44. Passive 3 ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN USE FOR INTERMEDIATE

ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN USE FOR INTERMEDIATE

44. Passive 3

A	I was offered ... /we were given ... etc. Some verbs can have two objects. For example, give: So it is possible to make two passive sentences: ·         The police were given the information.    Or The information was given to the police. Other verbs which can have two objects are: ·         ask       offer       pay           show        teach       tell When we use these verbs in the passive, most often we begin with the person: ·         I've been offered the job, but I don't think I'll accept it. (=they have offered me the job) ·         You will be given plenty of time to decide. (=we will give you plenty of time) ·         I didn't see the original document but I was shown a copy. (=somebody showed me.) ·         Tim has an easy job - he's paid a lot of money to do very little. (=they pay him a lot)
B	I don't like being ... The passive of doing/seeing etc. is being done /being seen etc. Compare: Active               I don't like people telling me what to do. Passive             I don't like being told what to do. ·         I remember being taken to the zoo when I was a child. I remember somebody taking me to the zoo) ·         Steve hates being kept waiting. (=he hates people keeping him waiting) ·         We managed to climb over the wall without being seen. (=without anybody seeing us)
C	I was born ... We say 'I was born ... ' (not I am born): ·         I was born in Chicago. (past) ·         Where were you born? (not Where are you born?) (past ) but How many babies are born every day? (present)
D	Get You can use get instead of be in the passive: ·         There was a fight at the party, but nobody got hurt. (= nobody was hurt) ·         I don’t get invited to many parties. (= I'm not invited) ·         I'm surprised Liz didn't get offered the job. (= Liz wasn't offered the job) We use get only when things happen. For example, you cannot use get in these sentences: ·         Jessica is liked by everybody. (not gets liked - this is not a 'happening') ·         Peter was a mystery man. Very little was known about him. (not got known) We use get mainly in informal spoken English. You can use be in all situations. We also use get in the following expressions (which are not passive in meaning): ·         get married, get divorced                 get dressed (= put on your clothes) ·         get lost(= not know where you are)   get changed (=change your clothes)

EXERCISES

44.1	Write these sentences in another way, beginning in the way shown. 1 They didn't give me the information I needed. _______________ I wasn’t given the information I needed _____________________ 2 They asked me some difficult questions at the interview. I _________________________________________________________________ 3 Amy's colleagues gave her a present when she retired. Amy_________________________________________________________________ 4 Nobody told me about the meeting. I wasn't _________________________________________________________________ 5 How much will they pay you for your work? How much will you _________________________________________________________________ 6 I think they should have offered Tom the job. I think Tom_________________________________________________________________ 7 Has anybody shown you what to do? Have you_________________________________________________________________
44.2	Complete the sentences using being+ the following verbs (in the correct form) : give        invite          keep          knock down       stick             treat 1 Steve hates _______being kept ___________waiting. 2 We went to the party without ___________ 3 I like giving presents and I also like __________them. 4 It's a busy road and I don't like crossing it. I'm afraid of _______________ 5 I'm an adult. I don't like ____________ like a child. 6 You can 't do anything about _____________ in a traffic jam.
44.3	When were they born? Choose five of these people and write a sentence for each. (Two of them were born in the same year.) Ludwig van Beethoven Mahatma Gandhi Elvis Presley 1452 1869 1935 Walt Disney Michael Jackson William Shakespeare 1564 1901 1958 Galileo Martin Luther King Leonardo da Vinci 1770 1929 1 Walt Disney was born in 1901 2 ____________________________________________________ 3 ____________________________________________________ 4 ____________________________________________________ 5 ____________________________________________________ 6 ____________________________________________________ 7 and you? I ________________________________________________
44.4	Complete the sentences using get/got+ the following verbs (in the correct form): ask       damage        hurt         pay         steal        sting      stop           use 1 There was a fight at the party, but nobody _____ got hurt _____ 2 Alex ______________ by a bee while he was sitting in the garden. 3 These tennis courts don't _______very often. Not many people want to play. 4 I used to have a bicycle, but it _________________a few months ago. 5 Rachel works hard but doesn't _______________ very much. 6 Last night I ___________ by the police as I was driving home. One of the lights on my car wasn’t working. 7 Please pack these things very carefully. I don't want them to ______________ 8 People often want to know what my job is. I ______________ that question a lot.

ANSWER KEY