Help with passive tense

[Magic712]

Could someone explain how to do this or give me a hand with that?

put each verb in brackets into a suitable passive tense

The old house on the corner ( knock down )................. last year
When exactly ( John give )............ his prize?
Most people agree that America ( not discover )................ by Christopher Columbus
All complaints about products ( deal with ).................... by our customer services department.
Police confirmed that the murder weapon ( since discover )............... in a nearby lake.
It ( announce )............... yesterday that the government has decided not to raise income tax.
Good news! I ( ask ).........to take over as the new managing director
I don't believe that this play ( write ).............by Shakespeare.
Ann really likes ( invite )........... to dinner parties.

 

[corum]

passive is not a tense. Passive belongs to the grammatical category called voice.
You go first with the answers.
(Audrey Hepburn in your avatar -- the woman of my dreams!)

 

[Magic712]

knocked down?
John has been given ?

I hate this part of grammar.

I like her too.

 

[Magic712]

what next ?

 

[emsr2d2]

Could someone explain how to do this or give me a hand with that?

put each verb in brackets into a suitable passive tense

The old house on the corner ( knock down )................. last year
When exactly ( John give )............ his prize?
Most people agree that America ( not discover )................ by Christopher Columbus
All complaints about products ( deal with ).................... by our customer services department.
Police confirmed that the murder weapon ( since discover )............... in a nearby lake.
It ( announce )............... yesterday that the government has decided not to raise income tax.
Good news! I ( ask ).........to take over as the new managing director
I don't believe that this play ( write ).............by Shakespeare.
Ann really likes ( invite )........... to dinner parties.

I'll give you a start:

The old house on the corner was knocked down last year.
When exactly was John given his prize?

Now see what you can do with all the others and we'll see how it goes!

 

[Magic712]

wasn't discovered?
was dealing / dealed? with
since was discovered?
was announced?
I asked?
was written?
was invited?

thanks everyone for your help.

 

[Raymott]

wasn't discovered? Yes.
was dealing / dealt? with No. Wrong subject/verb agreement.
since was discovered? No. This is a hard one. I'd say, " ... has since been discovered..."
was announced? Yes.
I asked? No, that's not passive.
was written? Yes.
was invited? No, you have two main verbs. "Ann likes was invited ..."

thanks everyone for your help.

You still have most answers wrong.
Have another go, writing out the full sentence, and convince yourself that the sentence makes sense.
We could then give you the answers, but it's best that you understand them.

 

[Magic712]

I'll give you a start:

The old house on the corner was knocked down last year.
When exactly was John given his prize?

Now see what you can do with all the others and we'll see how it goes!

You still have most answers wrong.
Have another go, writing out the full sentence, and convince yourself that the sentence makes sense.
We could then give you the answers, but it's best that you understand them.

That will be...

I was asking to take over as the new... ?

 

[Barb_D]

That will be...

I was asking to take over as the new... ?

That is not in the passive.

Who asked? Who was asked? The person who was asked needs to be the grammatical subject in a passive sentence.

 

[Raymott]

That will be...

I was asking to take over as the new... ?

No, you still haven't grasped the concept of the passive voice.
"I" is the subject of the active sentence. "I asked to take over". "I" is doing something actively.
You must come up with a sentence in which "I" is the passive object of a passive sentence.

I'll tell you how to form a simple passive sentence.
Here is the active sentence: "The dog bit John"
Step 1: Take the subject and object (if there is one), and switch them:
"John ... the dog".
Step 2. Change the verb form so that the new sentence says the same as the original:
"John was bitten by the dog".

Another example: "I am mopping the floor"
"The floor is being mopped by me".

Some sentences are more complicated. These exercises are also a bit harder because they are in the passive already, and you just need to provide the verb form. But the principle is the same.
"I ( ask )......... to take over as the new managing director"
For the passive, "I" has to become passive. One way of doing this (as in the above mopping example) is:
"They asked me to take over ... "
However, you can't do this in this exercise because the sentence structure is given. Can you think of a way you could express the concept that "they asked me" in a way in which 'I' remains passive? (You can't have "I" doing anything, like asking).

 

[emsr2d2]

Raymott - beautifully explained! I may have to print out your post and take it to my classes!!!

I thought it was a little mean that the exercise already had some of the sentences in the passive, and all that had to be sorted was the verb.

Magic712 - keep trying!!! You WILL get them right. Raymott's advice is fantastic.

 

[Raymott]

Shucks!

 

[Magic712]

being invited?

 

[Raymott]

I was asked to take over as the new managing director.
I have been asked to take over as the new managing director.

 

[Magic712]

Cheers guys!