The passive: present, past, present perfect + The passive is formed with a tense of the verb to be + the past participle of the main verb. present simple This room is used for dance classes. present continuous My jeans are being washed. past simple We weren't told what to do. present perfect The room has been painted. + We use by to introduce the person or thing that does the action. We're taught Chinese on Saturdays by Mrs Lee, ‘Are you being (ooked after by a nurse? The window was repaired by my dad. The room has been painted by the students. The passive: modals + We form the passive of modal verbs with: ‘modal + (to) be + past participle My sweater should be washed at [ow temperature All these clothes need to be folded corel My Tshirts needn't be ironed The washing machine might be damaged by 0 heavy load. The passive: usage The passive is widely used in English, in both speaking and wring, We use the passive: we do not know who or what does the action, {A cor was parked in the middle of the road. The window's been broken! «if who or what does the action is unimportant. iy new bike is being delivered tocoy. These files should be backed up regularly. « ifit is obvious who or what does the action. t've been asked to play for my school team. Your bedroom needs to be tidied before you goout 1 Rewrite the sentences using the passive. Do not include by and who or what does the action unless it adds important information. 1 A famous footballer has just opened a new sports club in our town, Anew sports club Alocal architect designed the buildings. The buildings Some people held an auction to raise money for the club. ‘An auction 3 Secondary school students are still decorating the inside of the building The inside of the building 5 They need tofinishit by the end of the summer. tt 6 Some people have criticised them for working too slowly. They 7 They should offer help instead of criti Help y news report using the same verbs inthe passive. Some thieves have broken into the new sports lub and valuable equipment. They broke a window, but they d set off the alarm. Some local residents saw lights in the cl ‘ar park lastnight, but they didn’t report them atthe t The thieves damaged several doors. They made ho the floor when they dragged the heavy equipmer ‘company has also inspected the building. replace the equipment immediately, but th ‘the security lighting in the car park, They se and someone must lock it every evening. thieves know what's inside the club, t