We often use the passive to describe a process or emphasize the action rather than who is doing the action. Some of the TOEIC Grammar questions will test your knowledge on the structure and use of the passive form. We’ll first take a look at the structure.
Structure
The passive always contains: To be + past participle
The verb ‘To be’ can be conjugated in any tense:
- Present simple: am, is, are. Present continuous: am/is/are being
- Past simple: was, were. Past continuous: was/were being
- Present perfect: has/have been. Past perfect: had been
- Future: will be. With modals: can/could/must/would/should… be
- Modals in the past: could/should/would/must have been. The past participle for ‘regular verbs’ is ‘-ed’: ask -> asked. For irregular verbs, you need to check an irregular verb list; past participles are in the third column:write – wrote – written
- The fees were included in the contract.
- The prices will be written on the quotation.
- The operators have been asked to speed up production. In the above examples, we don’t know who included the fees, who will write the quotation, nor who have asked the operators. This information is not considered necessary or important. However, it can be included if necessary by adding the ‘by’ after the past participle:
- One of the most famous social network companies was founded by a college drop-out.
Usage
The passive is used more commonly in writing especially in reports, textbooks, in industry, science and technology to describe processes, and for official rules. We use the passive in these cases because we don’t always know who the ‘agent’ is.
Compare the active and the passive in the following examples:
ACTIVE
- People have used this application for a long time.
- You freeze-dry the reagent in the vials.
- Someone has to count the points at the end.
PASSIVE
- This application has been used for a long time.
- Reagents are freeze-dried in the vials.
- The points have to be counted at the end.
Causative Verbs
Causative verbs are used to show that a person causes, makes or enables another person to do something or make something happen. The structure of these types of sentences can be confusing as the verb after the causative verb may be in either the infinitive without ‘to’, the ‘to-infinitive’ or the past participle depending on the causative verb used.
|
Causative Verb + infinitive without ‘to’
|
The
director
|
made
will have
could have let
|
John
install the new computers.
|
|
Causative
Verb + ‘to-infinitive’
|
The
director
|
got
wants
will allow
could permit
|
John to
install the new computers.
|
|
Causative
Verb + Past Participle
|
The
director
|
had
got
|
the new
computers installed (by John).
|
>‘Have’ someone do something indicates that a person used his/her authority to obtain the result.
· The production manager had the technicians modify the electrical outlets.
> ‘Get’ someone to do something indicates that the person persuaded someone else to do something.
· The Human Resources Manager got the employees to sign a worksite safety agreement.
> When we use the past participle, we don’t say who carried out the action.
· We’ve had the new protocol checked and certified.
· They got the machine operator to look for the cause of the defects.
> ‘Let’ someone do something means to give someone permission and is similar to ‘allow’.
· Their employer lets them leave early on Fridays in the summer.
> ‘Make’ someone do something is more like ‘force’ someone to do something.
· She made me write a letter of apology even though I had done nothing wrong.
Sumber: https://global-exam.com/en/toeic-grammar-passive-versus-active-causative-verbs
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