Foscari - Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica

1 We use the passive:
a when we are more interested in the person or object that experiences an action than the person
or object that performs the action.
The New York stock exchange was founded in 1792. (The stock exchange is the most important
element in this sentence, the identity of the person who founded it is irrelevant.)
b when we don’t know or cannot express who or what performed the action.
Four hundred thousand credit cards are stolen every year. (We don't know exactly who steals
the cards.)
The photocopier was left on all night. (We don't know who was the last person to use it.)
c to describe processes. We use by to say who or what performs the action.
The chemicals are transported by lorry and are then delivered to the factory.
d to report formal decisions or to make announcements.
It has been decided to lay off 1,000 workers.
It was agreed to spread the redundancies over six months.
2 Verbs often used in the passive:
a to describe processes: is transported / is collected / is transferred / is analysed
b to describe creation and discovery: was produced / was invented / was discovered
c to describe damage and injury: was harmed / was damaged / was killed
3 We don't use the passive when:
a we want to be more informal, e.g. in emails and spoken English.
A comparison was made of the two products. (formal, scientific)
We compared the two products. (neutral, spoken English)
b it is important to be direct and easy to understand, e.g. in manuals and instructions.
It is essential that the disk drive unit is switched on before use. (indirect)
Make sure you switch on the disk drive unit before using it. (direct)
A Underline the correct form in italics.
1 Fifty thousand copies sold / were sold last year.
2 He has promoted / has been promoted.
3 They have promoted / have been promoted the movie all over the world.
4 It decided / was decided that the service should discontinue / should be discontinued.
5 The inflation rate is / has gone up.
6 He is / has bought himself a car.
7 Your taxi is / has arrived.
8 She was / had taken to the airport.
9 The machine was / had stopped far repairs.
10 An important document had lost / had been lost.
B Put the verbs in italics into the active or passive form of the past simple.
An incredible mistake occur in a hospital. A nurse notice that many of their dying patients had one
thing in common: they had all stayed in same room in intensive care. A team bring in to investigate the
possible causes, and many precautionary measures take: the room fumigate; the air conditioning unit
98