Present/Future
Past
(in)transative
Reasons to Use
Common Errors
100
Simple Present: Teachers __________ to submit grades at the end of the semester. (require)
are required
100
Simple Past: The homework ___________ at the beginning of class. (collect)
was collected
100
Can you use "give" in the passive?
Yes
100
Why is the passive used in this sentence: The window was broken. - to describe news or science - the agent is not important - the agent is unknown - to focus on the action or receiver of action - to avoid blame
to avoid blame
100
Police dogs trained to smell drugs and chase bad guys.
Police dogs ARE trained to smell drugs and chase bad guys.
200
Simple Future: John ___________ next week at a special dinner. (honor)
will be honored
200
Simple Past: The damaged plane ___________ to a safe landing spot by the experienced pilot. (fly)
was flown
200
Can you use "come" in the passive?
No
200
Why is the passive used in this sentence: The results were found using three kinds of statistical analysis. - to describe news or science - the agent is not important - the agent is unknown - to focus on the action or receiver of action - to avoid blame
to describe news or science
200
The cat was chasing by the dog.
was chased
300
Present Progressive: McDonald's hamburgers __________ by more and more people around the world. (eat)
are being eaten
300
Past Progressive: The Internet _____________ when I was a schoolboy. (create)
was being created
300
You can't use "look" or "listen" in the passive without an extra preposition, but you could use ______ or ______ instead.
see, hear
300
Why is the passive used in this sentence: The Roman alphabet was created over many centuries. - to describe news or science - the agent is not important - the agent is unknown - to focus on the action or receiver of action - to avoid blame
the agent is unknown
300
This class has been took by hundreds of students.
has been taken
400
Present Perfect: The test ____________ by all of the students, so now we can look at the results. (take)
has been taken
400
Past Perfect: Kim ___________ to stay away from the scary house, but she needed to find out what was in there. (tell)
had been told
400
Which two are transitive verbs: happen, take, walk, put, fall
take, put
400
Why is the passive used in this sentence: My presentation today is about over-fishing in the Atlantic Ocean. Over 300 tons of fish were caught in the Atlantic last year.
the agent is not important OR unknown
400
The changes were angered the people.
The people were angered by the changes.
500
Make this a passive question: Everyone has seen the video.
Has the video been seen by everyone?
500
Make this a passive question: European settlers created the United States.
Was the United States created by European settlers?
500
Make this passive using "to" before the indirect object: The students gave the teacher the tests.
The tests were given to the teacher by the students.
500
Why is the passive used in this sentence: Twelve people were killed by food poising today.
to focus on the action or receiver of action OR to describe news
500
Why they were allowed to skip class today?
Why were they allowed
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