PASSIVE VOICE

I. Give the passive equivalents of the following sentences. Sometimes two passive variants
are possible:

1) Someone is presenting the visitors the surroundings of the castle.

2) They are rebuilding the village which the earthquake razed to the ground.
3) It seems that they lent George a huge amount of money last year.
4) We will certainly give Jane one of these books.
5) They say that dolphins are some of the most intelligent animals.
6) No one has slept in this bed since we moved here.
7) Having greeted the students, Professor Smith sat down at his desk.
8) They promised the strikers better working conditions.

II. Consider each of the following sentences and decide whether only one or both verbs in
italics are suitable:

1) Take all the time you need, but, please, have/get the job done in the end.
2) I must have/get my shoes repaired today.
3) Everybody knew that her husband had been/had got killed in the war.
4) We had/got our car stolen, so we must go to the police.
5) On Saturday, Jane had/got her hair done as usual.
6) A lot of students were/got left behind when the school bus drove off.
7) It was really difficult, but I finally had/got the computer repaired.
8) He had/got his arm broken while playing football.

III. Whenever possible, turn the following sentences into the passive voice, paying attention
to the verb and preposition/particle combination:

1) They should go into the question of costs as soon as possible.

2) The explorers will go into the cave early in the morning.
3) Make sure that you stick the stamp on firmly before you send the envelope off.
4) Most film stars don’t like people to stare at them in shops or restaurants.
5) After a discussion which lasted for more than two hours, we finally arrived at an agreement.
6) They arrived at the station five minutes late.
7) If you say that, people will certainly mock at you.
8) You should take your baby to a nursery, as they will look after him very well there.

IV. Rephrase the following sentences:

1) A burglar broke into our house while we were on holidays.

Our……………………………………..
2) It’s time the authorities did something about the problem of the homeless.
It’s time………………………………………………….
3) People say that her former husband was very difficult to live with.
Her former……………………………………………………
4) He always insists that his employees should keep to the rule.
He always………………………………………
 5) It is believed that the castle was built in the twelfth century.
The castle……………………………………….
6) Nobody had invited the teacher to the ceremony, which annoyed him.
As he……………………………………………………
7) At that moment, a neighbour was looking after the children for us.
At that moment, our children…………………………………
8) Everybody thought that the proof had been destroyed.
The proof……………………………………….
9) I hate it when people laugh at me.
I hate……………………………………………
10) Someone stole Mark’s bicycle last week.
Mark……………………………………………

V. Rewrite the following sentences by using the verbs in italics in the passive voice:

1) The fact that people met John’s speech with so much enthusiasm means that nobody could
have presented the issue better to the public.
2) My parents advised me not to let others criticize me.
3) The committee raised a strong objection to the Browns’ adopting little Mary.
4) People don’t appreciate hypocrisy any more than they do violence.
5) Shouldn’t we inform him about this problem privately, without anyone hearing it?
6) On their telling her that the police were following her, the woman realized that someone had
revealed her secret.
7) People say that they drew up the agreement in the presence of two witnesses.
8) When the librarian finally discovered the missing dictionary, she found that someone had torn
up most of its pages and had made notes on its covers.

VI. Translate into English the following impersonal sentences:

1) Suprafaţele de acest fel pot fi curăţate uşor dacă folosiţi soluţiile noastre.
2) Se aşteaptă o nouă creştere a preţului benzinei.
3) Se tipăresc din ce în ce mai multe cărţi de proastă calitate.
4) Portocalele se curăţă mai greu dacă nu ai cuţit.
5) Mi s-a pus o întrebare foarte grea ieri.
6) Se pare că umbrelele se vând cel mai bine iarna.
7) Cărţile poliţiste se citesc, de obicei, destul de uşor.
8) Se consideră că acest pianist este foarte talentat.