English Department María José Díaz mdiaz@colegioaltamira.cl
Worksheet 1 Passive Voice Exercises Practicing I Read the paired sentencesaloud. Write "A" in the blank beside the sentence in the active voice, "P" in the blank beside the sentence in the passive voice. a.
Louise made the coffee.
b.
The coffee was made by Louise.
c.
The package was advertised by the travel agent. The travel agent advertised the package.
d.
Practicing II Rewrite these sentences to put them in the active voice. a. The sugar water was relished by the hummingbirds.
b. Jogging is done by many people for exercise. c. A standing ovation was given to the guitar player. d. The syllabus was handed out by the professor.
Practicing II I Using either a computer or a piece of scratch paper, rewrite the following paragraph in the active voice. Last summer our house was painted by me. The job took about two weeks. First, the exterior was washed using warm water and a mild detergent. Then all the chinks and pores in the walls were sealed with putty. After the putty had had a chance to dry, the exterior could be painted. A latex paint was used because it is easy to apply and cleans up with water. A whole week was needed to finish this part of the job. I was very careful to apply the paint evenly because I did not want to have to apply two coats. A color was used that was very close to the original color. Our house is a two-story house, which meant that a tall ladder was needed to do the second story. The paint can had to be balanced on the top rung of the ladder while I worked. When the job was finished, a great deal of satisfaction was felt by me. I had to pat myself on the back. Even my dad said that a good job was done.
English Department María José Díaz mdiaz@colegioaltamira.cl
EXERCISE 1 Rewrite the sentencesin passive voice.
1.
Sheila is drinking a cup of tea. - _____________________________________________________________________ 2. My father is washing the car. - ______________________________________________________________________ 3. Farmer Joeis milking the cows. - ____________________________________________________________________ 4. She is taking a picture of him. - ______________________________________________________________________ 5. I am writing a poem. - _____________________________________________________________________________ 6. We are not playing football. - _______________________________________________________________________ 7. He is not wearing a tie. - ___________________________________________________________________________ 8. Is she preparing the party? - ________________________________________________________________________ 9. Are they talking about the meeting? - _________________________________________________________________ 10. Is she watering the flowers? - _______________________________________________________________________
II. Change the sentences to passive voice. 1. One of the cleaners has found my purse. _________________________________________________________________________________________ ___ 2. The robber hit him on the head with a hammer. _________________________________________________________________________________________ ___ 3. The government has built a new road in this area. _________________________________________________________________________________________ ___ 4. The assistant handed me a note. _________________________________________________________________________________________ ___ 5. We elected John class representative. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Someone has taken my wallet. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Many people use bicycles as a means of transport. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. They advised me to get a visa.
English Department María José Díaz mdiaz@colegioaltamira.cl
____________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. They were rebuilding the old road when I drove by. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 10. The local council opened a new shopping centre. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 11. They haven’t decided anything yet. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 12. The crowd was slowly filling the new stadium. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 13. Someone has suggested that the shop should close. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 14. Dad used a knife to open the window. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 15. The waitress will bring you your drinks in a minute ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 16. Nobody ever heard anything of John again.