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Passive and active voice

Voice: - Voice is a grammatical category which makes it possible to view the action of a sentence in
either of two ways, without change in the facts reported.
E.g. she washed the dishes.
The dishes were washed.

In the verb phrase, the difference between the two voice categories is that the passive adds a form of
auxiliary Be followed by the past participle of the main verb.

When we say what people and things do, we use active voice.

He speaks English.
When we say what happened to people and things, we use passive voice.

What is done to them?

Passive formation

A/ The object of an active sentence becomes the subject of the passive.

Hashmat studies English. (Active)

English is studied by Hashmat. (Passive)

B/ We normally use one form of the auxiliary “be” – be ,am ,is ,are, was ,were, have/ has been,
had been being, will be –followed by past participle. (Be + P. Participle)

English is studied by Hashmat.

Be + p.p

C/ The subject of an active sentence becomes part of “by phrase” in the passive sentence.

Hashmat studies English. (Active)

English is studied by Hashmat. (Passive)

D/ The object pronoun of the active sentence gets change to subject pronoun in the passive
sentence.

Hashmat saw me. (Active)

I was seen by Hashmat. (Passive)

Changing passive to active

A/ The object of passive sentence becomes the subject of an active sentence.

A letter is written by Nawab. (Passive)

Nawab writes a letter. (Active)
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B/ The subject pronoun of the passive sentence becomes the object pronoun of the active
sentence.

I was seen by her. (Passive)

She saw me. (Active)

By phrase (by)

In a passive clause the agent the person or thing that does or that causes what happened, is usually
Introduced by a phrase with by.

The man was killed by rubbers.

Sometimes the preposition with is used in a passive clause to introduce a tool or instrument used by
the agent.

He was killed “by police” with knife.

Reflexive pronouns in passive

Verbs followed by reflexive pronouns cannot be used to passive voice.

I saw myself in the mirror.
Myself was seen in the mirror. (Incorrect)

Some verbs are not used in passive

Not all verbs can have passive forms. Passive structure is impassible with intransitive verbs like die or
arrive which cannot have object because there is nothing to become the subject of a
Passive sentence, some transitive verbs are seldom used in the passive most of these are stative
Verbs which refer to state not action.

Such as fit, have, luck, resemble, suit

They had a nice house. (Not) a nice house is had by them.

My shoes don’t fit me. (Not) I am fitted by my shoes.

Uses of passive
When we do not know, who dose/did the action?

Nawroz’s pocket was stolen.

When the doer of the action is unknown or indefinite pronoun, passive is used.
Someone stole my pocket last night.
My pocket was stolen last night.
“By” cannot be used because the doer is unknown.

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When the object is more important than the subject, using passive voice is preferred.

I will meet the president.

The president will be met by me.

When the doer of the action represents a large group of different individual, passive voice is
used.
A lot of coffee is grown in Brazil.

By phrase is unnecessary

Kinds of passive

Imperative passive
Interrogative passive
Model passive
Stative passive
Causative passive

Imperative passive:

If we faced with an imperative sentence so we use from verb let.

Example: Close the door.

Let the door be closed.

Bring the pen.

Let the pen be brought.

Speak English all the time.

Let the English be spoken all the time.

Exception: let’s in suggestion

In order to change let’s in passive voice should or must are used with be + past participle.

Let’s eat dinner.

Dinner should be eaten.
Dinner must be eaten.

Interrogative passive:

This kind of passive is used for asking question about person or thing. In interrogative passive
We use from question words such as: who, whom, what, when, where, whose, how and why.

If the active sentence is began with who; the who is changed by whom then place the to be
Verb according the active tense.
Who took the pen?
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By whom the book was taken?
If the active question starts with whom, whom is changed to who in passive voice.

Whom did you see?

Who was seen?

If the active question starts with what, what doesn’t change its form.

What have you bought?

What has been bought?

If the active question starts with words such as: when, where, why, whose, and how there forms
Are not changed in passive form.

Note: If we have interrogative with do, does in present tense we change them into passive by using
am, is, and are to interrogative passive form.

If we have did in interrogative sentence we should change it to was and were.

Model passive

Active passive

He will help her. She will be helped by him.

He can help her. She can be helped by him.
He should help her. She should be helped by him.
He must help her. She must be helped by him.
He may help her. She may be helped by him.
He might help her. She might be helped by him.

Stative passive:

When the past participle form of the verb is used as an adjective which shows state not an action.
It is called Stative passive. Stative passive express existing state rather than an action.

Stative passive verbs are used to describe the following situation.

Location and position

Afghanistan is located in the heart of Asia.

