Apuntes de inglés/English notes

Blog destinado a recopilar el máximo de apuntes de inglés e intentar ordenarlos de la manera más útil posible...

Blog destined to compile as much English notes and trying to order by the most useful way possible...

By Raül Montejano Gutiérrez; Twitter @raulmontejanogu

domingo, 2 de septiembre de 2012

The passive

Form
The verb to be + past participle.
Present Simple: Goods worth 750M. are stolen from shops each year.
Present Continuous: A man is being questioned in connection with the robbery.
Present Perfect: Photos of the suspects have been put up arround the town.
Past Simple: He was taken away in a van.
Past Continuous: The burglar didn't realize he was being filmed.
Past Perfect: Two people had been mugged there on the previous day.
Future simple: All football supporters will be searched at the airport.
Infinitive: He is hoping to be released from prison next month.
Gerund: I can't even remember being hit on the end.
Modal verbs: He should be sentenced to life imprisonment.

Use
The passive is used to focus attention on the person or thing affected by the action, rather than on the agent (the "doer" of the action). If we are interested in the agent, we used the preposition by.
Sue and Mark were brought up by their parents.
When we talk about the instrument used by the agent to do the action, we use the preposition with.
He was hit on the head with a vase.
The agent is not usually included when:
- It is clear from the context who the agent is.
Colin was arrested for dangerous driving.(by the police)
- We don't know who the agent is or was.
My car was stolen yesterday afternoon.
- When the agent is not important.
Stamps are often sold in supermarkets in England.
- The passive is also used in formal notices.
Food may not be consumed on the premises.

Passive constructions with the infinitive
The infinitive can be used after the passive of verbs such as: believe, consider, expect, know, say, think.
The president is expected to arrive at 9.30 pm.
The perfect infinitive (have+past participle) is used to refer to the past.
12 people are known to have died in the accident.

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