Passive voice

[anagahan]

Originally Posted by Dave Mortimer

1. They say that the lawyer gave him the details of his father's will

1. The details of his father's were said to have been given by the lawyer

can this one also be:
The lawyer is said to have given him the details.....

[RonBee]

Obama won the primary election.
Obama routs Clinton in South Carolina.
Florida's governor endorses McCain.
Crist praised McCain as a "true American hero."

[anagahan]

I have some exercises in my archives so here are some easy ones to practice...once you get familiar with the pattern, it will be easier to do the passive...and yes, there are rules for making passive sentences...the way the passive sentence is made, depends on the tense of the active one...here is some sort of a guideline to help to see the pattern of tenses transforming from active into passive


OWL at Purdue University: THE PASSIVE TENSES




1.They make shoes in that factory.

2.People must not leave bicycles in the driveway.

3.They built that skyscraper in 1934.

4.The students will finish the course by July.

5.They are repairing the streets this month.

6.They make these tools of plastic.

7.They have finished the new product design.

8.They were cooking dinner when I arrived.

9.Smithers painted 'Red Sunset' in 1986.

10.Did the plan interest you?

11.They had finished the preparations by the time the guests arrived.

12.You should take care when working on electrical equipment.

13.They are going to perform Beethoven's Fifth Symphony next weekend.

14.Someone will speak Japanese at the meeting.

15.Karen is going to prepare the refreshments.

[Serpream]

1.They make shoes in that factory.
1. Shoes are made in that factory

2.People must not leave bicycles in the driveway.
2. Bicycles cannot be left by people

3.They built that skyscraper in 1934.
3. That skyscraper was built in 1934

4.The students will finish the course by July.
4. The course will be finished by the students.

5.They are repairing the streets this month.
5. The streets are being repaired this month.

6.They make these tools of plastic.
6. The tools are made of plastic.

7.They have finished the new product design.
7. The new product design was finished.

8.They were cooking dinner when I arrived.
8. Dinner was being coocked.

9.Smithers painted 'Red Sunset' in 1986.
9. Red Sunset was painted by Smthers

10.Did the plan interest you?
10. The plan did interest you?

11.They had finished the preparations by the time the guests arrived.
11. By the time the guests arrived, the preparations had been finished

12.You should take care when working on electrical equipment.
12. Working on electrical equipmant.... ?

13.They are going to perform Beethoven's Fifth Symphony next weekend.
13. B.F.S is going to be performed.

14.Someone will speak Japanese at the meeting.
14. Japanese will be spoken at the meeting.

15.Karen is going to prepare the refreshments.
15. The refreshments is going to be prepared by Karen.

Something like this?

[anagahan]

Originally Posted by Serpream

1.They make shoes in that factory.
1. Shoes are made in that factory - correct


2.People must not leave bicycles in the driveway.
2. Bicycles cannot be left by people
-Bicycles must not be left in the driveway



3.They built that skyscraper in 1934.
3. That skyscraper was built in 1934 - correct


4.The students will finish the course by July.
4. The course will be finished by the students.
- the course will be finished BY July (by the students)


5.They are repairing the streets this month.
5. The streets are being repaired this month. - correct


6.They make these tools of plastic.
6. The tools are made of plastic. - correct


7.They have finished the new product design.
7. The new product design was finished.
- the new product design has been finished


8.They were cooking dinner when I arrived.
8. Dinner was being coocked. correct you should just add 'when i arrived'


9.Smithers painted 'Red Sunset' in 1986.
9. Red Sunset was painted by Smthers correct


10.Did the plan interest you?
10. The plan did interest you?
- Were you interested in the plan?



11.They had finished the preparations by the time the guests arrived.
11. By the time the guests arrived, the preparations had been finished -correct, though vice-versa would be more appropriate: the preparations had been finished by the time the guests arrived


12.You should take care when working on electrical equipment.
12. Working on electrical equipmant.... ?
- Care should be taken when working on electrical equipment


13.They are going to perform Beethoven's Fifth Symphony next weekend.
13. B.F.S is going to be performed. correct


14.Someone will speak Japanese at the meeting.
14. Japanese will be spoken at the meeting. correct


15.Karen is going to prepare the refreshments.
15. The refreshments is going to be prepared by Karen.
- the refreshments ARE going to be prepared...

you should pay attention to the tense shift, singular/plural nouns and finding the object in the sentence so it moves to the place of the subject in passive...but you are on the right way...as for many other things, practice is needed