PASSIVE VOICE: VERBS WITH TWO OBJECTS & IMPERSONAL PASSIVES.

Hi there!

Better late than never!

Today we will basically do some drilling on Passive Voice and tricky structures like verbs with two objects and impersonal passives.

Let's refresh our memory!

We make the passive by putting the verb 'to be' into whatever tense we need and then add past participle. For regular verbs, we make the past participle by adding 'ed' to the infinitive. So play becomes played. For irregular verbs, check the third column of irregular verbs in your books. Remember there is a "mirror effect" in the structure:

"I grow pear trees"

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT

"Pear trees are grown by me"

SUBJECT PATIENT+ PASSIVE VERB + COMPLEMENT AGENT

"BY agent" is OPTIONAL IN SOME SITUATIONS and can be omitted. When?

1. I do not know the agent : "JFK was assassinated"

2. The agent is evident: "The thief was finally arrested"

3. I do not want it to be known: "The jar was broken"

There are things that cannot be considered agents. For example:

"The turkey was stuffed with mince meat and breadcrumbs"

AND NOT "by mince meat and breadcrumbs"

SENTENCES WITH TWO OBJECTS

When the sentence has more than one object like in:

"I sent a mail to my friends"

SUBJECT +VERB +DIRECT OBJECT +INDIRECT OBJECT

We have two options:

"A mail was sent to my friends by me" (the direct object is the focus)

OR

"My friends were sent a mail by me" (the indirect object is the focus)

Everything depends on what I want to emphasize.

What did you send? A mail was sent to my friends

Who were sent a mail? My friends were sent the mail

IMPERSONAL PASSIVES

They are used to express widely recognised facts. In Spanish "se sabe, se conoce, se comenta..."

1. Watch this video to know more. Write the examples of impersonal passives that he gives in your notebook. This is not optional.

2. Listen to this clear explanation of the Passive Voice which takes examples from the Press. It proposes a series of exercises at the end, try to do them before seeing the key. This is not optional.

3. Once you've checked you understand passive structures, do pages 78 and 79 from your books. Don't send me pictures of the pages from the book. Do it in your notebooks.

Thank you!