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Riding a pod with no driver: the passive infinitive and -ing: to be taken, being stuck

This B2 ESL lesson plan teaches the passive infinitive and the passive gerund through Morgantown's Personal Rapid Transit, driverless cars that have served West Virginia University since 1975.

Grammar
To be + past participle after verbs and adjectives (Riders expect to be taken straight there.) and being + past participle after verbs and prepositions (Nobody likes being stuck.), when the subject receives the action.
Topic
How a hilly college town moves riders in computer-run cars, with words such as guideway, rush hour, on demand and outdated.
Activities
An explainer to read, a ride and a reader's memo to hear, self-checking drills, a chat with a student guide and a debate wheel.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: stuck in traffic?

    • PictureUnlock
    • Open a box and answer: getting aroundOpen the boxUnlock
    • Study the words: riding with no driverVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Read: the town that let computers drive

    • Look at the photo: a car on the guidewayPictureUnlock
    • Read Isaiah's explainer on The Why DeskArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Match the numbers to what they meanMatchUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Listen: are pods the future?

    • Listen to Isaiah and LuisaListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Reader's Rebuttal: Bert's voice memoListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: nobody likes being stuck

    • Study the scheme: to be taken, being stuckGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use to be or being + past participleFill in the gapsTry it
    • Sort the words into the correct columns: to be done or being done?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Fill in the table: the passive formsFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which sentence is correct?QuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Speak: next stop, your opinion

    • Choose the right replies: how do I ride this thing?ChatTry it
    • Spin the wheel and argue your sideSpin the wheelUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use to be or being + past participleFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Sort the words into the correct columns: correct or wrong?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: a rider's guide to the PRTChoose the optionUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Isaiah answers BertDrag and dropUnlock

33 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Transportation vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • guideway
  • rush hour
  • on demand
  • turnstile
  • bumper to bumper
  • control room
  • hilly
  • fleet
  • outdated

Grammar: the passive infinitive and the passive -ing form

When the subject doesn't do the action but receives it, the infinitive and the -ing form turn passive: to be taken, being stuck. A story about cars that nobody drives is full of them. Learners find the doer first, then let the word before choose between to be and being, just as it does in the active.

Expect to be taken, hate being stuck

When the subject doesn't do the action but receives it, use the passive infinitive (to be + past participle) or the passive -ing form (being + past participle).

Who does the action?

If the subject acts, keep the active: Riders choose a station. If someone else acts on it, go passive: The cars wait to be called, because riders call them. Add by + the doer only when it matters: being driven by a computer.

Who does the action?

Look at the subject. Does it do the action? Use the active: Riders choose a station. Does someone or something else do the action to it? Use the passive: The cars wait to be called (riders call them). Nobody likes being stuck. Add by + the doer when you need it: being driven by a computer.

To be + past participle after verbs and adjectives

Expect, want, would love, hope, ask and wait take to be + past participle: Isaiah would love to be shown the control room. Adjectives like ready and surprised take it too: Are you ready to be dropped off?

Word beforeto be + past participleExample
expectto be takenOn demand, riders expect to be taken straight to their station.
want / would loveto be shownIsaiah would love to be shown the control room.
waitto be usedAt quiet times, spare cars wait to be used.
hope / askto be chosenWe hope to be chosen for the tour.
be designed / be builtto be controlledThe cars were designed to be controlled by computers.
ready / happy / surprisedto be dropped offAre you ready to be dropped off?

Being + past participle after verbs and prepositions

Enjoy, don't mind, avoid, imagine and be used to take being + past participle. Prepositions always take the -ing form: without being driven, tired of being squeezed. It can open a sentence, too: Being stranded in the snow is no fun.

Word beforebeing + past participleExample
enjoy / don't mindbeing drivenI don't mind being driven by a computer.
avoid / imaginebeing stuckImagine all those buses being stuck on these hills!
without / instead ofbeing drivenThe cars move without being driven by anyone.
tired of / afraid ofbeing squeezedI'm tired of being squeezed into crowded buses.
be used tobeing drivenI'm not used to being driven by a computer.
(as the subject)being strandedBeing stranded in the snow is no fun.

To or -ing? The word before decides

The choice works as in the active: expect to, enjoy + -ing. Like, love, hate and prefer take both: I hate being stuck and I hate to be stuck are both right. After without or instead of, it's never to be.

To or -ing?