Part whole relation

Korea is divided in two parts.

Connection

Afghanistan and Uzbekistan are joined by Hairatan Bridge.

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Purpose

Phone is used to talk with each other

Manner of method

Temperature is measured in degree

Note: the Stative passive do not have active forms.

Verb + Obj + Verv

Causative Verbs

A causative verb is used to express the idea that the subject causes the object to do something. There
are lots of causative verbs in English Language, but we focus on five common ones which are usually
used in daily conversation and writing.
1- Make: - Make as a causative means (to force, to compel) and it should be followed by object +
bare infinitive (infinitive without to).
Ex: Ali was really lazy, so his teacher made him study.

2- Have: - Have as a causative verb means (cause somebody to do something) and it should be
followed by object + bare infinitive.
Ex: I have my father buy me a car.

3- Let: - Let as a causative verb means (to permit, to allow) and it should be followed by object +
bare infinitive.
Ex: Ahmad’s father let him join the party.

4- Help: - Help as a causative verb means (to aid, to assist) and it can be followed either by full
infinitive or bare infinitive.
Ex: I helped that blind old woman (to) cross the street.

5- Get: - Get as a causative verb means (to persuade, to convince) it should always be followed by
object + to + verb.
Ex. I get the mechanic to fix my car.

Causative passive

In changing causative passive the object of an active sentence becomes the subject of causative passive

I make him go out.

He is made to go out.

Passive form of the tenses

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Tense active passive

Simple present They study English. English is studied by them.

Present progressive They are studying English. English is being studied by them.

Present prefect They have studied English. English has been studied by them.

Present perfect They have been studying E. English has been being studied.
Progressive
Simple past They studied English. English was studied by them.

Past progressive They were studying English. English was being studied by them.

Past prefect They had studied English. English had been studied by them.
Past perfect They had been studying E. English had been being studied.
Progressive
Simple future They will study English. English will be studied by them.

Future perfect They will have studied English. English will have been studied.

Making Question in Passive

Tense Active Passive

Simple Present do you write a letter? Is a litter written by you?

Present progressive are you making the chair? Is the chair being made by you?
Present prefect has the teacher helped us? Have we been helped by the teacher?
Simple past did many people use the book? Was the book used by many people?

Past progressive were they painting our room? Was our room being painted?

Past prefect had the teacher taught the class? Had the class been taught by the teacher?

Future Will the teacher explain the lesson? Will the lesson be explained by the teacher?

Future perfect will they have bought a car? Will a car have been bought?

Verb + proposition

When a verb + proposition is put into the passive voice, the proposition remains immediately after
the verb

We were locked in the closet.

We must put out the fire.

Transitive and intransitive verbs:

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Transitive verb: The verb which is followed by object is called transitive verbs.

You surprised me.

Intransitive verb: The verb which is not followed by object is called intransitive verb.

I usually sleep well.

Some verbs can be both transitive and intransitive.

England lost.
England lost the match.
The match was lost by England.

Some transitive verbs can be followed by two objects (direct and indirect), which are called
ditransitive verbs. In such a case, each object can be used as the subject of the sentence in passive
voice.
She sent me a letter (Active)
I was sent a letter. (Passive)
A letter was sent to me. (Passive)

Reporting

There are two main ways of reporting people's words, thoughts, beliefs etc

Direct and Indirect (Quoted speech and Reported speech)

Direct speech:
We can give the exact words (not more or less) that were said, or that we imagine were thought. This
kind of structure is called "direct speech"

Example:: He said, "I play football."

She said, "My brother works in Takhar."

Rules for Writing Quoted Speech

In order to write quoted speech (Direct Speech) sentences follow the next coming steps
1. Put a comma after said or any introductory ( quoting ) clause
Ex: He said,
2. Put quotation marks after comma.
Ex: He said, “
3. Capitalize the first letter of the sentence written inside the quotation marks.
Ex: He said, “We

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4. After completing quotation (the sentence) punctuate the sentence by period (.) It should be
mentioned that punctuation is related to the kind of the sentence
Ex: He said, “We want to go home.
5. Close the quotation marks after period.
Ex: He said,” We want to go home.”
6. Quotation marks can not be put after each sentence if there are two or more than two sentences
in quotation, put quotation marks at the beginning and end of the whole quote.
Ex: The teacher said, “Why is everyone upset?” Don’t worry about the exam.” Every one will do
well.” (Incorrect)
Ex: The teacher said, “Why is everyone upset? Don’t worry about the exam.Exveryone will do
well?” (Correct)
7. Be sure to use quotation marks above the line, as the following example:
He said, “We want to go home.” (Correct)
He said, “We want to go home.” (Incorrect)

Indirect speech:
We can make a speaker's words or thoughts part of our own sentence, using conjunctions (e.g. that),
and changing pronouns, tenses and other words where necessary. This kind of structure is called
"indirect speech" or "reported speech".

