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ENGLISH  LESSONS 

 


PASSIVE  FORM  OF  VERBS


 The passive form of verbs is formed of BE + the past participle,
(example :   English is spoken here)


                                          ◊   We use the active form of a verb to say what a subject does.
                                                  ExampleThe chef cooks food every day.

                                          ◊   We use the passive form to say what happens to the subject.
                                                  ExampleFood is cooked every day.

                                          ◊   The subject of a passive verb corresponds to the object of an active verb.
                                                 *Food
is cooked every day.  (Passive)
                                                 *
The chef cooks food every day.  (Active)
        

                                          ◊   We use the passive form of a verb when it is not important who does the action,
                                               or when we don't know who does it.

                                               *The letter was delivered at 9 a.m. 
                                                (The identity of the person who delivered the letter is unknown or unimportant.)

                                               If we want to say who does the action, we use 'by' :
                                               *The letter was delivered by the postman.

                             

VERB

ACTIVE

PASSIVE

Infinitive

To cook

To be cooked

  Present Simple :   I cook food in the kitchen.   Food is cooked in the kitchen.
  Present Continuous :   I am cooking food in the kitchen.   Food is being cooked in the kitchen.
  Present Perfect :   I have cooked food in the kitchen.   Food has been cooked in the kitchen.
  Past Simple :   I cooked food in the kitchen yesterday.   Food was cooked in the kitchen yesterday.
  Past Continuous :   I was cooking food in the kitchen.   Food was being cooked in the kitchen.
  Past Perfect :   I had cooked food in the kitchen.   Food had been cooked in the kitchen.
  Future Simple :   I will cook food in the kitchen.   Food will be cooked in the kitchen.
  Future Perfect :   I will have cooked food in the kitchen.   Food will have been cooked in the kitchen.
     

 

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