Advanced passives: who was told what? Advanced passive exercises with infinitives and -ing
About this lesson
This C1 drill lesson gives advanced passive exercises: passive infinitives and -ing forms, past modals with been, the get-passive and verbs with two objects.
- Grammar
- To be done or being done after verbs and prepositions, to have been done for earlier events, should, must or can't have been done, got fired, and She was given a bonus.
- Topic
- City politics: an invented news analysis of a ferry terminal contract scandal, the city's press release, a timeline, letters to the editor and texts from a friend who lives there.
- Activities
- True or false, sorting, choices, gap-fills, rewrites, tables, word order, quizzes, drag-and-drop texts, memory games, matching and a chat.
What's inside
Chapter 1The rule
- PictureUnlock
- Study the scheme: advanced passivesGrammar schemeTry it
- Is the sentence correct? Mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Sort the words: to be done or being done?Sort into columnsTry it
- Choose the right passive formChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: the passive formsFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 2To be done, being done
- Choose to be done or being done: the verb decidesChoose the optionTry it
- Fill in the gaps: passive infinitive or -ing formFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read the intern's blog and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Fill in the table: say it with the passiveFill in the tableUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: to be done and being doneUnjumbleUnlock
- Find the mistake and choose the right wordsQuizUnlock
- Read the notes for the house-sitter and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 3Should have been told
- Choose the right form: now, later or earlier?Choose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: modals in the pastFill in the gapsTry it
- Write the sentences again: is said to have been…Fill in the gapsUnlock
- Choose the right sentence for the situationQuizUnlock
- Read the museum's report and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Sort the sentences: earlier, or now and later?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Find the mistake: been or being?QuizUnlock
Chapter 4Got caught, was given
- Choose the right form: get + past participleChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: get + past participleFill in the gapsUnlock
- Write the sentences again: verbs with two objectsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read the blog post and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropTry it
- Find the mistake and choose the right words: get and two objectsQuizUnlock
- Find the matching pairs: active and passiveMemory gameUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: get and two objectsUnjumbleUnlock
Chapter 5Real life: the ferry deal
- Read the news analysisReal-life documentUnlock
- Read the analysis again: true or false?True or falseUnlock
- Read the city's press release and choose the right formsChoose the optionUnlock
- Read the Herald's timeline and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read the letters to the editor and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Choose the right replies: Kwabena texts youChatTry it
- Test yourself: choose the right answerQuizUnlock
Chapter 6Homework
- Choose the right forms: at home and at workChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: the passive after verbs and prepositionsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: modals in the past and the passiveFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read the school's email and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: everyday passivesUnjumbleUnlock
- Fill in the table: active to passiveFill in the tableUnlock
- Find the mistake and choose the right words: everyday EnglishQuizUnlock
- Match the beginnings and the endingsMatchUnlock
- Sort the sentences: correct or incorrect?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Find the matching pairs: the same meaningMemory gameUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: get or be + past participleFill in the gapsUnlock
- Is the sentence correct? Mark true or false: everyday lifeTrue or falseUnlock
- Read the online review and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Choose the right infinitive: now, later or earlier?Choose the optionUnlock
- Choose the correct sentenceQuizUnlock
Grammar: passive infinitives, -ing forms, past modals and get
The passive reaches well past is done and was done. Infinitives, -ing forms and past modals all have one: to be checked, being interrupted, should have been told. Be takes the form the pattern needs, and the past participle follows it.
Advanced passives: who was told what?
The passive doesn't stop at is done and was done: it has infinitives, -ing forms, past modals, a get version and two-object verbs.
To be done or being done: the verb decides
To be done follows want, need, hope, expect and refuse: She hopes to be chosen. Being done follows avoid, enjoy, deny and prepositions: He left without being seen. Hate, love and like take both, and needs fixing equals needs to be fixed.
Five passive forms
| Form | Active | Passive | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | to do | to be done | The report needs to be checked. |
| perfect infinitive | to have done | to have been done | The money is said to have been paid in 2025. |
| -ing form | doing | being done | Babies love being rocked. |
| perfect -ing form | having done | having been done | He denies having been warned. |
| modal in the past | should have done | should have been done | We should have been told earlier. |
Which verbs take which form?
- to be done after want, need, hope, expect, ask, refuse, agree, demand, deserve, would like: She hopes to be chosen.
- being done after avoid, mind, enjoy, deny, admit, risk, escape and after prepositions (without, after, instead of, tired of, get used to): He left without being seen.
- hate, love, like, prefer take both: She loves being / to be surprised.
- need + -ing means need to be done: The roof needs fixing = needs to be fixed.
- being after a verb or a preposition; been after have: Tom hates being teased. · Tom should have been warned.
