English Grammar Guide: Passive Voice & Causative Verbs

English Grammar Guide

Passive Voice

Forming the Passive Voice

The passive voice is formed using the verb "to be" in the appropriate tense, followed by the past participle of the main verb.

• Affirmative: subject + verb "to be" + past participle (e.g., The appointment was canceled by the doctor.)
• Negative: subject + verb "to be" + "not" + past participle (e.g., The appointment wasn't canceled by the patient.)
• Interrogative: verb "to be" + subject + past participle (e.g., Was the appointment canceled by the doctor?)

Changing Sentences to Passive Voice

1. Make the object of the active sentence the subject of the passive sentence.
2. Use the correct form of the verb "to be" based on the tense of the active sentence.
3. Change the main verb to its past participle form.
4. Optionally, add the original subject of the active sentence with "by" at the end.

Examples:

• Active: The dentist pulled out the tooth. Passive: The tooth was pulled out by the dentist.
• Active: She sold her car last week. Passive: Her car was sold (by her) last week.
• Active: The doctor wrote the report. Passive: The report was written by the doctor.

Causative Verbs

Causative verbs are used to express that someone arranges for another person to do something.

Structure:

have/get (conjugated) + direct object + past participle

Example:

I'm going to have/get my hair cut. (This means I will arrange for someone else to cut my hair.)

Vocabulary

Nouns

• Disease – enfermedad
• Endurance – resistencia
• Mood – humor
• Pressure – presión
• Self-discipline – autodisciplina
• Sign – firmar
• Trainer – entrenador

Verbs

• Avoid – evitar
• Break up – disolver
• Chase – persecución
• Come down with – bajar con
• Cut down on – Reducir
• Deal with – tratar con
• Enable – habilitar
• Get over – superar
• Give up – rendirse
• Improve – mejorar
• Injure – lesionar
• Kick in – patada en
• Last – durar
• Put on – poner
• Run away – huir
• Sense – sentir
• Strengthen – reforzar
• Take up – tomar
• Warm up – calentar
• Work up – elaborar

Adjectives

• Exhausted – exhausto
• (Be) fed up with – estar harto de
• Miserable – miserable
• Nutritious – nutritivo
• Overweight – sobrepeso
• Sane – sano
• Strenuous – agotador
• Stressful – lleno de tensión
• Underweight – bajo peso

Expressions

• Catch a cold – coger un resfriado
• Get fit/in shape – ponerse en forma
• Get out of breath – quedarse sin aliento
• Get rid of – deshacerse de
• Go for a walk – ir a andar
• Go on a diet – ponerse a dieta
• Lift weights – levantar pesas
• Out of shape – fuera de forma
• Overdo it – exagerar
• Set a goal – establecer una meta