2. These houses were built about twenty-five years ago.
3. Our class will be taught by another teacher next year.
4. He said that our class would be taught by another teacher next year.
5. Lions and tigers can be seen in Zoos.
6. He spoke very clearly; he could be heard by everyone.
7. This letter must be answered at once.
8. When he was in hospital, he had to be fed; he couldn't eat himself.
9. The books may be kept for two weeks. After that they must be returned to the library.
10. The librarian said that books might be kept for two weeks.
и
з о
3
с + з с о о
11. The little girl has been very ill and the doctor says she mustn't go to school,
so she is being taught at home. 12.1 couldn't use my car last week, it was being repaired.
о
ф
t о
Q.
13. This room hasn't been swept for a fortnight.
14. He said the newspaper had been thrown away.
15. He promised that by the end of the year the construction would have been completed.
2. USES OF THE PASSIVE VOICE PECULIAR TO THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
1. We use the passive when it is not so important (or unknown) who or what did the action:
□ My article was published yesterday.
□ Rome wasn't built in one day.
□ The origin of the Universe will never be explained.
2. It's wrong to consider the passive to be another way of expressing a sentence in the active
voice. We use it only when we don't know or don't want to say who did it:
□ Helen likes English (But not "English is liked by Helen". It sounds funny in English).
3. Only the verbs which take an object can go into the passive. Intransitive verbs can't be used
in the Passive voice. They are:
- to fly, to arrive
- to be, to become
- to have, to lack, to possess, to consist, to belong
- to hold, to suit, to resemble, to fit
- to appear, to seem, to come, to go, to last
□ The hall holds 500 people.
□ They have a nice house.
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Q My shoes don't fit me.
□ Sylvia resembles a Greek goddess.
□ My mother lacks tact.
4. There are sentences in the active having a passive meaning:
□ This shirt irons well.
□ \our book reads well.
□ This coat will wear a lifetime.
□ The door closed and there was silence in the room.
5. If you want to say who did it or what caused the action, use by or with:
□ The house was built by my grandfather.
□ It was destroyed by fire.
□ The room was filled with smoke.
□ The wood can be cut with a knife.
6. We use the infinitive after modal verbs and a number of other verbs. The passive infinitive
is to be done/to have been done:
□ I want to be left alone.
□ The music could be heard far away.
□ My bicycle has disappeared. It must have been stolen.
7. If it is possible to make two different passive sentences, it is more usual for the passive
sentence to begin with the person:
□ Ann wasn 't offered the job.
□ The job wasn't offered to Ann.
STUDY THE PATTERN
|
|
smb
О
told offered given promised
i=>
smth
8. Some verbs can be used only in the following type of passive constructions:
|
|
smth
о
explained
announced
described
repeated
dictated
pointed out
L^ to smb
□ The news was announced to everybody.
□ Everything will be explained to you later.
9. Passive constructions with the verbs to advise, to allow, to award, to deny, to forbid, to forgive, to grant, to offer, to order, to pay, to promise, to refuse, to show, to teach
present some difficulties. In English the subject of such constructions corresponds to the Russian indirect object. The centre of passive construction in English is not changed. Pay attention to the following difference:
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| ACTIVE | PASSIVE |
| Russian Я просил ... Я сказал ему... English tasked... 1 told him... | Меня попросили ... Мне сказали ... 1 was asked... 1 was told... |
□ He was given a ten days' leave.
□ Have you been shown the documents?
□ They were told to wait.
10. The verbs which take prepositional objects can form passive constructions of the following pattern: (the list of such verbs is given below)
|
|
smb smth
sent for
О spoken about
laughed at
□ The film was much spoken about.
□ The doctor was sent for.
Mind the place of the preposition in Russian and English:
| RUSSIAN | ENGLISH |
| Над ним часто смеются. О нем много говорили. | Не is often laughed at. He was much spoken about. |
The verbs taking prepositional objects. It should be remembered that not all of them retain this preposition in Russian.
to agree to/with
to agree on/upon
to arrive at an agreement
to arrive at a compromise
to arrive at a conclusion
to arrive at a decision
to call for/on
to count on
to deal with
to hear of
to insist on/upon
to interfere with
to laugh at
to look after
to look at
to put up with
to refer to
to rely on/upon
- соглашаться с чем-то
- прийти к соглашению
- прийти к соглашению
- прийти к компромиссу
- прийти к заключению
- прийти к решению
- зайти за кем-то
- надеяться, рассчитывать на кого-либо
- иметь дело с
- слышать о
- настаивать на
- вмешиваться в, мешать
- смеяться над
- ухаживать за
- смотреть на
- примириться с
- ссылаться на
- полагаться на
110
to send for
to speak about/of, to
to talk about
to think of
to write about
to find fault with
to make fun of
to pay attention to
to take care of
• посылать за
■говорить о, с
■говорить о думать о
■писать о
■придираться к насмехаться над обращать внимание на
■заботиться о
В
to account for to comment on to listen to to look for to operate on to provide for to lose sight of to make a fool of to make use of to put an end to to take (no) notice of
□ The boat was soon lost sight of.
□ The child should be taken care of.
□ His remark was taken no notice of.
объяснять
комментировать
слушать
искать
оперировать
снабжать
потерять из виду
дурачить
использовать
положить конец
(не) замечать
EXERCISES
Ex. 1. (A) Practise saying these sentences and answer the questions.
1. a) The secretary will mail these letters tomorrow, b) These letters will be mailed tomorrow, and what about these ones? 2. a) Someone ought to wash those dishes right away, b) These dishes ought to be washed right away, and what about these ones? 3. a) The factory produced 5,000 cars every day last year, b) 5,000 cars were produced every day last year, and what about this year? 4. a) People drink a great deal of tea in England, b) A great deal of tea is drunk in England, and what about your country? 5. a) Craftsmen make many beautiful objects of paper in Japan, b) Many beautiful objects of paper are made in Japan, and what about India? 6. a) They used to sell medicine here, b) Medicine used to be sold here, and where is it sold now? 7. a) You must return these books within a fortnight, b) These books must be returned within a fortnight, and what about those ones? 8. a) A gang of workmen built this house in 1840. b) This house was built in 1840, and what about that one?
Ex. 2. (A) Put the sentences into the Passive Voice where possible.
1. Someone will drive you to the airport.
2. Goldfish live in fresh water.
3. The Egyptians built pyramids.
4. We walked 4 miles yesterday.
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5. They arrived at 7 last night.
6. They informed me about it.
7. I slept till 8.
8. It's raining.
9. You must obey the rules.
10. He's sneezing again.
11. You can buy videos like this anywhere.
12. Someone has to write the history of this place.
13. They have sold their car to pay the debts.
14. They hold a meeting in the village hall once a week.
15. They have proved that there is no life on the Moon.
16. They owe a lot of money to the bank.