Example: He said (that) he played football.

She said (that) her brother worked in Takhar.

Basic rules for indirect speech

Change of situation:

Words that are spoken or thought in one place by one person may be reported in another place at a
different time, and perhaps by another person. Because of this, there are often grammatical differences
between direct and indirect speech. These changes are mostly natural and logical.

Example: "I don't like this party," said Mojib. (On Friday night)
Mojib said that he didn't like that/the party. (On Saturday)

Change of Pronouns:

A change of speaker may mean a change of pronoun. In the example above, you can see the
differences.

Example: Mojib said, "I don't like this party." {Direct}

Mojib said that he didn't like that party. {In direct}

Change of Adverb:
A change of place and time may mean changing adverb.

Example:: Shafiq said, "I am writing a letter now." {Direct}

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Shafiq said that he was writing a letter then. {In direct}

The common adverbs and their changes:

Direct Indirect
This That/the
These Those
Here There
Now Then
Thus So
Today That day
Tonight That night
Tomorrow The next day
Next week (month, year...) The following week (etc...)
yesterday The day before
The previous day
Last week (month, year etc...) The week before etc...
The previous week (etc...)
Last night The night before
The previous night
Just Then
Ago Before

Change of Tenses (Back shift in indirect speech):

A change of time mean a change of tense; the person reporting uses tenses that relate to the time when
he/she is making the report, not to the time when the original words were used.
So after past reporting verbs, the verbs of the original speech are usually "back shifted"
Example: He said, "I am sick."
He said that he was sick.

Direct Indirect
1-Simple present tense Simple past tense
2-Present continuous tense Past continuous tense
3-Present perfect tense Past perfect tense
4-Present perfect continuous tense Past perfect continuous tense
5-Simple past tense Past perfect tense
6-Past continuous tense Past perfect continuous tense
7-Past perfect tense Past perfect tense
8-Past perfect continuous tense Past perfect continuous tense
9-Simple future tense Future in simple past
10-Future continuous tense Future in past continuous tense
11-Future perfect tense Future in past perfect tense
12-Future perfect continuous tense Future in past perfect continuous T.

Examples:

1- Khalid said, "I go to school."

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Khalid said that he went to school.

2- Khalid said, "I am going to school."

Khalid said that he was going to school.

3- Khalid said, "I have gone to school."

Khalid said that he had gone to school.

4- Khalid said, "I have been going to school."

Khalid said that he had been going to school.

5- Khalid said, "I went to school."

Khalid said that he had gone to school.

6- Khalid said, "I was going to school."

Khalid said that he had been going to school.

7- Khalid said, "I had gone to school."

Khalid said that he had gone to school.

8- Khalid said, "I had been going to school."

Khalid said that he had been going to school.

9- Khalid said, "I will go to school."

Khalid said that he would go to school.

10- Khalid said, "I will be going to school."

Khalid said that he would be going to school.

11- Khalid said, "I will have gone to school."

Khalid said that he would have gone to school.
12- Khalid said, "I will have been going to school."
Khalid said that he would have been going to school.

Note: when the introductory verb is in present, present perfect or future

There is no change of tenses.
Ex: He says that… this is usual when we are.

A/ reporting a conversation that is still going on

B/ reading a letter and reporting what it says
C/ reading instructions and reporting them
D/ reporting a statement that someone makes very often

Example: Tom says, "I will never get married."

Tom says that he'll never get married.

Nazir has said, "I did my homework."

Nazir has said that he did his homework.
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Our prophet says,
says, "Grave is under mothers' feet."
Our prophet says that grave is under mothers' feet.

He will say,
say, "I do not know."
He will say that he does not know.

Modal verbs:

'Modal present' becomes 'modal past' e.g. can becomes could; will becomes would; may becomes
might.

Example: He said, " I can/will/may see you later."

He said that he could/would/might see me later.
Shall
When shall is used with future reference for prediction, speculation etc. it becomes would in indirect
speech:

Example: She said, "I shall tell him exactly what I think."
She said she would tell him exactly what she thought.

When shall is used in offers, suggestions or requests for advice it becomes should:

Example: He said, "Shall I speak to him?"

He asked whether he should speak to him.

Should can be used in place of would, e.g. in conditional sentences.

Example: "if I were you, I should get another lawyer."

She said if she were me, she would get another lawyer.

