Exercises On Passive Voice

Passive voice.- Revision 1) Match the facts to the figures and make a sentence in the passive using the verbs given and the information in the box. a) over 8 million people a day b) 6.4 million c) 16,000 people every day d) 1.1 billion people e) every second f) since 4 December 1791 g) 4 hours a day h) by 31 million people every week.

1) The 2002 World Cup final (watch)………………………………………………………… …………………………………….. 2) On average, television in America (watch)…………………………………………… ……………………………………… 3)The Sun newspaper (read)………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………. 4) The British Library (use)…………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………….. 5) BBC radio (listen to)………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………….. 6) One blog (set up)……………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………. 7)………………………….. copies of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (sell)… ………………………… in the first 24 hours. 8) The Observer (publish)……………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………… 2) Circle the correct alternatives. 1) In 2005, more than 170 newspapers……. by News Corporation in different parts of the world. a) Are owned b) Have been owned c) Were owned 2) Fifteen thousand people……. News Corporation in different parts of the world. a) Are employed by b) Employed by c) Were worked for

Passive voice.- Revision 3) Forty million newspapers………worldwide by News Corporation every week. a) Are printed b) Have been printed c) Were printed 4) Do you know how many newspapers……. in India today? a) Are published b) Have been published c) Were published 3) Write the following sentences in the passive a) The director has cancelled the meeting. b) Police are interviewing the suspect, at the moment. b) More than a billion people all over the world speak English. c) They will officially announce their engagement tomorrow. d) Tom is not going to invite me to his party. e) Nobody has informed them where they should stay. 4) Complete the text with the correct passive form of the verbs in brackets. •

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One of the first newspapers 1………………………….. (Produce) during the times of Julius Caesar. The Acta Diurna (Events of the Day) was a newsletter which2……………………….. ( write) by hand and then put up in important places in Rome. Newspapers3……………………………….. (print) since the beginning of the seventeenth century. At first, they4………………………… ( publish) in Northern Germany but soon the idea5………………………… in other countries. These early newspapers usually had only one page and there were no pictures, advertising or even headlines. The oldest daily newspaper in Britain which6……………………….. (print) today is The times. It7…………………………( publish) since 1785. Today more than 18.000 different newspapers8…………………………….. (sell) around the world.

Passive voice.- Revision