CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY ENGLISH 7: LANGUAGE WORKSHEET 6.
Name Date
Language worksheet 6.2
In this worksheet you will focus on passive constructions.
1 Look at these examples of passive forms and match them to the reasons why they
are in the passive.
1 She was born in Germany. a To avoid using ‘you’ in rules and orders.
2 My car has been stolen! b There would be a very long subject if the
sentence was active.
3 Your offer to pay the bill will c The person doing the action isn’t
be considered. relevant.
4 Children over ten are not allowed in
this playground. d To make a sentence less personal.
5 She was surprised by all of the people e We don’t know who has done the action.
waiting for her to sign her new book.
6 I’m sorry but all of the cakes have f To emphasise the action rather than the
been sold. person doing it.
2 Write down how the passive is made: ________________ + _________________
Now complete these example sentences in different tenses as a record.
present
Milk ______________________________ (sell) in 1-litre cartons. simple
Efforts _____________________________ (make) to stop climate present
change getting worse. continuous
past simple
Many things _____________________________ (forget) when they packed up.
past
Beautiful flowers _________________________ (grow) there when I visited. continuous
present
perfect
French _____________________________ (speak) in Canada for many years. simple
Cambridge Lower Secondary English 7 – Creamer, Williams, Rees-Bidder & Elsdon © Cambridge University Press 2021 1
CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY ENGLISH 7: LANGUAGE WORKSHEET 6.2
present
perfect
The bridge ______________________________ (repair) for several weeks now. continuous
future with
Our team ________________________ (beat) if we don’t practice more. will
3 The passive is often seen in more formal writing. Underline the examples of the passive
in this text about someone who had read Nelson Mandela’s speech from Session 6.6 in
the Learner’s Book.
I was amazed when I heard Nelson Mandela’s words. He had been invited to speak at a
massive conference and was talking to thousands of people. He must have been very
busy as invitations were frequently sent to him asking him to speak and attend events.
He seemed like such a humble man, which I found surprising considering he was locked
up in prison for so long. He talked about how poverty is created by humans and how
people are trapped in poverty and can’t escape. I’m not sure how poverty can be made a
thing of the past, but he was certainly very inspiring. His books are read by millions of
people nowadays and they are being translated into many different languages.
Cambridge Lower Secondary English 7 – Creamer, Williams, Rees-Bidder & Elsdon © Cambridge University Press 2021 2
