Passive Notes

Overview: Passive Verbs

English has more than one word order

Active	agent action receiver Mary helped the boy.
Passive	receiver action agent The boy was helped by Mary.
make the passive with be + past participle (+ by phrase) (the by phrase isn’t always used) Change be to show · singular or plural · affirmative or negative · time frame & aspect · modal information	The Nazca Lines were made by removing soil and rocks. The Nazca Lines weren’t discovered until the 1930s. Many theories explaining their existence have been proposed. The Nazca Lines may be destroyed, if further protection can’t be provided.
Intransitive verbs don’t have a passive form! (p. A1)	Active: An Accident happened. Passive: None

When To Use The Passive /When to include the Agent 211

Use passive verbs To describe situations when the agent is unknown or unimportant. To avoid taking blame. To focus attention on the receiver of the action To make general statements where the agent is unimportant	Rice is grown in India. A mess was made when the teacher was absent. I have many rugs. This rug was made by my aunt. ID photos are being taken today.
Include the agent (by . . . ) When the agent gives us new information. When the information is too important to leave out. When the agent is surprising.	Science has helped humanity. Many important scientific discoveries have been made by women. Radioactivity for example was discovered by Marie Curie in 1903. That picture was painted by a monkey.

Active and Passive: Sample sentences

		Active (agent action receiver)	Passive (receiver action agent)
Past	Simple	Mary helped the boy.	The boy was helped by Mary.
Present	Simple	Mary helps the boy.	The boy is helped by Mary.
Future	Simple	Mary will help the boy.	The boy will be helped by Mary.
	be going to	Mary is going to help the boy.	The boy is going to be helped by Mary.
Past	Progressive	Mary was helping the boy.	The boy was being helped by Mary.
Present	Progressive	Mary is helping the boy.	The boy is being helped by Mary.
Future	Progressive	Mary will be helping the boy.	The boy will be being helped by Mary.
Past	Perfect	Mary had helped the boy.	The boy had been helped by Mary.
Present	Perfect	Mary has helped the boy.	The boy has been helped by Mary.
Future	Perfect	Mary will have helped the boy.	The boy will have been helped by Mary

Questions: Move the auxiliary to the front!

• Is the boy being helped by Mary?
• Has the boy been helped by Mary?

Direct and Indirect Objects Can Both be Passive Subjects 213, Holt 59

We can think about sentences as agent→action→receiver receiver→action→agent or as subject→verb→object The subject is what the sentence is about. The object tells what receives the action or to whom or for whom the action is done	agent action receiver Juan ate the pizza. subject verb object receiver action agent The pizza was eaten by Juan subject verb
Longer sentences may have two objects. A direct object tells who or what receives the action or it shows the result of the action. An indirect object tells to whom, to what, for whom or for what the action is done.	S V I.O. D.O. My little sister sang me a song. S V I.O. D.O. Someone gave Mrs. Lee an award
Either an indirect object or a direct object may become the subject of a passive sentence.	I was sung a song by my little sister. A song was sung for me by my little sister. Mrs. Lee was given an award. An award was given to Mrs. Lee.
When the direct object becomes the subject, put to or for in front of the indirect object.

Intransitive Verbs Can’t Be Used in the Passive (Holt 19, A1)

Transitive verbs have a receiver. Sentences with transitive verbs can be rearranged to make the passive.	When will Neil ring the bell? Juanita mailed the package. When with the bell be rung by Neil? The package was mailed by Juanita.
Intransitive Verbs don’t have a receiver. There is no way to rearrange these sentences to make the passive.	Last Saturday we stayed inside. The boat floated on the sea.
Sometimes a verb can be either transitive or intransitive.	Marcie studied the textbook. [transitive] Marcie studied very late. [intransitive]

Notes on Modals

Introduction To Modals

Why We Use Them Speakers use modals to express if something is necessary, advisable, permissible, or possible.	She can do it. She may do it. She ought to do it.
One Word Modals One word modals never take a final –s even when the subject is he, she, or it. One word modals are always followed by the simple form of the verb To make a question put the modal at the beginning of the sentence. (see p. 66 for more details.) One word modals include: can, could, had better, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, and would.	She should finish her breakfast. She shoulds finish her breakfast. Should she finish her breakfast? Do she should finish her breakfast?
Phrasal Modals Phrasal modals and one word modals have similar meanings. Phrasal modals are followed by to + the infinitive. Phrasal modals include be able to, be going to, be supposed to, have to, have got to, used to.	She is able to do it. She is supposed to do it. You have got to be kidding!

