12.5. Passive voice. The following sentences are all active. How would you make them passive? Present tense.
In Morocco they produce a lot of hashish. A lot of hashish is produced in Morocco.
They smoke most of that hashish in the north of Europe. In the north of Europe most of that hashish is smoked.
They make a lot of beer in Britain. A lot of beer is made in Britain.
British people drink a lot of foreign beer too. A lot of foreign beer is drunk too.
Present continuous.
They are selling a lot of newspapers today. A lot of newspapers are being sold today.
Daily Telegraph reporters are writing about a sleaze scandal. A sleaze scandal is being written about in the Daily Telegraph.
People are making a lot of money by selling gossip. A lot of money is being made by (people) selling gossip.
The media are telling us such rubbish these days. We are being told such rubbish by the media these days.
Present perfect.
The newsagent has sold all the papers this morning. All the papers have been sold by the newsagent this morning.
Reporters have besieged the house. The house has been besieged by the reporters.
The press publicist Cliff Maxford has asked if he can represent us. We have been asked by Cliff Maxford if he can represent us.
He has paid us £3000 in advance for a scandalous story. We have been paid £3000 in advance for a scandalous story.
Present perfect continuous. (The following are possible, but are normally avoided by natives because they are too complicated! Let’s see how good your English really is. Try them if you can, but don’t worry if you can’t!)
The press have been calling all my friends. (Difficult one this!) My friends have been being called by the press.
A helicopter has been flying around the area this morning. The area has been being flown around by the helicopter. (This is far too complicated in the passive form. This example has been put here to show you that any tense is technically possible in the passive. When it becomes this difficult, don’t hurt yourself; just use the active.)
The old ladies in the area have been pointing at my friends. My friends have been being pointed at by the old ladies in the area.
Ali has been drinking ‘medication’ for two days. Medication has been being drunk by Ali for two days. (Again this sounds unnatural.)
Other tenses in the passive. What would the passive of the following be?
He could be reading the Reader’s Wives magazine. The Reader’s Wives could be being read by him.
She may be watching that boy next door. That boy next door maybe being watched by her.
He must have given the ultimatum to his girlfriend by now. His girlfriend must have been given an ultimatum by now.
They will give us instructions on personal safety. We will be given instructions on personal safety.
They wouldn’t shout offensive comments at us, if they knew how hard we were. Offensive comments wouldn’t be shouted at us, if they knew how hard we were. (Or: ‘…if it was known how hard we were.’)