PASSIVE VOICE

Use of Passive

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.

In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.

Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.

In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).

Form of Passive

Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)

Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

• the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
• the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
• the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)

Examples of Passive 

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Simple Present	Active:	Rita	writes	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is written	by Rita.
Simple Past	Active:	Rita	wrote	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was written	by Rita.
Present Perfect	Active:	Rita	has written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	has been written	by Rita.
Future I	Active:	Rita	will write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will be written	by Rita.
Hilfsverben	Active:	Rita	can write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	can be written	by Rita.

Examples of Passive 

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Present Progressive	Active:	Rita	is writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is being written	by Rita.
Past Progressive	Active:	Rita	was writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was being written	by Rita.
Past Perfect	Active:	Rita	had written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	had been written	by Rita.
Future II	Active:	Rita	will have written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will have been written	by Rita.
Conditional I	Active:	Rita	would write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	would be written	by Rita.
Conditional II	Active:	Rita	would have written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	would have been written	by Rita.

Passive Sentences with Two Objects 

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.

	Subject	Verb	Object 1	Object 2
Active:	Rita	wrote	a letter	to me.
Passive:	A letter	was written	to me	by Rita.
Passive:	I	was written	a letter	by Rita.

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As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.

Personal and Impersonal Passive

Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.

Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.

Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.

Example: he says – it is said

Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.

Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.

The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).

Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.

exercise with simple presente
exercise with passive voice in the simple past

CARTOON: FRANCE BANS THE VEIL

Nice cartoon by Jimmy Margulies from The New Jersey Record on France's 'burqa ban' (see here for more on this).

A gendarme is locking up a woman for wearing the burqa (yes, it can happen!). He tells her, "We are leading the fight for freedom in Libya ... not here!" (a reference to France's leading role in the Nato mission in Libya)

Source:  The English Blog

JAPANESE DEATH TOLL TO FAR EXCEED 10,000

Tens of thousands believed to have died as result of tsunami and huge earthquake that triggered it

• Article history

Two thousand bodies have been found on the shores of Miyagi prefecture. Photograph: Aflo/Rex Features

The death toll from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami is expected to exceed 10,000 as local and international rescue teams search through the ruins of north-eastern coastal cities for survivors of last Friday's disaster.

Two thousand bodies have been found on the shores of Miyagi prefecture, which suffered the brunt of the damage, according to the Kyodo news agency.

Despite the deployment of 100,000 Japanese troops and more than 500 foreign rescue specialists, the relief operation is being hampered by the damage done to the country's transport infrastructure, with roads and rail, power and ports crippled across much of the disaster region.

Officials say at least 10,000 people in more than a quarter of Japan's 47 prefectures are likely to have been killed in the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that followed it.

According to the Japanese media, the provisional death toll is as follows:

Miyagi prefecture

• At least 785 people confirmed dead in cities including Kesennuma, Higashimatsubara and Sendai, but local authorities fear more than 10,000 people may have died in the prefecture alone.

• Around 2,000 bodies found on two shores, including those in the town of Minamisanriku and Ishinomaki City.

• Minamisanriku has a population of 17,000, but 10,000 are missing after the tsunami.

Iwate prefecture

• At least 574 people confirmed dead, including those in Ofunato and Rikuzentakata.

• The city of Rikuzentakata, with a population of 23,000 people, was "almost completely wiped out", the fire department says. No information yet on how many survived. More than 80% of the city was flooded.

• In the town of Otsuchi, out of a population of 15,000 people 12,000 are missing.

Fukushima prefecture

• About 420 people, including those in Iwaki and Minamisoma cities, are confirmed dead. Around 1,200 people are missing.

Death toll in other districts

• Tokyo: 7

• Chiba: 15

• Ibaraki: 19

• Aomori: 3

• Tochigi: 4

• Kanagawa: 3

• Hokkaido: 1

• Yamagata: 1

• Gunma: 1

Patrick Fuller of the International Red Cross Federation, described the situation in Otsuchi as "a scene from hell, absolutely nightmarish".

He added: "The situation here is just beyond belief, almost everything has been flattened. The government is saying that 9,500 people, more than half of the population, could have died and I do fear the worst."

In one town in Fukushima prefecture, the crematorium was unable to handle the crush of bodies being brought in for funerals.

"We have already begun cremations, but we can only handle 18 bodies a day. We are overwhelmed and are asking other cites to help us deal with bodies. We only have one crematorium in town," Katsuhiko Abe, an official in Soma, told the Associated Press.

Fires burned in the hills overlooking Otsuchi, further complicating rescue efforts. That, combined with near-freezing temperatures and the sheer extent of the damage, make chances for surviving this disaster slim.

The scale and complexity of the disaster has shaken Japan to the core.

Survivors walked through the rubble, many in tears after losing loved ones, others unsure of the fate of family and friends. They lined up in front of noticeboards at emergency centres looking for news.

"I am looking for my parents and my older brother," Yuko Abe, 54, said at an emergency centre in Rikuzentakata, an all-but-flattened town of 24,500 people in Iwate prefecture.

"Seeing the way the area is, I think perhaps they did not make it. I also cannot tell my siblings who live away that I am safe, as mobile phones and telephones are not working."

Many people spent another freezing night huddled in blankets around heaters in shelters along the coast. Almost 2m households were without power, the government said, with about 1.4m without running water.

The Japanese prime minister, Naoto Kan, said food, water and other necessities such as blankets were being delivered by vehicles but because of damage to roads, authorities were considering air and sea transport.

There are also fears for the wellbeing and safety of thousands of ill and elderly people who were in hospitals when the quake and tsunami hit.

There are no figures yet on how many hospitals were affected, but few could have escaped unscathed given the scale of the destruction.

Sam Taylor, a spokesman for Médecins sans Frontières, which has sent a team to Japan, said there were longer-term concerns about the elderly, many of whom were fragile and may be living on little food and water without their lifesaving medicines.

"They have some medicines for the immediate future, but in the coming weeks that's when it really could become an issue," he said.

With even hospitals deprived of aid, many ordinary survivors are living hand-to-mouth.

Osamu Hayasaka, from Takajo, near Miyagi prefecture's capital of Sendai, said the government hasn't provided any relief to people who didn't move into the refugee centres. The 61-year-old strapped two cardboard boxes of soft drinks on his bicycle to take home to his family of six, including his sick mother, and neighbours.

"There are a lot of older people near where I live, so I'll give them some of this," he said.

Hayasaka said the local supermarkets are running out of goods. He queued for two-and-a-half hours on Sunday and was allowed to buy just a few items, including a grapefruit and an orange.

In a community centre crammed full with hundreds of people, there is slightly more to eat.

"Today I had some cake and an orange," said Yuto Hariyu, 15, whose school was destroyed the day before his graduation ceremony.

"I'm hungry, but what I want most is furniture, like a bed, and a TV," said Yuto's classmate, Shio Fujimura.

At a government-run centre for the elderly on the outskirts of the city, the food allotment on Monday was two rice balls, one in the morning and one at night, according to Takahashi Sata, 43, who works at the centre.

"Yesterday I had two rice crackers and a bottle of water," he said. "Today there is nothing for anyone."