We Use Modals To: GD 68

Make requests	would, could, will, can	Could you pass the salt?
Talk about permission	may, can be allowed to	May I come in? You are not allowed to come in.
Give invitations	will, would, can	Will you come for dinner?
Make offers	will, shall, would . . . like	I’ll do the dishes. Would you like me to do the dishes?
Make promises	will, going to	I’ll do it. I’m going to do it.
Give advice	should, ought to, had better, had better not, could	You should study harder!
Make suggestions	shall, could, can, might	What do you want to eat? We could get Chinese food.
Talk about necessity & prohibition	must, have to, have got to	We must leave before 5:30.

More Modal Meanings GD 72

Use modals to talk about:
possibility, impossibility, and predictions	can, could, might, may, should, will	San Francisco can be foggy. I should be there next week.
Future activities	will, shall, going to, about to	I’ll be in Mexico City this year.
Inferences and guesses	must, have to, have got to	It has got to be here. It couldn’t be anywhere else.
habitual actions in the past	would, used to	When Mary was young she would pretend to be a fairy princess. I used to speak Chinese, but I’ve forgotten the the vocabulary.

Past Modals: Form

Affirmative Statements
Subject	Modal	Have	Past Participle
I, you, he, she, it, we, they	may might could should must	have	passed

Negative Statements
Subject	Modal	Have	Past Participle
I, you, he, she, it, we, they	may not might not couldn’t can’t shouldn’t must not	have	passed

Past Phrasal Modals

Subject	Modal	Have	Past Participle
he, she, it	ought to	have	come
he, she, it	has to has got to	have	known
he	ought not to	have	known

Use Past Modals: To make guesses or inferences about the past.

less certain more certain

might have, might not have, could have, may have, may not have must have, must not have, have to have, have got to have can’t have, couldn’t have

Could vs. Could have

Could have says that you had the ability but you didn’t do it.	I could have walked to school, but I got a ride instead.
Could says you were able to do it or you did it.	I lived near the school, so I could walk there.

Should have, ought to have, shouldn’t have

Should have & ought to have say you didn’t do something but you were supposed to do it.	You should have asked for help She ought to have talked to the teacher before she left the country.
Shouldn’t have says you did something you weren’t supposed to do.	You shouldn’t have driven in bad weather.

Giving Permission—

Present modals can give permission or to express necessity.

May I have the key to the bathroom? All visitors must register.

Use these in the past

Seniors	were (not) permitted to were (not) allowed to	have cars
All visitors	were required to were supposed to had to	register

Combining One Word and Phrasal Modals 198

Don’t combine one-word modals.	Janet will can help you tomorrow. He might should come later.
One-word modals can be followed by be able to or have to.	I might have to go to the store. I should be able to pick you up after school.
Some phrasal modals can follow each other.	I would rather not have to go to summer school.

Aspect and Time Frame Notes

The Four Aspects

Simple

Present—general truths, things that happen all the time

Juan always checks his appearance before he goes to school.

Past & Future—things that happen at a particular time

One hundred years ago people believed that a woman’s place was in the home.

If we are late, Mom will worry about us.

The soup tastes good.

Progressive—actions in progress, incomplete actions

Present: I am still working on my homework.

Past: When I entered the room, the students were studying.

Future: I will be sleeping when you get home.

Perfect—happens before, relates two different times, not at a particular time, continues to have an effect, true in past and true now

Present: I have reviewed the vocabulary but I haven’t studied the grammar.

Past: Sam had already left when Ann got there.

Future: I will have left by the time you get there.

Perfect Progressive—like perfect but emphasizes that something is continuing.

Present: I have been sitting here since seven o’clock and I’m ready to go!

Past: The police had been looking for the criminal for two years before they caught him.

Future: By the time you get there I will have been sleeping for two hours.

Important!

Use the simple aspect for stative verbs except when they show action. Stative verbs show mental states, emotional states, possession, senses, and other existing states.

Try to stay in the same time frame. Change time frames for these reasons.

To move from general to specific.	Dogs love their owners. My girlfriend’s dog, Mabel gets very excited when she comes home. Our old dog, pumpkin, used to jump and bark when I came home from school.
To show contrast between one time and another	One hundred years ago people lived an average of 65 years. Today people live an average of 75 years. Soon most people might live into their nineties.
To make a statement of general truth.	I saw an interesting old lady yesterday. You don’t see people like her anymore.

