GRAMMAR - PASSIVE AND ACTIVE TENSE - EXERCISES

GRAMMAR – PASSIVE TENSE

Passive tense is often used in newspaper reports, in formal writing and technical writing.

The passive is formed by using tenses of be + past participle, or modal verb + b + past participle. Look at these examples:

1.      The koala will be saved from extinction. (Future Simple Passive)

2.      The water over there is called Moreton Bay. (Present Simple Passive)

3.      The sailboat was used by the people on the island. (Past Simple Passive)

4.      The silly tune can be whistled any time you feel sad. (Modal Passive)

5.      The tin whistle has been found in parts of South America. (Present Perfect Simple Passive)

The opposite of Passive is Active Tense

1.     Read the following article about the history of the mobile phone. Decide if the verbs need to be active or passive, then put them in the right form so they make sense in the sentence.

The first public telephone call on a portable radio-telephone (make) …………………………… on April 3^rd, 1973 by Martin Cooper, one of a team of engineers in Motorola’s Communications Systems Division. Previously, people could only phone someone from a building or a car. Martin Cooper says, “As I (walk)…………………………….down the street talking on the phone, New Yorkers (look)………………………… amazed at the sight of someone actually moving around while making a phone call.”

The phone that Cooper (use)……………………. looked like a large brick. In 1983 the 28-ounce ‘DynaTAC’ phone, the world’s first commercial handheld cellular phone (introduce)………………………………… by Motorola. Each phone (cost) …………………………… the consumer $3,500. Today there (be) ………………………………. more mobile subscribers than landline phone subscribers in the world, and mobiles (weigh)…………………………….. very little and (can buy) …………………………………. for as little as $35.

Mobile phones today (use) …………………………….. to send photos and receive e-mails, use the Internet, text message, as well as for making phone calls. In the future, who knows what else mobile phones (use) …………………………………………… for? Certainly, most people (not seem) ……………………………………….. able to leave home without one.

2.     Complete these sentences using the verb in brackets in the right form of the passive tense:

EXAMPLE: My phone (make) ……was made …in the USA.

1.      It (think)……………………………that more text messages (send) …………………………………….by girls than boys.

2.      Bill Gates (say) ………………………………….to be the richest man in the world today.

3.      One mobile phone (steal) ……………………………………………….every three minutes in the UK.

4.      Mobile phones (should/switch off) ……………………………………………….in the cinema.

5.      Yesterday, Helen (tell) ……………………..to switch her phone off during lectures.

6.      When mobile phones (first design) ………………………………………………, security was a big issue.

7.      Text messaging (often use) …………………………………………because it is cheaper than phoning.

8.      I (just call) …………………………………………by an old friend I haven’t seen for ages.

9.      Mobiles (carry) ……………………………………………..by virtually everyone in the near future.

10.   The photos (take) ……………………………………………….at the party last night using Alex’s mobile.