Passive (2) (be/been/being done)
42.1 What do these words mean? Use it can ... or it can't... . Use a dictionary if necessary.
If something is
1. washable, it can be washed.
2. unbreakable, it ---
3. edible, it ---
4. unusable, ---
5. invisible, ---
6. portable, ---
42.2 Complete these sentences with one of the following verbs (in the correct form):
carry cause do make repair send spend wake up
Sometimes you need have ('might have', 'could have' etc.).
1. The situation is serious. Something must be done before it's too late.
2. I haven't received the letter. It might have been sent to the wrong address.
3. A decision will not --- until the next meeting.
4. I told the hotel receptionist that I wanted to --- at 6.30 the next morning.
5. Do you think that less money should --- on armaments?
6. This road is in very bad condition. It should --- a long time ago.
7. The injured man couldn't walk and had to ---
8. It's not certain how the fire started but it might --- by an electrical fault.
Rewrite these sentences. Instead of using 'somebody' or 'they', write a passive sentence.
1. Somebody has cleaned the room. The room has been cleaned.
2. They have postponed the concert. The ---
3. Somebody is using the computer at the moment. The computer ---
4. I didn't realise that somebody was recording our conversation. I didn't realise that ---
5. When we got to the stadium we found that they had cancelled the game. When we got to the stadium, we found that ---
6. They are building a new ring road round the city. ---
7. They have built a new hospital near the airport. ---
Make sentences from the words in brackets. Sometimes the verb is active, sometimes passive. (This exercise also includes the past simple--see Unit 41 C.)
1. There's somebody behind us. (I think/we/follow) I think we're being followed.
2. This room looks different. (you/paint?) Have you painted it?
3. My car has disappeared. (it/steal!) It ---
4. My umbrella has disappeared. (somebody/take) Somebody ---
5. Tom gets a higher salary now. (he/promote) ---
6. Ann can't use her office at the moment. (it/redecorate) ---
7. The photocopier broke down yesterday, but now it's OK. (it/work/again; it/repair)
8. The police have found the people they were looking for. (two people/arrest/last night)
9. A tree was lying across the road. (it/blow down/in the storm)
10. The man next door disappeared six months ago. (nobody/see/since then)
11. I was mugged on my way home a few nights ago. (you/ever/mug?)
Passive (3)
When were they born? Choose five of these people and write a sentence for each. (Two of them were born in the same year.)
Beethoven Galileo Elvis Presley 1452 1869 1929
Agatha Christie Mahatma Gandhi Leonardo da Vinci 1564 1891 1935
Walt Disney Martin Luther King William Shakespeare 1770 1901
1. Walt Disney was born in 1901.
2. ---
3. ---
4. ---
5. ---
6. ---
7. And you? I ---