The word before decides, as in the active. expect, want, hope, ask, wait, agree, refuse + to be done. enjoy, avoid, don't mind, keep, imagine, be used to + being done. After a preposition (without, instead of, tired of, after), always being done: without being seen (not: without to be seen). like, love, hate and prefer take both: I hate being stuck. I hate to be stuck.

Only the first verb changes

To be picked up and being stopped never change; the verb before them carries person and tense: he's waiting to be picked up, she keeps being stopped. After to be and being, it's always the past participle: taken, driven, shown.

Every person: only the first verb changes

Personto be + past participlebeing + past participle
II'm waiting to be picked up.I keep being stopped on the way.
youYou're waiting to be picked up.You keep being stopped on the way.
heHe's waiting to be picked up.He keeps being stopped on the way.
sheShe's waiting to be picked up.She keeps being stopped on the way.
itIt (the package) is waiting to be picked up.It (the car) keeps being stopped on the way.
weWe're waiting to be picked up.We keep being stopped on the way.
theyThey're waiting to be picked up.They keep being stopped on the way.

Always the past participle

After to be and being, use the past participle (taken, driven, shown, stuck, seen), never the base form: to be taken (not: to be take), being driven (not: being drive). to be + past participle and being + past participle never change; only the first verb changes with the person: he expects to be taken, she hates being stuck.

Common mistakes

Four slips keep coming back: The cars wait to call, Nobody likes be stuck, Riders expect to be take and without to be driven. Check the doer, the participle and the word before, and all four come out right.

  • The cars wait to call.

    The cars wait to be called.

    the riders call the cars: passive

  • Nobody likes be stuck in traffic.

    Nobody likes being stuck in traffic.

    like + being + past participle (or to be stuck)

  • Riders expect to be take straight there.

    Riders expect to be taken straight there.

    be + past participle: taken, not take

  • The cars move without to be driven.

    The cars move without being driven.

    after a preposition: being + past participle

On the guideway in Morgantown

  • I half expected to be greeted by a robot.
  • I'd love to be shown around the control room.
  • At quiet times, spare cars wait at a station to be used.
  • Simple: I hate being stuck in traffic.
  • Imagine them all being stuck on these hills!
  • The cars move without being driven by anyone.

More lessons on this grammar: Passive voice lessons and exercises · Gerunds and infinitives lessons and exercises

Try the passive infinitive and gerund exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

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What's in the lesson

  • 19 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • say what the subject expects or waits for with to be + past participle: On demand, riders expect to be taken straight to their station.
  • use being + past participle after verbs and prepositions: I don't mind being driven by a computer. The cars move without being driven.
  • check who does the action: The cars wait to be called, not wait to call
  • use the past participle, never the base form: to be taken, not to be take; being driven, not being drive
  • argue for or against pods in cities: Would you feel safe being driven by a computer?

Lesson 10 is the second lesson of Moving people, unit 3 of English B2.1 · How the World Works. It joins the passives of B1.2 lessons 5 to 8 and B2.1 lessons 6 to 8 with the verb + -ing and verb + to of B1.2 lessons 25 and 26. Lesson 11 keeps the -ing form with it's worth. Riders who expect to be taken somewhere by cars nobody drives give both forms plenty of work.

Students open boxes of questions about getting around, then learn twelve words, from monitor and strand to guideway and bumper to bumper, with pictures and audio. Isaiah's explainer asks whether the cars belong to the future or the past, with true-or-false statements, a quiz and numbers to match. Isaiah then rides with Luisa, a student who uses the system every day, and Bert from West Virginia calls it outdated; both are AI-voiced. The grammar chapter has the scheme and five self-checking drills, among them a sort of words that take to be or being. In the speaking chapter, students answer Jan's messages about how to ride, then spin a wheel and argue their side.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a word match, an anagram, word gaps and a memory game, then forms to choose, gaps with to be or being, sentences to order, correct and wrong sentences to sort, a rider's guide with forms to choose and Isaiah's answer to Bert.

Grammar:
passive infinitive · passive -ing form · to be + past participle · being + past participle
Topic:
Morgantown · West Virginia University · Personal Rapid Transit · driverless cars · public transit · transportation · The Why Desk

Teaching tips

  • Ask who does the action in every example before the forms: The cars wait to be called. Who calls them? The riders. When the subject does nothing, students reach for to be or being.
  • Start with a show of hands: who would ride in a car with no driver? Students give one reason each, then read the explainer to find out how Morgantown's cars work.
  • Play the ride twice: first for who thinks pods are the future, then for every to be or being + past participle. Students note each one with the word before it: expected to be greeted, hate being stuck.
  • Turn complaints into practice: students list what annoys them about getting around, then say it with the passive -ing form: I hate being stuck behind a slow bus.

