Grammar exercice on the PASSIVE structure

1. La structure PASSIVE

2. Observons la phrase suivante: The police are arresting the thief
Dans cette phrase ayant une structure active, nous avons:
• Un sujet actif: the police
• Un verbe: to arrest
• Un complément d’objet (ou sujet passif, qui subit l’action): the thief
La même phrase peut être présentée différemment, c’est-à-dire qu’au lieu de mettre
l’accent sur celui qui accomplit l’action (le sujet actif) on met l’accent sur celui sur qui
subit l'action (le sujet passif). On utilise alors une structure passive.
Exemple: Our neighbour was killed by a thief. →Notre voisin a été tué par un voleur.
Pour former le passif, on utilise :
• l'auxiliaire BE (conjugué au temps de la phrase de départ),
• suivi du PARTICIPE PASSÉ.
Cela veut dire que si la phrase est au prétérit, on garde le même temps pour la phrase
au passif. Donc on va conjuguer BE au prétérit, ce qui donne: was (sing) ou were (plur).
Puis on rajoute le participe passé du verbe.
Pour rappel: Si le verbe est régulier, il suffit de rajouter -ED comme au prétérit, mais
pour les verbes irréguliers, il faut se reférer à la 3e colonne de la liste des verbes
irréguliers que vous avez tous appris!!!

3. Si on transforme une phrase à la voix active en phrase à la voix passive, le sujet (qui était en 1ère
position) devient complément d'agent (en dernière position) et le C.O.D. (qui était à la fin) se
retrouve en première position. Si on trace des traits, cela forme une croix.
A thief killed our neighbour
(= Prétérit de KILL)
Our neighbour was killed by a thief
1 + 2
(1= Prétérit de BE
+ 2= Participe passé de KILL)

4. Modification typiques des formes aspectuo-temporelles:
Temps : Voix active Voix passive
Présent Simple They sell cars on the net
They speak english in this
family
Cars are sold on the net
English is spoken in this
family
Ils vendent des voitures
sur le net
On parle anglais dans
cette famille
Présent BE ING They are preparing a new
fashion show
A new fashion show is
being prepared
Un nouveau défilé de
mode est en préparation
Prétérit They took a lot of photos
on the moon
A lot of photos were
taken on the moon
De nombreuses photos
furent prises sur la lune
Present Perfect I have sold all my
paintings
All my paintings have
been sold
Tous mes tableaux ont
été vendus
Pluperfect The engineers had
originally built the Titanic
to be « unsinkable »
The Titanic had been
originally built to be
« unsinkable »
Le Titanic avait été
construit à l’origine pour
être « insubmersible ».
Futur Simple Man will explore more
and more planets.
More and more planets
will be explored.
On / l’homme explorera
de plus en plus de
planètes
Conditionnel The volcano would
destroy many villages, if
it erupted.
Many villageswould be
destroyed by the volcano
if it erupted.
De nombreux villages
seraient détruits par le
volcan s’il entrait en
éruption.

5. Make sentences in the passive form.
Use the object of the active sentence as
the subject of your passive sentence.
Mention the agent only when necessary.
_______
Formez des phrases à la forme passive.
Utilisez le complément d’objet de la phrase
active comme sujet de votre phrase
passive.
Ne mentionnez le complément d’agent que
si nécessaire.

6. Jonathan Swift / wrote / this novel / in the
18th century (1721)

7. This novel was written in the 18th century
(1721) by Jonathan Swift

8. James Cameron / made / the film
« Avatar » / in 2009

9. The film « Avatar » was made by James
Cameron in 2009

10. Norman Rockwell / painted / « Triple self-
portrait » / in 1960

11. « Triple self-portrait » was painted by
Norman Rockwell in 1960

12. John Lennon / composed / the song
« Imagine » / in 1971

13. The song « Imagine » was composed by
John Lennon in 1971

14. Danish architect Jørn Utzon / designed /
the famous Opera House in Sydney

15. The famous Opera House in Sydney was
designed by the Danish architect Jørn
Utzon

16. She / never / feeds / the lion / outside his
cage

17. The lion is never fed outside his cage.

18. The strikers / are breaking / the walls of
separation

19. The walls of separation are being broken by
the strikers / /

20. The little girl / has beaten / the eggs

21. The eggs have been beaten by the little girl

22. The astronauts / will take / new photos / of
the moon

23. New photos of the moon will be taken by
the astronauts

24. A young female engineer/ has invented /
this robot

25. This robot has been invented by a young
female engineer

26. Maybe his parents / should give/ him /
another present

27. Maybe he should be given another present

28. Someone / could have built / this house / in a pre-
historic period

29. This house could have been built in a pre-
historic period

30. The doctors / must tell / this woman / the
truth

31. This woman must be told the truth by the
doctors

32. They /took / the children / to the park

33. The children were taken to the park

34. The managing director/ can’t fire / all the
employees / now

35. All the employees can’t be fired now (by
the managing director)

36. I / have found / this painting/ in a flea
market

37. This painting has been found in a flea
market

38. The police / have already arrested / the
thief

39. The thief has already been arrested by the
police

40. I / may repair / your car for next week

41. Your car may be repaired for next week

42. You / can change / your ticket / within 2
days

43. Your ticket can be changed within 2 days

44. They / would keep / him / in prison / if they
thought he was dangerous

45. He would be kept in prison if they thought
he was dangerous

46. A taxi driver / will take/ you / back to
school

47. You will be taken back to school (by a taxi
driver)

48. He / must catch / the prisoner / before it is
too late

49. The prisoner must be caught before it is
too late

50. The De Beers Group / bought / this
diamond called « the Heart of eternity » /
for $16 Millions

51. This diamond called « the Heart of
eternity » was bought by the De Beers
Group for $16 Millions