The passive is one of Cambridge’s favourite grammar points to test in Writing Part 1 of the PET exam. I’d go as far as to say that of the 5 questions in the exam 1 of them will probably test the passive. In short, in PET transformations, passive is practically guaranteed to show up. This obviously means that you need to get your students to practice the passive as much as possible and feel comfortable with it. It’s a good tool for them to have for writing also. When Cambridge scales specify complex grammar, this is one of the things they are talking about.
NOTE: Preliminary (PET) no longer has a Transformations activity as of January 2020
Contents
The Passive
The expectations of what a B1 candidate should be able to do with the passive are not too high. They should know how to use the passive in present simple, past simple and following a modal verb. Your students should know that the passive is formed with the verb be + past participle. The grammar is then reflected in the passive be.
| Active | Passive | |
| Present simple | People play basketball all over the world. | Basketball is played all over the world. |
| Past simple | James Naismith invented basketball. | Basketball was invented by James Naismith. |
| Following a modal verb | The referee can give you a foul. | You can be given a foul (by the referee). |
Notice:
- In the active, the subject of the verb is also the agent (the one who does the action).
- In the passive, the subject of the verb is not the agent. The object of the active sentence has become the subject of the passive sentence.
- When the agent appears in a passive sentence we use by.
- It is not always necessary to include the agent in a passive sentence. In the example Basketball is played all over the world, we do not include by people because it doesn’t give us any extra information. In the example You can be given a foul, the agent is optional because it is reasonably obvious that the foul is given by the referee. In the example Basketball was invented by James Naismith, we need the agent because it is essential information.
The Materials
Give your students as much practice as possible with PET transformations. Passive will come up when they do practice exams and if they have mastered it, it can be an easy point. Then, on the day of their exam, in their PET transformations, passive makes its appearance and you take all the credit for having taught it so thoroughly. Here are 14 PET transformations with the passive for your students to practice.
EXAM PART: PET Writing Part 1
EXAM SKILLS: Using grammar appropriate to the level (B1), transformations
TOPIC: Sport (basketball)
TIME: 20 minutes
PREPARATION: One copy of the worksheet per student
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