Would, could, might, ought to, used to

These remain unchanged in indirect speech in all combinations:

Example: I said to my dentist, "I would like an appointment tomorrow."

I told my dentist I would like an appointment the nest day.

Perfect and past modal forms

Forms such as must have and could have remain unchanged:

Example: she said, "I must have slept through the alarm."
She said she must have slept through the alarm.

Needn't
It can remain unchanged or can be replaced by didn't have to in indirect speech:
Example: The boss said, "You needn't come in tomorrow."
The boss said I didn't have to come in the next week.

Conditional statements:
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Type {one} conditional statements are reported as follows:

Example: He said, "If you pass your test, I'll buy you a car."
He said that if I passed my test, he would buy me a car.

Type {two} conditional statements are reported as follows:

1. If there is a change in time reference:
E.g. he said, “If I were here, I would tell him.”
He said, “That if he had been there he would have told him.”
2. Backshift is optional if the preposition in the indirect speech is still valid:
E.g. he said, “If I were in Kabul, I would attend the concert.”
He said, “That if he were/had been in Kabul, he would attend/would have attend the concert.”

Example: He said, "If you passed your test I would buy you a car."
He said that if I passed my test, he would buy me a car.

Type {three} conditional statements are reported as follows:

Example: He said, "If you'd passed your test, I'd have bought you a car."
He said that if I'd passed my test he'd have bought me a car.

Exclamations:
The word order in reported exclamations

Example: She exclaimed, "What a silly boy you are!"

She told him what a silly boy he was.
She told him that he was a silly boy.

Reporting permanent states, facts, habits:

Permanent states and conditions are often reported in the simple present after a reporting verb in the
past to show that they are matters of fact now.

Example: He said, "Afghanistan is located in heart of Asia."

He said that Afghanistan is located in heart of Asia.
{Avoiding ambiguity}

Question form:
Be, have and modal auxiliaries
The inversion in the direct question changes back to statement word order (s + v) in the reported
question and, if necessary, the tense is changed at the same time. Modals may change from their
'present' form to their 'past' form.

Statement: ''He went home.''

Direct yes/no question: ''Did he go home?''
Indirect question: She asked me if he went home.
Or: She asked me if he had gone home.

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Note: that in case of intonation, if necessary, phrases like in surprise can be added:

Example: 'Do you play chess?'

'Don't you play chess?' He asked me if/whether
'You don't play chess, don you?' I played chess.
'You play chess, don't you?'

If and whether
If and whether are interchangeable after ask, want to know, wonder, etc., but whether conveys
slightly greater doubt. Some verbs, like discuss, can only be followed by whether.
If or whether must always be used when reporting Yes/No questions and cannot be omitted.

Example:: Tom said, ''Is it raining?"

Tom asked if/whether it was raining.

Whether is usually preferred when there are alternatives:

Example: She said, "Do you want coffee or tea?"

She asked whether I wanted coffee or tea.

''Wh'' Question word:

Be, have and modal auxiliaries
The inversion after a question-word in a direct question changes back to statement word order {s + v}
in the reported question and, if necessary, the tense is changed at the same time. Modals may change
from 'present' form to 'past' form.

Statement: We are going home.

Wh-question: Where are you going?
(Wh
(Wh + v)
He asked (us) where we were going.
(Wh + s + v)

Do, does and did

Do/does/did in direct questions disappear in reported questions:

Statement: "I called Bob"

Wh-question: "When did you call Bob?"
Indirect question: He asked me when I called/had called Bob.

Infinitive and gerund constructions in indirect speech:

A/ Speech relating to actions (e.g. promises, agreements, orders, offers, requests, advice and
suggestions) is often reported with infinitives, or object + infinitive. And the introductory verb might
be: agree, refuse, offer, promise, and threaten than say.

Example: Bob: Would you wait half an hour?

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Tom: All right. = Tom agreed to wait.
Or: Tom said he would wait.

Gino: Would you lend me your car?

Cristina: No, I won't lend you. = Cristina refused to lend
him the car. Or she said that she wouldn't lend.

Tom: I will help you if you like, Ann. = Tom offered to

Or Tom said he would help him

Jan: I will pay you back next week. = Jan promised to

pay him back the following week. Or, Jan said that he would pay him back.

Kidnappers: if you don't pay the ransom at once we will

Kill your son. = the kidnappers threatened to kill his son if he didn't pay the ransom at
once Or,
Or, the kidnappers said that they would kill..

B/ accuse… of/ admit/apologize for/deny/insist on + gerund can sometimes be used instead of say
(that)

Example: "You took the money!" Might be reported,

He accused me of taking the money.

