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PASSIVE TENSES AND ACTIVE EQUIVALENTS

February 18th, 2010 1-language1 No comments

PASSIVE TENSES AND ACTIVE EQUIVALENTS

Notice that the tense of the verb to be in the passive voice is the same as the tense of the main verb in the active voice.

to keep

TENSE / VERB FORM	ACTIVE VOICE	PASSIVE VOICE
Simple present	keeps	is kept
Present continuous	is keeping	is being kept
Simple past	kept	was kept
Past continuous	was keeping	was being kept
Present perfect	have kept	have been kept
Past perfect	had kept	had been kept
Future	will keep	will be kept
Conditional Present	would keep	would be kept
Conditional Past	would have kept	would have been kept
Present Infinitive	to keep	to be kept
Perfect Infinitive	to have kept	to have been kept
Present Participle/Gerund	keeping	being kept
Perfect Participle	having kept	having been kept

Example sentences:

Active: I keep the butter in the fridge.
Passive: The butter is kept in the fridge.

Active: They stole the painting.
Passive: The painting was stolen.

Active: They are repairing the road.
Passive: The road is being repaired.

Active: Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.
Passive: Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.

Active: A dog bit him.
Passive: He was bitten by a dog.

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Categories: Passive Tags: ACTIVE, EQUIVALENTS, Passive, TENSES

GET / HAVE SOMETHING DONE

February 18th, 2010 1-language1 No comments

GET / HAVE SOMETHING DONE (Passive Voice)

This construction is passive in meaning. It may describe situations where we want someone else to do something for us.

Examples

I must get / have my hair cut.
When are you going to get that window mended?
We’re having the house painted.

If the verb refers to something negative or unwanted, it has the same meaning as a passive sentence:

Jim had his car stolen last night. (= Jim’s car was stolen)
They had their roof blown off in the storm. (= Their roof was blown off in the storm)

The construction can refer to the completion of an activity, especially if a time expression is used:

We’ll get the work done as soon as possible.
I’ll get those letters typed before lunchtime.

In all these sentences, we are more interested in the result of the activity than in the person or object that performs the activity.

‘X’ NEEDS DOING

In the same way, this construction has a passive meaning. The important thing in our minds is the person or thing that will experience the action, e.g.