Lecture on Passive Form of Verbs

Introduction

• Presenter: Adam from www.engvid.com
• Topic: Passive form of verbs
• Nature: Complex yet fundamental

Active vs. Passive Voice

• Active Sentence Example: "The cat ate the rat."
  • Structure: Subject (cat) performs action (ate) on object (rat).
• Passive Sentence Construction: Reverse the order.
  • Example: "The rat was eaten by the cat."
    • Former object (rat) becomes the subject.
    • The agent (cat) becomes less important or omitted.
  • Structure: Be verb + past participle (Verb 3).

Reasons to Use Passive

1. Subject is Unknown, Obvious, or Not Important

   • Use when the doer of the action is not known or not important.
   • Examples:
     • "The building was vandalized." (Unknown who did it)
     • "The flowers were delivered on time." (Obvious who did it)
     • "The roads were fixed quickly." (The doer is not important)

2. Shifting Focus of Subject

   • Used to change focus from the agent to the object.
   • Use the passive to make the object of the last sentence the subject of the next.
   • Example: "The cat ate the rat." becomes "The rat was eaten by the cat."

3. Creating Sentence Variety

   • Important for writing, especially in exams like IELTS and TOEFL.
   • Offers more engaging and dynamic sentences.
   • Example: "He did A. C wasn't done until he had completed B."

4. Creating Coherence and Flow

   • Ensures smooth transition between sentences and ideas.
   • Example: "Coca-Cola was invented by John Pemberton. His original recipe contained cocaine."
   • Focus on the significant subject and connect ideas effectively.

Examples Illustrating Passive Use

Subject is Unknown, Obvious, or Not Important

• Example: "The airplane was invented in the early 20th century."
  • Focuses on the invention rather than the inventor.

Shifting Focus and Creating Flow

• Example: Writing about Coca-Cola
  • Original: "John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola."
  • Passive: "Coca-Cola was invented by John Pemberton."
  • Flow: "Today, Coca-Cola is a global brand that is consumed by millions."

Conclusion

• Benefits of Passive: Variety, Focus, Coherence
• Encouragement: Use passive for better writing scores in exams like IELTS and TOEFL.
• Resources: Visit www.engvid.com for quizzes and other lessons.

Study Tip: Practice identifying passive voice in writing and converting active sentences to passive to improve understanding.