042 : Passive 1 (is done / was done)

   A   

Study this example:

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This house was built in 1961.

 

Was built is passive.

 

Compare active and passive:

 

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When we use an active verb, we say what the subject does:

• My grandfather was a builder. He built this house in 1961.
• It's a big company. It employs two hundred people.

When we use a passive verb, we say what happens to the subject:

• 'How old is this house?'  'It was built in 1961.'
• Two hundred people are employed by the company.

 

 

   B   

When we use the passive, who or what causes the action is often unknown or unimportant:

• A lot of money was stolen in the robbery. (somebody stole it, but we don't know who)
• Is this room cleaned every day? (does somebody clean it? - it's not important who)

If we want to say who does or what causes the action, we use by:

• This house was built by my grandfather.
• Two hundred people are employed by the company.

 

 

   C   

The passive is be (is/was etc.) + past participle (done/cleaned/seen etc.):

 

(be) done    (be) cleaned    (be) damaged    (be) built    (be) seen etc.

 

For irregular past participles (done/seen/known etc.), see Appendix 1.

 

 

Study the active and passive forms of the present simple and past simple:

 

Present simple

active clean(s) / see(s) etc.	Somebody cleans this room every day.
passive am/is/are + cleaned/seen etc.	This room is cleaned every day.

• Many accidents are caused by careless driving.
• I'm not invited to parties very often.
• How is this word pronounced?

 

Past simple

active cleaned/saw etc.	Somebody cleaned this room yesterday.
passive was/were + cleaned/seen etc.	This room was cleaned yesterday.

• We were woken up by a loud noise during the night.
• 'Did you go to the party?' 'No, I wasn't invited.'
• How much money was stolen in the robbery?