PASSIVES – English Grammar Profiler

‘Passive’ refers to the voice of verbs in which the subject undergoes the action of the verb as opposed to ‘active voice.’

After a passive verb phrase (or a past participle as an adjective), the preposition “for” indicates purpose or reason. Here are the results of a search in the iWeb corpus for: _VB _VVN for 1 BE USED FOR 284604 Crush. It‘s funny how the same word for the feeling of attraction can be used for the feeling of disappointment. listen 2 IS KNOWN FOR 97688 And he is known for being a liar. listen The sentence “he is known […]

BE + past participle + FOR Read More »

Are you allowed to say that? Are you attracted to me? Were you born in a barn?

What’s it called?

passive questions VS questions with adjectives Read More »

The CLAWS tagger does not always tag the difference between adjectives and past participles perfectly, so we do a search in the iWeb corpus with the query: _VB *ed to_II 1 IS COMMITTED TO 117911 C2 adjective It‘s true,  I could use someone  who is committed to putting an end to Mr. White. Live by Night 2 BE ADDED TO 115128

BE + *ed + to PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE Read More »

A detailed analysis of the structure “BE + past participle + BY”, which is commonly used to form passive voice sentences in English. This structure consists of a form of the verb “to be”, a past participle, and the preposition “by”. The webpage also includes examples from the iWeb corpus, showcasing how this structure is used in various contexts. Some of the most common phrases include “BE USED BY”, “IS CAUSED BY”, and “IS DETERMINED BY”. The examples illustrate how this structure allows us to focus on the action and its impact, rather than on who or what performed the action.

BE + past participle + BY phrase Read More »

While working on another piece of grammar, I noticed a complex piece of grammar that is not listed in the English Grammar Profile.  There are many grammar points that are listed that are about adverbs in the middle position, but none about two which should be listed at C2. A search in iWeb corpus for

verb + adverb + verb + adverb + verb Read More »

There is no entry in the English Grammar Profile for the continuous infinitive passive.  Therefore, we say this is a C2 grammar structure. A search in NOW corpus for: * to be being * 1 BELIEVED TO BE BEING HELD 18 The following example has past passive + infinitive + continuous passive: The driver of the lorry was believed to be being held by police.

to be being Read More »

Because there is no past perfect continuous passive in the English Grammar Profile, we can say it is C2. A search in NOW corpus shows that this grammar is extremely rare. 1   HAD BEEN BEING TREATED 10 The woman had left the Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, where she had been being treated. belfastlive.co.uk 2   HAD BEEN BEING ABUSED 7 3   ‘D BEEN BEING ABUSED 7 4   HAD

past perfect continuous passive Read More »

In this post, we explore the passive + prepositional phrase with gerund complement: ‘Be banned from doing‘ For example: I was banned from seeing her. listen You‘re banned from busking. listen In the English Vocabulary Profile, ‘ban’ is listed at B2: VERB [T usually passive] (-nn-) to forbid something, especially officially NOUN [C] an official order that prevents something from happening An iWeb

BE + banned from + VERB-ing Read More »

Here’s a STUDENT EXAMPLE: Therefore, people should educate themselves on their human rights and the basic human rights that other nations have in order to avoid being deceived. PELIC Arabic female level 4 writing class. GSE 64 B2 NP + VP +VP gerund (passive)   An iWeb search for: * _VV being _VVN * 1 TO AVOID BEING HIT BY 313 2 TO AVOID BEING HIT . 185 3 N’T LIKE BEING TOLD WHAT 182

gerund (passive complement) Read More »

The future perfect passive is formed with the structure:  WILL HAVE BEEN + PASSIVE PARTICIPLE Here’s an EXPERT EXAMPLE of future perfect passive: If you live to 90, then 32 years will have been spent entirely asleep. TED The ending -t in (spent) is an irregular inflection for the passive participle, which regularly ends in -ed: PEARSON GSE 67 B2+ future perfect passive simple

WILL HAVE BEEN + PP (future perfect passive) Read More »

Point 73 GSE B2+ is defined: express impersonal belief and opinion using ‘thought/considered/believed/etc.’ +’ to’ + VP infSTUDENT STUDENT EXAMPLES: Moreover, English is considered to be an international language. PELIC Thai male level 5 writing class.   In addition, he is believed to be the first teacher, because the first education system in ancient China was established by Confucius. PELIC Chinese male level 5 grammar class. EXPERT EXAMPLE: After all, the first intentional human burial is thought to have occurred around 100,000 years ago.

passive + TO infinitve (belief or opinion) Read More »

Here’s an example of the preposition ‘after’ complemented by a non-finite perfect form of the passive ‘having been p.p.’ Roughly a month and a half after having been laid, the surviving eggs hatch. Listen In the English Grammar Profile, there are two similar C2 points in the category of passives: Point 38: non-finite ‘-ing’ perfect forms of the passive as the complement of prepositions. Point

Having been + PAST PARTICIPLE Read More »

In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 2 in the category of PASSIVES : ‘BY’ to add information about something already known. B1 point 12 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as: passive with ‘by’ to give focus. All the A2 examples use the pronoun IT  + is|was + past participle  + by The one

pronoun + passive voice + BY + noun phrase Read More »

B1 Point 6 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as: past simple passive with a limited range of verbs needing two objects, putting the indirect object in subject position. *There is more information about this grammar at B2 TLC SPEAKING TEST EXAMPLE: I was given a big horse. female Russia B1 PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE: When my husband was given a blow to the head in Oakland last year, I got frightened.

was | were + PAST PARTICIPLE + NOUN PHRASE Read More »

In the English Grammar Profile, there are two B1 passive grammar points that overlap to some degree. point 7 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as: PRESENT CONTINUOUS, AFFIRMATIVE limited range of verbs point 9 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as: PRESENT CONTINUOUS, FUTURE REFERENCE There are no examples of this grammar

BE + being + PAST PARTICIPLE Read More »

The negative form of the present simple passive is formed: present form of BE + NOT + PAST PARTICIPLE  am | is | are + n’t | not + past participle In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 10 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as: PRESENT SIMPLE, NEGATIVE + range of pronoun and noun

present simple passive negative form Read More »

Passive ‘GET‘ + past participles is a way of using ‘get’ instead of ‘be’ in the passive voice in informal spoken English. It often refers to accidental or unexpected actions that we don’t want.  For example: If we don’t get caught,  it‘s not gonna matter who it was we stole from,  and we‘re not going to get caught. listen She got hit by a car. listen Oh, that‘s so nobody accidentally gets thrown out. Accepted   In the

get + PAST PARTICIPLE Read More »

Here are two grammar points from the English Grammar Profile. A2 point 3 in the category of PASSIVES: present simple passive affirmative with a singular subject. B1 point 13 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as: PRESENT SIMPLE, AFFIRMATIVE with a range of pronoun and noun subjects. For example: The proposed mission is called the Uranus Orbiter and Probe and would shed some light on the mostly unexplored ice giant.

present simple passive affirmative (range) Read More »

In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 36 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as: ‘it’ as a dummy subject, to summarise or evaluate in discussions, usually in formal or academic writing. This point often overlaps C1 impersonal modal passive reporting. *This might clash with B2. A search of the formal patterns found in the

‘It should be noted that’ (passives to summarise) Read More »