Exercice sur le PASSIF

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 H ouse in Sydney

15. The famous Opera H ouse 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