Passive Form

In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the action.

[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action]

Examples:

The students subject receiving action	are taught passive verb	by the professor doing action
The dishes subject receiving action	are washed passive verb	by John doing action

Active / Passive Overview

	Active	Passive
Simple Present	Once a week, Tom cleans the house.	Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom.
Present Continuous	Right now, Sarah is writing the letter.	Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah.
Simple Past	Sam repaired the car.	The car was repaired by Sam.
Past Continuous	The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store.	The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store.
Present Perfect	Many tourists have visited that castle.	That castle has been visited by many tourists.
Present Perfect Continuous	Recently, John has been doing the work.	Recently, the work has been being done by John.
Past Perfect	George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic's license.	Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic's license.
Past Perfect Continuous	Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant's fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to Paris.	The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being prepared by Chef Jones for two years before he moved to Paris.
Simple Future will	Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM.	The work will be finished by 5:00 PM.
Simple Future be going to	Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.	A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally tonight.
Future Continuous will	At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes.	At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washed by John.
Future Continuous be going to	At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washing the dishes.	At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washed by John.
Future Perfect will	They will have completed the project before the deadline.	The project will have been completed before the deadline.
Future Perfect be going to	They are going to have completed the project before the deadline.	The project is going to have been completed before the deadline.
Future Perfect Continuous will	The famous artist will have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.	The mural will have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.
Future Perfect Continuous be going to	The famous artist is going to have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.	The mural is going to have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.
Used to	Jerry used to pay the bills.	The bills used to be paid by Jerry.
Would Always	My mother would always makethe pies.	The pies would always be madeby my mother.
Future in the Past Would	I knew John would finish the work by 5:00 PM.	I knew the work would be finished by 5:00 PM.
Future in the Past Was Going to	I thought Sally was going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.	I thought a beautiful dinner was going to be made by Sally tonight.

Transitional Words and Phrases

1. Why do we use transitional words and phrases?

Transitional words and phrases (e.g. however, or, finally, before) contribute to the unity (cohesiveness) of a text. Indeed, without these words or phrases, a text will most likely seem disorganized and will often be difficult to understand. When used they provide greater organization within a text and lead to greater understanding and enjoyment on the part of the reader.

Grammatically, such words and phrases fall under a number of categories:

• Conjunctions: but, provided, and, although

• Prepositional phrases: in addition to, in conclusion

• Adverbs: also, however, nevertheless

Transitional words and phrases can be placed in various places in a text. This might be:

• between paragraphs

• between sentences

• between sentence parts

• within sentence parts

For example, you could write:

Mexican immigration has recently been the subject of much discussion within US political circles. However, most ordinary Americans know little of this burning issue.

The word 'however' contributes to greater unity or cohesion between sentences.

Or you could write:

Mexican immigration has recently been the subject of much discussion within US political circles but most ordinary Americans know little of this burning issue.

The word 'but' contributes to greater cohesion within a sentence.