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The whole course: English B2.1 · How the World Works

32 lessons for adults at B2 in American English, each answering one question about how the world works. The team of The Why Desk, a small online magazine in Pittsburgh, takes on one question a week, from the day a computer beat the world chess champion to eight people sealed inside Biosphere 2. Learners tell stories with narrative tenses, speculate about the past and the future, and report what experts claim. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 AI and the future of work

    narrative tenses, by and until, be bound to and be likely to, the future perfect

    1. Lesson 1Checkmate: the day a computer beat the championNarrative tenses: past simple, past continuous and past perfect
    2. Lesson 2The robot car that crossed the desertTime prepositions: by, until, within, throughout, in time and on time
    3. Lesson 3Can a chatbot fool you?Probability about the future: be bound to, be likely to, the chances are
    4. Lesson 4By 2035, what will AI have designed?The future perfect simple: will have + past participle

  2. Unit 2 Health breakthroughs

    the third conditional, the past perfect and past continuous passive, have something done, the passive with two objects

    1. Lesson 5The moldy melon that changed medicineThe third conditional: if + had done, would have done
    2. Lesson 61.8 million Polio PioneersThe past perfect passive and the past continuous passive
    3. Lesson 7One clinic, many doctorsHave / get something done
    4. Lesson 8A kidney from a twinThe passive with two objects

  3. Unit 3 Moving people

    the past perfect continuous, the passive infinitive and -ing form, it's worth and there's no point, the future in the past

    1. Lesson 9Six years to the golden spikeThe past perfect continuous vs the past perfect simple
    2. Lesson 10 · you're hereRiding a pod with no driverThe passive infinitive and the passive -ing form
    3. Lesson 11The town that painted bike lanes firstIt's worth, there's no point and it's no use + -ing
    4. Lesson 12The highways that were supposed to take 13 yearsThe future in the past

  4. Unit 4 Wildlife comebacks

    reporting verbs with a that clause, with an object and infinitive and with -ing, verbs of perception

    1. Lesson 13Did wolves really change Yellowstone's rivers?Reporting verbs + that clause
    2. Lesson 14Bringing a parrot back from the edgeReporting verbs + object + (not) to + base form
    3. Lesson 15The beavers that came by parachuteReporting verbs + -ing and verb + preposition + -ing
    4. Lesson 16Fifteen bison take the trainVerbs of perception + object + base form or -ing

  5. Unit 5 Pop culture goes global

    comment adverbs, wish and if only for the present and the past, have someone do and get someone to do

    1. Lesson 17The party that started hip hopComment adverbs: apparently, supposedly, undoubtedly
    2. Lesson 18Slide to the left!Wish and if only for wishes about now
    3. Lesson 19If only they'd kept SupermanWish and if only + past perfect for regrets
    4. Lesson 20The hit factory on West Grand BoulevardCausative have and get: have someone do, get someone to do

  6. Unit 6 Money and smart choices

    -ever words and no matter, should have and could have, prepositions for numbers and change, it's time and would rather

    1. Lesson 21The bank that never closed-ever words and no matter
    2. Lesson 22One marshmallow now or two later?Should have, shouldn't have and could have
    3. Lesson 23Benjamin Franklin's 200-year giftPrepositions for numbers and change
    4. Lesson 24Why buy a drill you'll use once?It's (high) time and would rather + past simple

  7. Unit 7 Language and communication

    must have, might have and can't have, verb prefixes and suffixes, past modals in continuous and passive forms, agreement with quantities

    1. Lesson 25How did one man write down a language?Past modals of deduction: must have, might have, can't have
    2. Lesson 26Why do Americans write “color”?Verb prefixes and suffixes: misspell, rewrite, simplify, shorten
    3. Lesson 27The joke that needed a smileyPast modals in continuous and passive forms
    4. Lesson 28Can preschoolers save a language?Subject-verb agreement with quantities and collective nouns

  8. Unit 8 Exploring the extremes

    dimension nouns, the future continuous and future perfect continuous, compound adjectives, only, even and just

    1. Lesson 29A walk on the ocean floorDimension nouns and phrases: depth, width, height
    2. Lesson 30Six months of night at the South PoleThe future continuous and the future perfect continuous
    3. Lesson 31Flying on pedal powerCompound adjectives with numbers and participles
    4. Lesson 32Two years under glassFocus adverbs: only, even, just and at all

