English Grammar Drills

The Passive 255
Active:
Passive:
Modal auxiliary
Active:
Passive:
Active:
Passive:
Ralph was offering me the job.
I was being offered the job by Ralph.
Mary might see John.
John might be seen by Mary.
They will pay the bill.
The bill will be paid by them.
As you can see from the preceding examples, the forms of be and the main verb are completely
predictable: the passive auxiliary be always takes on whatever tense the main verb originally was:
if the main verb was in the past tense, be is in the past tense; if the main verb was in the progressive,
be is in the progressive, and so on. The main verb then always changes to its past participle
form.
Exercise 14.3
Use the three-step process to convert the following active sentences into their passive sentence
counterparts.
My parents are watching the kids.
Insert passive auxiliary:
Insert by:
Switch subjects and objects:
My parents are being watched the kids.
by my parents are being watched the kids.
The kids are being watched by my parents.
1. The waiter is calculating the bill.
2. The police will solve the crime.