Modal verbs in the passive

Tenses and aspects in the passive

The Passive Voice is formed by means of the auxiliary verb to be in the required form and Participle II of the notional transitive verb. The uses of tenses in the Active and in the Passive Voice are the same.

Indefinite: Present New schools are built every year.

Past This school was built a month ago.

Future A new school will be built in our village in spring.

Perfect: Present The school has been built this month.

Past The school had been built by the 1st of September.

Future I hope the school will have been built by the 1st of September.

Continuous: Present A new school is being built in our street.

Past The school wasstill being built when I came back.

To express an action going on at a definite moment in the future only the Future Continuous Active is possible. To denote an action which began before a definite moment in the present, past or future, and continued up to that moment, the Present, Past and Future Perfect Continuous Active are generally used.

Uses of the Passive Voice peculiar to the English language

The verbs accord, advise, allow, ask, award, deny, envy, forbid, forgive, ,give, grant, offer, order, pay, prescribe, promise, refuse, show , teach, tell are used inthe Passive Voice. These verbs always take an object expressed by a noun or an infinitive. The action expressed by the Passive Predicate passes on to the subject and the object.

He was granted a ten days’ leave.

Has he been shown the documents?

The patient was prescribed a strict diet?

The Passive Voice is possible with intransitive verbs used with prepositions: account for, agree upon, allude to, arrive at, call for, call upon, comment upon, count upon, depend on, dispose of, fire at, hear of, insist on, interfere with, laugh at, listen to, look after, look at ,look down upon, look up, provide for, put up at, put up with, read to, refer to, rely on, run over, send for, speak about (of), stare at, talk about (to, over).

At last an agreement was arrived at.

Her strange behaviour was largely commented upon.

The article is often referred to.

Mike was looked up to by all the boys.

(send for can be used only in connection with people).

The doctor was sent for.

The secretary will be sent for.

A car was sent for.

But: Somebody was sent to fetch the books.

The following verbal phraseological units can be used in the Passive Voice:

To find fault with, to lose sight of, to make fun of, to make use of, to pay attention to, to put an end to, to set fire to, to take notice of, to take care of.

Mary is always found fault with.

Soon the bus was lost sight of.

His remarks were taken no notice of.

The argument was put an end to by the professor.

Quite peculiar is the case with the intransitive verbs to live, to sleep, to sit.

The bed was not slept in.

The room is not lived in.

The chair has not been sat on.

Modal verbs in the passive

We can use the passive with a modal verb.

Stamps can be bought at any post office.

Animals should really be seen in their natural habitant.

Meals have to be prepared every day.

Many things that used to be done by hand are now done by machine.

A modal verb can also go with the perfect and the passive together.

I can’t find that newspaper. It must have been thrown away.

The plane might have been delayed by the fog.

This bill ought to have been paid weeks ago.

Exercise 2. Fill in the correct passive forms.

1. Newspapers … (sell) in our local supermarket every day.

2. I didn’t go to the wedding because I … (not invite).

3. Many years ago it … (think) that diseases (spread) by the air.

4. I wonder who … (choose) as party leader in the next election.

5. As we speak, help … (send) to the areas of famine in Somalia.

6. We couldn’t use the offices because the floors … (polish) at the time.

7. None of the furniture … (move) since we last visited the house.

8. I thought all the dishes … (wash) before I left.

9. The electricity was cut off because the bill … (not pay).

10. While the witnesses … (question), the stolen car (find).

11. Phone up about the car advertisement in the paper! I hope it … (not sell) yet.

12. … (all these clothes/design) by Max Mara?

13. He … (think) to be a very talented artist.

14. Whales … (must protect) by an international ban on whaling.

15. The English Channel … (cross) first by Louis Bleriot.

Exercise 3. Open the brackets. Use Active or Passive Voice.

1. The sound-track of a film (add) after they finish the filming. (Present Simple)

2. They (sell) tickets for the concert at the box office all last week. (Past Progressive)

3. Julia (got) to do some shopping. (Present Perfect Simple)

4. The university (publish) the exam results next week. ((Future Simple)

5. When we reached the airport, we found that the flight (cancel). (Past Perfect Simple)

6. Graham Greene, the world famous writer, (die) in 1991. (Past Simple)

7. Why (these letters/not send)? (Present Perfect Simple)

8. The “greenhouse effect” (study) all over the world now. (Present Progressive)

9. The management (not able) to solve this problem. (Present Simple) 10. The BBC (open) Radio One in 1969. (Past Simple)

11 Madame Tussaud’s (be) a very famous wax museum in London. (Present Simple)

12. In 1990 a concert (hold) in London as a tribute to Nelson Mandela. (Past Simple)

Exercise 12. Choose the correct answer.

Santorini is a Greek island in a group which (is known, was known) as the Cyclades Islands. Out of 56 islands, only 24 of them (have been inhabited, are inhabited). On Milos, one of these islands, the famous sculpture “The Venus de Milo” (was discovered, has been discovered).

Santorini is very popular with tourists. It (had been formed, was formed) from a volcano and petrified lava. In Fira, the main tourist centre, many shops (are opened, were opened) where local jewellery, pottery and leather goods (are selling, are sold). Travelling north to the little town of Oia, The reds and purples of the volcanic lava (can be seen, should be seen). The ancient city of Thira (locates, is located) in the southeast of the island. It (had been found, was founded) by the Dorians in the ninth century BC. The city is in ruins because of a volcanic eruption. Bus tours (are being organized, are organized) by local companies to all these sites.

Exercise 13. Choose the correct answer.

The art of the world is in danger. Many great works of art (had been stolen, are being stolen) from galleries, museums and archaelogical sites all over the world. In 1990, 200 million dollars’ worth of rare paintings (had been removed, were removed) from a Boston museum. These paintings simply disappeared and (couldn’t be seen, haven’t been seen) since.

In Italy, for example, art treasures such as icons and tapestries (will be taken, were taken) by people who visit churches looking for items that (are being stolen, could be stolen) easily because there are no security guards there. A collection of German gold and silver religious objects (was found, has been found) in Texas recently. Americans looted them during World War Two. Museums and dealers (have been accused, were being accused) by the police of helping the thieves because they (continue, are continuing) to buy statues and paintings without the documents showing where they came from. A magazine called Trace (was established, established) four years ago to track down missing art treasures. Experts (have estimated, are estimating) that the theft of art treasures stands at 76 million a year. It’s big business.

Exercise 14. Paraphrase the following.

1. We have reserved a table for dinner at the Hilton. A table…

2. They were selling tickets for the concert all morning. Tickets…

3. Are all the students registered before the school year starts? (they)

4. After we had serviced the car, we took a holiday. (been)

5. The Knesset passes laws in Israel. (by)

6. Are the hotel rooms cleaned every day? (clean)

7. The white-fly is destroying melon crops in the USA. Melon crops…

8. Everybody in this city knows him well. He…

9. She didn’t tell anyone about the phone call. (told)

10. The school doesn’t permit smoking. Smoking…

11. Christopher Marlowe wrote those lines, not William Shakespeare. Those lines…

12. You don’t have to pay this bill until next year. This bill…

13. No one has ever driven this car before. (never)

14. The US government doesn’t approve of insecticides in California. Insecticides…

15. The UN has flown experts into Somalia to organize relief work. Experts…

16. An anonymous caller tipped off the police. (by)

17. Acid rain is destroying the forests of Germany. The forests…

MODALS

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