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RULE 1 Use the passive to put the focus on the person or thing affected by the action commencer à apprendre
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I've been given quite a few fines over the years.
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RULE 2 a) Use the passive when the person or thing that did the action: a) is obvious. commencer à apprendre
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But we're being sent stuff all the time anyway.
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RULE 2 b) Use the passive when the person or thing that did the action: b) is unknown. commencer à apprendre
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Not long ago a friend of mine was robbed at a bus stop.
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RULE 2 c) Use the passive when the person or thing that did the action: c) isn't important. commencer à apprendre
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I don't want to be sent adverts from companies that I don't know.
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RULE 2 d) Use the passive when the person or thing that did the action: d) isn't the main focus. commencer à apprendre
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I think statistically more crimes are solved because of CCTV than not.
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RULE 3 Use the passive to bring the object of the verb to the beginning of the sentence, commencer à apprendre
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Money should be spent somewhere else to be honest.
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RULE 4 Use the passive to make certain written texts (e.g. academic) more impersonal or formal. commencer à apprendre
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I think statistically more crimes are solved because of CCTV than not.
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Not long ago a friend of mine was robbed at a bus stop. commencer à apprendre
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I think statistically more crimes are solved because of CCTV than not. commencer à apprendre
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I don't want to be sent adverts from companies that I don't know. commencer à apprendre
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But we're being sent stuff all the time anyway. commencer à apprendre
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I've been given quite a few fines over the years. commencer à apprendre
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Money should be spent somewhere else to be honest. commencer à apprendre
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A friend of mine was robbed. commencer à apprendre
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commencer à apprendre
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I don't want to be sent adverts. commencer à apprendre
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We're being sent stuff all the time. commencer à apprendre
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Money should be spent somewhere else. commencer à apprendre
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A cat's, operated, this, My, being, on, afternoon commencer à apprendre
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My cat's being operated on this afternoon.
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be, He'll, later, or, sooner, caught commencer à apprendre
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He'll be caught sooner or later.
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badly, in, fire, was, burnt, the, Kim commencer à apprendre
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Kim was burnt badly/badly burnt in the fire.
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of, middle, the, in, up, woken, being, mind, don't, They, night, the commencer à apprendre
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They don't mind being woken up in the middle of the night.
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is, the, catches, It, that, bird, worm, said, early, the commencer à apprendre
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It is said that the early bird catches the worm.
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the, asked, whole, I've, give, been, to, speech, to, school, a commencer à apprendre
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I've been asked to give a speech to the whole school
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at, by, She's, be, desk, day, to, her, 9 a.m., expected, every commencer à apprendre
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She's expected to be at her desk by 9 a.m. every day.
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monitored, sometimes, emails, supervisor, by, their, are, Employees' commencer à apprendre
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Employees' emails are sometimes monitored by their supervisor.
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hurt, you, care, Someone, get, if, could, take, don'y commencer à apprendre
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Someone could get hurt if you don't take care.
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crash, nobody, It, has, is, survived, believed, the, that commencer à apprendre
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It is believed that nobody has survived the crash.
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Google Street View (use) to help find a kidnapped child in rural Georgia. commencer à apprendre
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Google Street View has been used to help find a kidnapped child in rural Georgia.
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Ten-year-old Maria Nadal, from Atlanta, Georgia, (find) safely at a motel on Tuesday. commencer à apprendre
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Ten-year-old Maria Nadal, from Atlanta, Georgia, was found safely at a motel on Tuesday.
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She (discovered) by Police Officer Ned Beales and Deputy Fire Chief Louis Thomas. commencer à apprendre
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She was discovered by Police Officer Ned Beales and Deputy Fire Chief Louis Thomas
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They (put) the coordinates from Maria's mobile phone into Google Street View and were able to identify one of the buildings as a motel. commencer à apprendre
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They put the coordinates from Maria's mobile phone into Google Street View and were able to identify one of the buildings as a motel.
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commencer à apprendre
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A woman has been arrested.
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She (believe) to be Maria's grandmother, commencer à apprendre
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She's believed to be Maria's grandmother,
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and family friends said that the woman had complained about (separate) from the little girl. commencer à apprendre
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and family friends said that the woman had complained about being separated from the little girl.
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Legal experts say she (might, give) a warning and a fine rather than go to prison because she is a family member. commencer à apprendre
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Legal experts say she might be given a warning and a fine rather than go to prison because she is a family member.
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Read the text about microchips. Underline the best form, active or passive, so that it a) keeps the focus on the main ideas and b) is correct. commencer à apprendre
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Microchips are everywhere...
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... and their uses range from the ordinary to the more worrying. For example, (?) in food packaging. companies can place them/they can be placed commencer à apprendre
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... and their uses range from the ordinary to the more worrying. For example, they can be placed in food packaging. This keeps microchips as the main focus
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Then your fridge monitors your food so that (?) when it's time for they can remind you/you can be reminded commencer à apprendre
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Then your fridge monitors your food so that you can be reminded when it's time for now the focus shifts to "you" and what "you" do, i.e., it's not focusing primarily on the microchips anymore
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you can be reminded when it's time for (?). you to buy something/a product to be bought. commencer à apprendre
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you can be reminded when it's time for you to buy something.
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The medical world has suggested that (?) in newborn babies. Then the person's movements and habits can be tracked throughout their lives. doctors could implant microchips/microchips could be implanted commencer à apprendre
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The medical world has suggested that microchips could be implanted in newborn babies. Then the person's movements and habits can be tracked throughout their lives. keep the focus on microchips, the main topic of the whole text
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Scientists could also implant/ Microchips could also be implanted commencer à apprendre
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Microchips could also be implanted in criminals keep the focus on microchips
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so that police can (?) track of them, commencer à apprendre
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so that police can keep track of them, "police" is the subject or agent of the verb, so it needs an active verb
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and possibly identify the whereabouts of known criminals at the time (?) someone commits a crime/a crime is committed. commencer à apprendre
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and possibly identify the whereabouts of known criminals at the time a crime is committed. we don't know who commits the crime
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And if you're a kind of person who loses things easily, (?) you can buy a set of clip-on microchips/a set of clip-on microchips can be bought commencer à apprendre
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And if you're a kind of person who loses things easily, you can buy a set of clip-on microchips the new focus is on "you", established at the beginning of this sentence
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which (?) to any object you want to keep track of - for example your handbag. you can attach/can be attached commencer à apprendre
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which can be attached to any object you want to keep track of - for example your handbag. both answers are possible, but "can be attached" sounds better since the focus has just shifted to "a set of clip-on microchips"
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If the object gets lost, (?) to find it. you can use your phone/your phone can be used commencer à apprendre
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If the object gets lost, your phone can be used to find it. both answers are possible, "you can use your phone" sounds slightly less formal
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