Questions about this lesson

What is the passive infinitive?
The passive infinitive is to be + past participle. Use it after verbs like expect, want, hope and wait, and after adjectives like ready, when the subject receives the action: On demand, riders expect to be taken straight to their station. Are you ready to be dropped off? The B2 lesson Riding a pod with no driver on edio.ai teaches it with driverless cars in Morgantown, West Virginia.
What is a passive gerund?
A passive gerund, or passive -ing form, is being + past participle. It follows verbs like enjoy, avoid and don't mind, every preposition, and be used to: Nobody likes being stuck in traffic. The cars move without being driven by anyone. It can also start a sentence: Being stranded in the snow is no fun. Riding a pod with no driver on edio.ai sets it beside the passive infinitive.
When do you use “to be done” and when “being done”?
The word before decides, as in the active: expect, want, hope, ask and wait take to be + past participle; enjoy, avoid, keep, imagine and prepositions take being. Like, love, hate and prefer take both: I hate being stuck and I hate to be stuck are both right. A column sort in Riding a pod with no driver on edio.ai practices the choice.
What's the difference between “to call” and “to be called”?
To call is active: the subject does it. To be called is passive: someone else does it to the subject. Riders call the cars, so it's The cars wait to be called, not wait to call. The same check works for -ing: I hate driving puts me at the wheel; I hate being driven puts someone else there. Riding a pod with no driver on edio.ai drills this check.
Is it “without to be seen” or “without being seen”?
It's without being seen. After a preposition, use the -ing form, so the passive is being + past participle: The cars move without being driven. I'm tired of being squeezed into crowded buses. The same goes for instead of, after and afraid of. The base form is wrong too: being driven, not being drive. The scheme in Riding a pod with no driver on edio.ai lists these slips.
What is the Morgantown PRT?
It's West Virginia University's Personal Rapid Transit: small electric cars with no drivers on a concrete guideway. Riders have used it since October 1975. A rider goes through a turnstile, chooses a station and waits at its gate; on demand, the car goes directly there and skips the other stations. In 2025, WVU described 67 cars on 8.7 miles of guideway. Isaiah's explainer in Riding a pod with no driver on edio.ai tells how it works.
Why was the Morgantown PRT built?
Morgantown is hilly, which makes walking, biking and driving hard, and before the PRT, shuttle buses were slowed down by traffic on narrow roads. The idea came from WVU's College of Engineering in the 1960s, and the system began as an experiment in new public transit, paid for by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The cars were designed to last about ten years and still carry riders fifty years later. Riding a pod with no driver on edio.ai explains it.
How do I teach the passive infinitive and gerund to B2 students?
Begin with the doer: show a sentence like The cars wait to be called and ask who calls them. Once students see that the subject receives the action, review which words take to and which take -ing, and add be or being before a past participle. Riding a pod with no driver on edio.ai follows that order, from Isaiah's explainer and his ride with Luisa to the scheme and five drills.
What's a good game for practicing the passive infinitive and gerund?
Play “Love it or hate it”: call out situations such as a haircut, a surprise party or a long car ride, and students answer from the receiver's side: I love being surprised. I hate being driven at night. I'd love to be invited. Classmates challenge any wrong form. The wheel in Riding a pod with no driver on edio.ai asks questions like Would you feel safe being driven by a computer?
What's good homework for the passive infinitive and gerund?
Good homework mixes the two forms in everyday sentences: Your package is waiting to be picked up. Take an umbrella to avoid being caught in the rain. Add a sort of correct and wrong sentences, so students spot to be take and without to be seen. All ten homework tasks in Riding a pod with no driver on edio.ai check themselves, ending with Isaiah's answer to a reader who calls the system outdated.
How do you practice the passive infinitive one-to-one?
Talk about likes and dislikes from the receiver's side: the teacher asks Do you mind being called at work? or What would you love to be taught?, and the student answers in full, then asks back. The chat in Riding a pod with no driver on edio.ai works without a partner: Jan, a student guide, explains how to ride, and the right reply is Then do I wait at the gate to be picked up?
Are there interactive exercises for the passive infinitive and gerund?
Yes. This page plays three parts of Riding a pod with no driver, a B2 lesson on edio.ai, without an account: Isaiah's ride with Luisa, a gap-fill with to be or being + past participle and Jan's chat about how to ride. Other parts open with an account.
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