The Passive

The passive is a technique which is used to make language sound more natural. There are many different explanations and reasons some of which are clearer than others.

1. The object is more important than the subject.
2. The person doing the action is obvious or unknown.
3. We have just been introduced to the object and wish to continue talking about the object. (also described as newer information being added to the end of sentences)

An easy way to tell if a sentence should be active or passive is to decide whether the thing/person at the front of the sentence is doing or receiving the verb

If the person/thing doing the verb is first then it is a normal active sentence

'The boy kicked the football'


If the person/thing receiving the verb is first then it is passive

'The football was kicked by the boy'


Note that if we want to say who did the action in a passive sentence we use 'by', if we want to say how we use 'with'.

'The nail was hit with a hammer'


If you want to make an active sentence passive then it is quite easy

'The boy kicked the football' 


In this sentence the (main) verb (kicked) is in the past simple tense. The main verb always goes to 3rd form (past participle)

And now the magic which makes it really really easy. The verb 'be' takes the form of the original verb. So whatever happened to the original verb happens to 'be'. Here it is easy 'kicked' is past simple so the past tense of 'be' is 'was' (were) So

'The football was kicked (by the boy)'


It doesn't matter how complicated the original sentence is - use the same formula.

This time next week the government will be increasing taxes

Taxes will be being increased by the government this time next week

Relative Clauses

A relative clause can be compared to an adjective in that it gives extra information about a noun. They take the form 'Relative Pronoun + verb + phrase'

A relative pronoun takes the place of a noun and is one of the following

for People  - who
     Things - which
     Places - where
     Times - when
     Possessions - whose

Please note that possessions can include people and animals - 'This is the man whose dog smells.'


There are two types of relative clause - a defining relative clause and a non-defining relative clause.

A defining relative clause must be present as it defines the noun - it tells us exactly which noun.

 'This is the man whose dog smells.' - without the clause it has no sense.

A non-defining relative clause gives additional information and is not essential to the meaning. It is contained in commas and can be left out.

I met John, who was wearing a bright pink t-shirt, yesterday. - I met John yesterday still has perfect sense.

In defining clauses (only) we can use 'that' in place of 'who' and 'which' without changing the meaning. There are also occasions when we can leave out 'who', 'which' and 'that'. This can cause a few problems sometimes


'The lesson on relative clauses which Bob taught was a little complicated at times'


In this sentence 'which' refers to 'the lesson on  relative clauses'

In the second part 'the lesson on  relative clauses' is the object (ie what Bob taught)

So in this situation we can leave out the 'which' and the sentence.....

'The lesson on relative clauses Bob taught was a little complicated at times'


.....is correct.

It is also possible to leave out the relative pronoun and the verb 'be' in passive and continuous tenses.

I like watching people who are working hard. > I like watching people working hard :)


The second book which was written by Paulo Coehlo was also very popular
> The second book written by Paulo Coehlo ....