"I stole/didn't steal it" might be reported,

I admitted/denied stealing it.

He said, "I am sorry I am late." Might be reported,

He apologized for
for being late
Or, He said he was sorry he was late.

Nazir: Let me pay for myself.

Shabir: Certainly not! I'll pay! Might be reported,
Shabir insisted on paying.

Commands, requests, advice

The structure {introductory verb + object + infinitive} is common with the following: advise, ask,
beg, command, encourage, entreat, forbid, implore, invite, order, recommend, remind, request,
tell, urge, warn.

Example: He said, "Get your coat, Tom!"

He told Tom to get his coat.

She said, "You had better hurry, Bill!"

She advised Bill to hurry.
Negative commands, requests etc.. are usually reported by not + infinitive:

Example: I said, "Don't swim in the pool, boys."

I warned/told the boys not to swim in the pool.
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The person addressed is often not mentioned in direct commands, request etc

He said, 'Go away!' when reporting such commands/requests therefore we must add a noun or
pronoun:

He told me/him/her/us/them/the children to go.

Unreal past tenses (subjunctives) in indirect speech

Unreal past tenses after wish, would rather/sooner, and it is time do not change:

Example:
Example: He said, "We wish we didn't have to take exams."
He said they wished they didn't have to take exams.

"Bill wants to go alone," said Ann, "but I'd rather he went with a
group."
Ann said that Bill wanted to go alone but she would rather he went
with a group.

He said, "It is time we began planning our holidays."

He said that it was time they began planning their holidays.

I/he/she/we/they had better remains unchanged you had better can remain unchanged or be reported
by advise + object + infinitive:

Example: Tom said, "The children had better go to bed early."

early.
Tom said that the children had better go to bed early.

She said, "You had better not drink the water."

She advised/warned us not to drink the water.

Some examples of common structure

He said, "Thank you." [Direct]

He thanked me. [Indirect]

He said, "Curse this wind." [Direct]

He cursed the wind. [Indirect]

He said, "Good morning!" [Direct]

He greeted me/wished me a good morning. [Indirect]

He said, "Happy Christmas!" [Direct]

He wished me a happy Christmas. [Indirect]

He said, "Congratulations!" [Direct]

He congratulated me. [Indirect]

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He said, "Liar!" [Direct]
He called me a liar. [Indirect]

He said, "Damn!" [Direct]

He swore. [Indirect]

He said to Tom, "Please!" [Direct]

He begged Tom. [Indirect]

He said, "Don't do it." [Direct]

He told me not to do it. [Indirect]

He says, "Meet me at the station." [Direct]

He says that we are to meet him at the station. [Indirect]

Notes on the use of punctuation marks

1-Quotation marks (or inverted commas) go round what is actually spoken and enclose other
punctuation marks such as commas (,) full stops (.), question marks (?) and exclamation marks (!).
They may be single ('…') or double ("…") and are placed high above the base-line at the beginning
and end of each quotation:

Example: 'Is that you, Jane?' Bob asked.

"Is that you, Jane?" Bob asked.

2- What is said, plus reporting verb and its subject, is considered as a whole unit. When the subject +
reporting verb come at the beginning of a sentence, the reporting verb is always followed by a comma
{sometimes by a colon (:) in AmE} and the quotation begins with a capital letter:

Example: Shafiq said, 'It's good to see you.'

When the subject + reporting verb come after what is said, the quotation has a comma before the
second quotation mark:

Example: 'It is good to see you,' Shafiq said.

But if the quotation ends with an exclamation mark or a question mark, a comma is not used as well:

Example: 'Where can I get a taxi?' Tom asked.

Subject + verb can come in the middle of a quotation-sentence:

Example: 'Where, in this wretched town,' Tom asked, 'can I get a taxi?'

The second part of the quotation does not begin with a capital letter because it is not a separate
sentence.

3- Noun + reporting verb may be in subject + verb order or may be inverted (verb + subject)

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Example: 'This is a serious offence,' the judge said/said the judge.

If the subject is a long one, then inversion is usual:

Example: 'Where's this train going?' asked the lady sitting beside me.

With a pronoun subject, inversion is rare in modern English:

Example: 'This is a serious offence,' he said.

Some reporting verbs, particularly those requiring an object, such as assure, inform and tell can not be
inverted.
Adverb of manner usually comes at the end.

Example: 'Go away!' said Mr. Tonney/Mr. Tonney said angrily.

4- Quotation marks are generally not required with reporting verbs such as ask oneself, think and
wonder when they are used to describe 'direct thoughts' in 'free indirect speech'.

Example: Where are they now, he wondered.

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