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
11. In the past it was believed that fossil fuels would never finish. (people)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
12. European citizens are being led to be more environmentally aware. (Governments)
_________________________________________________________________________________________

C. Rewrite the sentences in two different ways as suggested.

Example 1: They believe the man who started the forest fire will be caught soon.
a) It is believed that the man who started the forest fire will be caught soon.
b) The man who started the forest fire is believedto be caught soon.
Infinitive
Example 2: They report that three men were arrested for looting after the hurricane.
a) It is reported that three men were arrested for looting after the hurricane. (Past action)
b) Three men are reportedto have been arrested for looting after the hurricane.
Past action _- Perfect infinitive
1. They say many people are homeless after the floods.
a) It is ______________________________________________________________________________
b) Many people_______________________________________________________________________
2. We know that the Prime Minister is soon visiting the cities affected by the earthquake.
a) It _________________________________________________________________________________
b) The Prime Minister ___________________________________________________________________
3. Everyone expects that the Government will provide help to victims of natural disasters.
a) It _________________________________________________________________________________
b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
4. They think the desertification rates will rise continuously.
a) It _________________________________________________________________________________
b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
5. We believe new forms of CO2 emission control are urgent.
a) It _________________________________________________________________________________
b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
6. They report that two Greenpeace activists were seriously injured in an accident in the Arctic.
a) It _________________________________________________________________________________
b) __________________________________________________________________________________
7. They allege that workers disrespected some security rules in the nuclear power plant.
a) ___________________________________________________________________________________
b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
Supposed to
= said to

Supposed to
= it was planned (but didnt happen)

Not supposed to
= not allowed or advisable

Two hundred are supposed to have

been killed due to landslides.

The students were supposed to

have participated in the demo.

You are not supposed to bury glass.

D. Rewrite the sentences using supposed to/not supposed to.

1. They say the President is worried about the economic impact of new environmental measures.
The President __________________________________________________________________________
2. They say ten thousand trees were to be planted on the burnt hill.
Ten thousand trees ______________________________________________________________________
3. They say we should avoid using ozone-depleting substances such as CFCs.
We ___________________________________________________________________________________