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Passives With An Agent
Passives With An Agent
We use the preposition by to introduce the doer or the agent of the action. We use this
structure when the agent is important:
Mr Ward has been arrested by the FBI.
The community was destroyed by a flood in 1862.
When the subject of the passive clause is not the real agent of the verb, we use other
prepositions in passive structures:
Id been decorating the bedroom and I was covered in paint. (Paint isnt the real
agent; I am the agent; I was painting.)
When the doer or agent of the action is an instrument, we use with:
The door was smashed open with a hammer.