The past perfect tense tells us that an action was finished at some point in the past before something else happened.
Form:
subject + had + past participle = past perfect tense
Examples:
She had met him before the event.
I had sent the email before he talked to me.
Usage:
There are many situations where the past perfect tense can be used, such as the following:
To show that an action happened before something else in the past:
Example: Anthony had met Ryan before you introduced him to us at the party.
To show that an action happened before a specific time in the past:
Example: They had gotten engaged before last year.
Remember that past perfect tense makes it clear that one thing happened before another in the past and that the order of events doesn’t matter because the tense already makes it clear which event happened first.
We use the passive voice to show whether the subject of the sentence performs or just receives the action. If the subject does the action, it is in the active voice. On the other hand, when the subject isn’t the one performing the action and only receiving it, then the verb is in the passive voice.
Active
Passive
Ana served dinner.
Dinner was served by Ana.
People in 20 countries speak Spanish.
Spanish is spoken in 20 countries.
He has washed the car.
The car has been washed.
She will write the biography.
The biography will be written by her.
Forming Passive Voice
The verb is in passive voice when it uses a verb to be and a past participle.
Subject + Verb To Be + Past Participle
Affirmative
Negative
Interrogative
Negative Interrogative
The car was bought last year.
The car was not bought last year.
Was the car bought last year?
Wasn’t the car bought last year?
Passive Voice in Different Tenses
For this part, we will be using the verb “to do” as example and see how it is formed in passive voice in different verb tenses.
Tense
Subject
Conjugated To Be
Past Participle
Rest of the Sentence
Full Sentence
Simple Present
The repair
is
done
every week
The repair is done every week.
Present Continuous
The repair
is
being done
right now
The repair is being done right now.
Simple Past
The repair
was
done
last year
The repair was done last year.
Past Continuous
The repair
was being
done
yesterday
The repair was being done yesterday.
Present Perfect
The repair
has been
done
since you reported the damage
The repair has been done since you reported the damage.
Past Perfect
The repair
had been
done
before the storm came
The repair had been done before the storm came.
Future
The repair
will be
done
next month
The repair will be done next month.
Future Continuous
The repair
will be being
done
two days from now
The repair will be being done two days from now.
Present Conditional
The repair
would be
done
if there are damages
The repair would be done if there are damages.
Past Conditional
The repair
would have been
done
if the damage had been severe
The repair would have been done if the damage had been severe.
Infinitive
The repair
has to be
done
before the storm hits
The repair has to be done before the storm hits.
Uses
The most important thing to remember here is to use passive voice when the focus of the topic is on the action. Consequently, it is not important or not known who or what is performing the action.
My bike was stolen.
In this sentence, the focus is that someone stole my bike and I don’t know who did it.
Generally, a statement in the passive voice is more polite than the active voice.
A mistake was made.
In this sentence, I focused on the fact that a mistake was made, but I don’t blame anyone. Rather than saying, “You have made a mistake.”.
Remember the following points when you are rewriting active sentences into passive voice.
First, the subject of the passive sentence is the object of the active sentence.
Secondly, the main verb is changed to: to be + past participle.
Lastly, the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence or is not included anymore.
Converting Active Voice into Passive Voice
Take a look at some examples of active sentences that are converted into passive.
Active: Andy sings the song. Passive: The song is sung by Andy.
Active: They washed the dishes. Passive: The dishes were washed by them.
Active: Alfred has bought a car. Passive: A car has been bought by Alfred.
Active: Tomas will be fishing. Passive: Fish will be caught by Tomas.
Active: Mary can ride bicycles. Passive: Bicycles can be ridden by Mary.
Passive Voice Exercise
Answer this exercise on passive voice.
1. I will ________ by my sister.
a. accompany
b. be accompanied
c. accompanied
2. My mother ____________ an award by her company.
a. has been given
b. has given
c. gave
3. The employees are waiting to ____.
a. promote
b. be promoted
c. be promote
4. She ________ to the hospital.
a. took
b. was taken
c. has taken
5. The rat _______ for the experiment.
a. was used
b. used
c. uses
6. The newly-elected officials _______ on 22 November 2019.
A conditional consists of two clauses: first, is the condition or the if-clause and the main or result clause.
Mixed conditional combine elements from different types (e.g., a past condition with a present result). It is also where the tense in the main clause is different from the tense in the conditional-clause (also called if-clause).
Usage:
1. Past to Present If I had taken an aspirin, I wouldn’t have a headache now.
2. Past to Future If I had known that you are going to come by tomorrow, I would be in then.
3. Present to Past If she had enough money, she could have done this trip to Hawaii.
4. Present to Future If I were you, I would be spending my vacation in Seattle.
5. Future to Past If I weren’t flying to Detroit, I would have planned a trip to Vancouver.
6. Future to Present If I were taking this exam next week, I would be high-strung.
In some countries, they are trying to maintain their workers’ work-life balance by experimenting on different work styles. However, there remains a lot of people who has no choice but to work very long hours.
Find out more about “extreme employees” through this article:
Although some countries like France and Australia have begun to experiment with additional vacation time to balance work and personal happiness, the worldwide trend has progressed in the opposite direction. For example, Japan has long been known for its excruciating workweeks. Employees in other countries are falling victim to longer and longer hours at the office in recent years, too. The result is a new type of employee, called the “extreme employee.”
From a pool of more than two million surveys of high-salaried employees in the US, it’s clear that you need to work more if you want to advance up the corporate ladder. The extreme employee demonstrates more than simple dedication to the company, though. He believes in the proposition that there’s always more he could–and should!–do. If you count the time it takes to commute to the office, then 70-hour workweeks are common. He makes himself available to clients and office emergencies 24-7 as well. He also takes far fewer vacation days than he’s allotted, roughly ten days or less per year.
Worse, however, and perhaps more exasperating, is the fact that most extreme employees admit dissatisfaction. More than half believe they would be physically healthier with less work. A lack of free time also harms the relationship with their children. Slightly less than half complained that the long hours had a detrimental effect on spousal relations.
Experts advocate discovering ways to get the seventy-hour workweek down to a more modest forty-five hours. Although corporations haven’t yet accomplished this feat for high-impact jobs, some major corporations are trying. American Express, Johnson & Johnson, and more than thirty others are working towards ways to reduce the pressure on managers to perform and produce.
Source: headsupenglish.com
Discussion Questions: 1. What are the effects of being an extreme employee? 2. What do you think are reasons some people work too much? 3. Should companies strive to have extreme employees or well-balanced ones? 4. Talk about your experience of a toxic work day or workweek. 5. Do you think workers in your country should be given more vacation days?
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