CHAPTER I
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE SENTENCES
Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have "active forms" and "passive forms." You must learn to recognize the difference to successfully speak English.
1) Active form
In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active.
Formula :
[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action]
Examples:
Tense
|
Active
|
Simple Present
|
Once a week, Tom cleans the house.
|
Present Continuous
|
Right now, Sarah is writing the letter.
|
Simple Past
|
Sam repaired the car.
|
Past Continuous
|
The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store.
|
Present Perfect
|
Many tourists have visited that castle.
|
Present Perfect Continuous
|
Recently, John has been doing the work.
|
Past Perfect
|
George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic's license.
|
Past Perfect Continuous
|
Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant's fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to Paris.
|
Simple Future
will |
Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM.
|
Simple Future
be going to |
Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.
|
Future Continuous
will |
At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes.
|
Future Continuous
be going to |
At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washing the dishes.
|
Future Perfect
will |
They will have completed the project before the deadline.
|
Future Perfect
be going to |
They are going to have completed the project before the deadline.
|
Future Perfect Continuous
will |
The famous artist will have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.
|
Future Perfect Continuous
be going to |
The famous artist is going to have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.
|
Used to
|
Jerry used to pay the bills.
|
Would Always
|
My mother would always make the pies.
|
Future in the Past
Would |
I knew John would finish the work by 5:00 PM.
|
Future in the Past
Was Going to |
I thought Sally was going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.
|
2) Passive forms
In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the action.
Formula :
[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action]
Here is a table showing the passive forms for most English verbs:
Tense
|
Passive
|
Example
|
present simple
|
am/are/is + past participle
|
He is taken to school by his mum.
|
present continuous
|
am/are/is being + past participle
|
They are being bullied.
|
present perfect
|
have/has been + past participle
|
Have you been interviewed for many jobs?
|
past simple
|
was/were + past participle
|
We were told not to touch anything.
|
past continuous
|
was/were being + past participle
|
Our computers were being attacked by hackers.
|
past perfect
|
had been + past participle
|
His mother had been brought up in India.
|
future
|
will be + past participle
|
Arrangements will be made to move them to other locations.
|
future perfect
|
will have been + past participle
|
All the merchandise will have been shipped by tomorrow.
|