To have been done: earlier than the main verb
The time decides the infinitive: to be done for the same time or later, to have been done for something earlier: The prize is expected to be awarded next month. The bones are believed to have been buried around 1700.
| Form | When? | Example |
|---|---|---|
| to be done | the same time, in general, or later (after expect, hope, want, need) | The prize is expected to be awarded next month. |
| to have been done | earlier than the main verb | The bones are believed to have been buried around 1700. |
| being done | the same time, or in general | Nobody enjoys being laughed at. |
| having been done | earlier (being done is fine too when the order is clear) | She remembers having been told / being told twice. |
Past modals: should have been told
A past modal + been + past participle judges what happened: should have been told (it was right, but it didn't happen), must have been left (I'm sure it did), can't have been delivered (I'm sure it didn't), needn't have been reserved (it happened, but it wasn't necessary).
| Modal | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| should / ought to have been done | it was the right thing, but it didn't happen | The staff should have been told about the changes. |
| must have been done | I'm sure it happened | The gate must have been left open: the dog got out. |
| can't / couldn't have been done | I'm sure it didn't happen | The parcel can't have been delivered: the address was wrong. |
| could / might / may have been done | maybe it happened; or it was possible, but it didn't | Someone could have been hurt! |
| needn't have been done | it happened, but it wasn't necessary | The seats needn't have been reserved: the hall was empty. |
Got fired: the get-passive
In everyday English, get can replace be when something happens to someone: Two workers got fired. We got lost. Questions and negatives need do: Did he get caught? She didn't get paid. Know, believe, say and think stay with be.
be: every style, every verb
- Two workers were fired last week.
- The tower was built in 1890.
- Only be with know, believe, say, think: She is known to everyone.
get: everyday English, something happens to someone
- Two workers got fired last week. (= were fired)
- I got stuck in traffic. · We got lost.
- Questions and negatives need do: Did he get caught? She didn't get paid.
Two objects: she was given a bonus
After give, send, show, tell, offer, lend and pay, the person usually becomes the subject: She was given a bonus. With explain, describe and suggest only the thing can, so I was explained the rules is wrong.
Two objects: give, send, show, tell, offer, lend, pay
the person+ was / were + given, sent, shown…+ the thing
They gave her a bonus. → She was given a bonus. (the usual way)
A bonus was given to her. (also correct)
They showed us the plans. → We were shown the plans.
Common mistakes
The rules need to be change.
The rules need to be changed.
be + the past participle
We should have been tell.
We should have been told.
have been + the past participle
He denied to be paid.
He denied being paid. / He denied having been paid.
deny + -ing
I was explained the rules.
The rules were explained to me.
explain, describe, suggest: only the thing can be the subject
Examples
- The new terminal is expected to be finished next spring.later: to be done
- The gold is thought to have been hidden in the 1940s.earlier: to have been done
- My dad can't stand being told what to do.can't stand + being done
- The mistake could have been avoided.it was possible, but it didn't happen
- She got promoted after only a year.get-passive: everyday English
- Every guest was handed a map at the door.two objects: the person is the subject
More lessons on this grammar: Passive voice lessons and exercises
Try the advanced passive exercises
Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.
What's in the lesson
- 41 auto-checked exercises
- 5 games
- 1 real-life document
- 1 grammar scheme
- 1 picture
The main objectives of this lesson are to:
- pick to be done or being done by the verb before it: The workers demanded to be paid. He avoided being seen by his boss.
- use to have been done for an earlier event: The painting is believed to have been stolen about forty years ago.
- judge the past with a modal + been: It must have been stolen while we were out. I should have been told by email.
- use get + past participle in everyday English: I got stuck in traffic for two hours this morning. Did your package get delivered?
- make the person the subject after give, show or offer, but not after explain: We were shown the plans. The rules were explained to me.
- Grammar:
- passive infinitive · perfect passive infinitive · passive -ing form · modals in the past (passive) · get-passive · passive with two objects
- Topic:
- grammar practice · politics · news analysis · scandals · public life
Teaching tips
- Run a pet-peeves round: each student finishes I can't stand being… and I'd love to be… with something true, then the class sorts the verbs by the form they took.
- Play detective with past modals: describe a scene, such as an empty safe and a door with no damage, and groups explain it with must have been, can't have been and should have been.
- Add a letter to the editor: after the ferry terminal chapter, each student writes a short letter of their own with one passive infinitive, one -ing form and one past modal.
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The whole course: English Grammar Practice · C1
English Grammar Practice · C1 has 16 drill lessons on advanced grammar, one point each: inversion, cleft sentences, the subjunctive, advanced passives, ellipsis, nominalization, hedging, fronting and concession. Each has the rule as a scheme, 43 to 47 exercises that check themselves, 15 of them for homework, and no new words.See the course
- 1Inversion: never have I been so nervous!
- 2Conditionals without if: had I known, should you need, were I to
- 3Cleft sentences: it's the focus that counts
- 4Advanced passives: who was told what?
- 5The subjunctive: it's essential that everyone be honest
- 6Likelihood: is it bound to happen?
- 7Be to, about to, due to, set to: the first tram is about to leave
- 8Ellipsis and substitution: I hope so, I'd love to
- 9Nominalization: from “sales fell” to “a fall in sales”
- 10Advanced participle clauses: weather permitting
- 11Hedging: it would appear that we tend to agree
- 12Alternatives to if: supposing they say no?
- 13Fronting: strange as it may seem
- 14Advanced relative clauses: the rules, all of which are new
- 15However, whatever, no matter how: whatever happens, keep running
- 16Contrast and concession: office or home?