Simple Aspect

Expresses general truths	Geology is the study of rocks. The people of ancient Rome spoke Latin. A criminal will always return to the scene of the crime.
Describes actions that happen again and again.	Juan usually brushes his teeth in the morning. Hemingway sometimes wrote in cafes. I will always give you homework.
Describes emotions and senses	Piotr loves his mother. My arm hurts. That soup smells good.
Expresses possession and logical relationship	Bob has two brothers. Roberta’s job requires that she commute.
State	You seem happy. You look tired.
Talks about a specific time in the past or future.	She ate two hamburgers yesterday. She will be here at 4:00.

Progressive Aspect (be + verb + -ing)

Expresses actions in progress (not actions that happen after.)	Other people are always waiting when Jeff gets to the bus stop. (They’re waiting before he gets there.)
Actions at a specific time (not actions that happen again and again)	I teach French, but I’m not teaching today. She will be here at 4:00. Juan usually brushes his teeth in the morning. She ate two hamburgers yesterday.
Temporary situations	Mary still lives with her parents but she is staying with her grandmother this weekend.
Incomplete actions	Dorota is still working on her English.
Actions rather than states	He is tasting the soup. It tastes good.

Perfect Aspect (have + past participle)

Describes actions that happen before other actions.	He had finished the project before I talked to him. He had already slept for five hours when I talked to him.
Describes actions that are true in the past and true now.	Cynthia has lived in Chicago for two years. (She still lives here) Cynthia lived in Chicago for two years. (She doesn’t live here anymore)
Focus on the idea of completion.	I have reviewed the vocabulary words but I haven’t studied the grammar yet.

Perfect Progressive Aspect (have been verb + -ing)

Actions that are uncompleted.	Jeff has been working on that project all day. He still hasn’t finished it.
Actions that are continuous.	You have been talking for the last hour. Please give someone else a chance.

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Adverbial Notes

Writing More Interesting Sentences: Adverbials

Adverbials are words, phrases, and clauses that answer questions like when, where, why, how, how much, and how often.

Adverbs let us expand simple sentences like The dog runs into interesting sentences like: Yesterday, the dog ran crazily into the garage to catch a rat.

Can you expand this sentence?

She ate.

Different adverbials go in different places

Verb	Manner	Place	Frequency	Time	Purpose or Reason
What . . . do	how	where	how often	when	why
Biff lifts weights	vigorously	at the gym	every day	after work	to fight stress

These adverbs can come before the verb or between the auxiliary and the main verb
Adverbs of frequency: always, often usually, sometimes, seldom, rarely hardly ever, never	I often watch television at night.
Adverbs of manner: rigorously, quickly, completely, etc.	He has rigorously avoided sweets for more than a year.
Indefinite adverbs of time: recently, typically, previously, finally, etc	He recently lost fifty pounds.

Writing Better, More Interesting Sentences

Words, Phrases, Clauses

An adverbial can be · An adverb (a single word) · A prepositional phrases (a group of words that begin with prepositions like in, on, at, etc) or · A clause: (a group of words that contain a subject and a verb)	My family often plays tennis at the elementary school near our house so we don’t have to travel far to have fun.
Clauses can be independent or dependent. · An independent clause can be a sentence by itself. · A dependent clause needs to be attached to an independent clause. It doesn’t make sense by itself.	My family often plays tennis at the elementary school near our house so we don’t have to travel far to have fun.

Rules for Adverbial Phrases:	Shorter before longer. More specific first. If there are more than two adverbial phrases, move one to the beginning!

Writing Better Longer Sentences

More Reasons to Put Adverbial Phrases at the Beginning of a Sentence

If there are several other adverbs	Once a week, he carefully washes his car in the driveway.
If the object of the verb is very long	In the suitcase, he found an extra wool sweater that had been knitted by his grandmother.
To emphasize the adverbial information	Carefully and slowly, John carried the heavy tray of fragile glasses.
To show a logical relationship between sentences.	Matt was born in 1965. In 1980, he moved to San Francisco.

Use question word order when you move negative adverbs of frequency to the front of a sentence.

Gladstone seldom loses more than a few pounds. Seldom does Gladstone lose more than a few pounds.

Position of Dependent Adverbial Clauses

When to put the dependent (adverbial) clause before independent (main) clause

To emphasize the adverbial clause	As soon as John got to the airport, he began to have second thoughts about going to France.
To establish context that applies to several sentences	Until Jeff moved to San Francisco, he had never seen the ocean. He had never been to a disco or eaten Chinese food. He had never even fallen in love.
To show sequence.	After I read the paper, I usually take a shower.
Punctuation	When the dependent adverbial clauses comes first follow it with a comma.