Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
The Passive in Tentative Statements
The passive is often used in tentative statements where the writer tries to be as neutral as possible.
| considered | to | be… | ||
| It | is | said | ||
| known | to | have been… | ||
| They | are | acknowledged believed regarded as… |
8.1
Look at the box below. Write tentative statements following the pattern in the table above.
Solution
- Qutab Minar is regarded as the tallest aneient minaret.
- The Sahara Desert is considered to be the hottest region of the earth.
- Hieroglyphics is acknowledged to be one of the oldest forms of writing.
- The Amazon is believed to be the longest river in the world.
- Gun powder and printing are known to have been invented by the Chinese.
- Women are considered/said to be healthier than men.
- The Cheetah is known to be the fastest land animal.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Answer the following question briefly:
Describe Corporal Turnbull.
Answer the following questions:
How many hills and bridges does the brook pass during its journey?
Answer the following questions:
The poem has many examples of alliteration. List any five examples.
Answer the following question.
"I am like earthly life … "
Why does the poet compare rain to earthly life?
Simple Past and Past Perfect
Complete this story by Julius Lester. Choose the correct forms of the words
given in the brackets.
Brer Rabbit (a) ________ (decidedI had decided) gardening was too much hard work. So he (b) ________ (had gone/went) back to his old ways of eating from everybody else’s garden. Earlier, he (c)________ (made/had made) a tour through the community to see what everybody (d)________ (had been/was) planting that summer and his eye (e) ________ (was/had been) caught by Brer Fox’s peanut patch.
That night Brer Rabbit (l) _______ (came/had come) down to the peanut patch. He climbed through the hole and WHOOSH ! Next thing he (m) _______ (had known/knew), he was hanging in the air upside down. There (n) ________ (wasn’t/hadn’t been) a thing he could do, so he made himself comfortable to catch a little sleep!
Answer the following questions based on the story you have read.
(a) What had Brer Rabbit found out?
(b) What did he do when the plants grew?
(c) How did he enter Brer Fox's peanut patch?
(d) Brer Fox had an idea of who was stealing from his patch. What did he do to trap
Brer Rabbit?
You must have used the simple past tense and past perfect tense in your
answer. Do you know most often, when you use the past perfect, you use it with
the (simple) past?
Study the sentences from the story and write whether (a) the action happened
before the action mentioned in the simple past tense, or (b) an action happened
after the action mentioned in the past perfect tense.
(e.g.) Brer Rabbit had decided _(a)_ gardening was _(b)_too much for him. So,
he went __ back to his old ways. Earlier, he had made __ a tour through
the community to see what everybody had been __ planting that summer
and his eye was __ caught by Brer Fox's peanut patch.
As a Conservationist, write a report to the World Wildlife Federation, based on 5. Remember 'CODER'
| From: (your name), Conservationist. To: The Chairman WWF (Date) (Suitable Heading) (Suitable introduction) e.g. You recently asked me to submit a report on my study of YAK - in particular, their future. The following are my findings and recommendations. 1. The current problem. 2. Reasons why this problem has arisen. 3. Effects of the problem 4. Recommendation 5. Conclusion (Suitable ending, including other ideas for increasing YAK population) Your name (Conservationist) |
Discuss in groups.
- Have you heard a story, seen a film, or read about someone becoming invisible?
- Did he/she use his/her power for good or for evil?
Fill in the table to identify the subject, verb and object in the sentences listed above. You may include the object/agent where necessary.
| Subject | Verb | Object |
| Kareena’s hometown |
had not been invaded |
(by) the marvels of technology. |
| Industries | ___________ Was not polluted |
__________ __________ |
| Stories | __________ | __________ |
Did you know?
A passive construction does two things.
(i) it brings the object to the position of the subject.
(ii) it introduces the verb be and the past participle form of the verb. (-ed/ -en)
A passive construction is be used when
(a) the agent is unknown
e.g. Gold jewellery worth one crore was found missing.
(b) the agent is too obvious
e.g. The speeding car was stopped at the signal for violating the traffic rules.
(c) the process is more important than the doer.
e.g. Vanilla flavour is added to the milkshake.
(d) the speaker wants to hide the source for confidentiality.
e.g. I was informed that the staff accept gifts from the customers.
Passives in Headlines and Notices
Headlines.
Newspaper headlines are short and crisp. They often use the passive as it may
not be necessary to focus on the doer.
| Sales Tax Increased |
Expand the following headlines using passives as shown.
a) Oscar award for A.R. Rahman's Jai Ho
A.R. Rahman was awarded the Oscar for his song Jai Ho in the movie Slumdog
Millionaire.
(b) Son of business tycoon kidnapped
_____________________________________________
(c) Explosive found near Regal Cinema
_____________________________________________
Listen to the song and check whether you have guessed right in Question 1. Listen again until you are ready to sing along with it.
