martes, 26 de abril de 2016

Modals: Can, should and have to

MODAL VERBS PRACTICE

Modal verbs practice. Choose the right forms have todon't have tocancan't,should or shouldn't to complete the following sentences in English.
You  shout at the children. It frightens them.
I’m sorry but you  bring your dog in here. It’s forbidden.
You  have a visa before travelling to the USA. It’s the law.
You  stay in the library till eight o’clock. It’s open all evening.
I think you  think carefully before you sell the house.
You  buy a new alarm clock. This one is broken.
You  wear a uniform at my new school.
You  leave your bag open on the bus.
We  go now or we’ll be late.
She  dance very well but she can’t sing.
You  be at the airport by five o’clock.

lunes, 28 de marzo de 2016

Tower of London and the River Thames

Aerial view of Tower Bridge


The story of the ravens of the tower of London

The River Thames

Cómo distinguir entre la voz activa y la voz pasiva en inglés



Cómo distinguir entre la voz activa y la voz pasiva en inglés

La voz activa y la voz pasiva son dos maneras de presentar la misma situación enfocándola desde perspectivas diferentes. En el caso de la voz activa, nos interesa la persona responsable de la acción (el agente), mientras que en la voz pasiva nos interesa el paciente o el resultado de esta acción:
ActiveBell invented the telephone.
    agente                objeto
PassiveThe telephone was invented by Bell.
objeto                             agente
En ambas frases el sujeto de la frase constituye información conocida sobre la que aportamos más detalles. El pasaje de activo a pasivo implica diferentes cambios:
  • El objeto del verbo pasa a ser sujeto de la frase. El agente aparece en una posición posterior, normalmente introducido por la preposición by.
  • El verbo pasa a tener la estructura: verbo auxiliar to be + participio pasado.
La diferencia entre la voz activa y la voz pasiva no es solamente formal. Se trata también de una diferencia de significado: en la frase activa, el sujeto de la frase es responsable de la acción; en la frase pasiva, el sujeto de la frase recibe los efectos de la acción.
La expresión del agente en la frase pasiva
Si queremos decir quién es responsable de la acción en una frase pasiva, utilizamos un complemento con la preposición by:
We were questioned by the police.
The letter will be written by the manager.
En algunos casos no es necesario dar información sobre el agente:
  • Cuando el agente es evidente:
The money was stolen (by a thief).
  • Cuando el agente no es importante:
The building is cleaned daily (by the cleaning staff).
  • Cuando no sabemos o no podemos decir con certeza quien es el agente:
Watching TV is often considered a waste of time (by people).

Ejercicios prácticos de la lección

THE PASSIVE VOICE



Use of Passive

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.
Example: My bike was stolen.
In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.
Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:
Example: A mistake was made.
In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).
Form of Passive
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)
Example: A letter was written.
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:
  • the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
  • the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
  • the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)

Examples of Passive Level 2

TenseSubjectVerbObject
Simple PresentActive:Ritawritesa letter.
Passive:A letteris writtenby Rita.
Simple PastActive:Ritawrotea letter.
Passive:A letterwas writtenby Rita.
Present PerfectActive:Ritahas writtena letter.
Passive:A letterhas been writtenby Rita.
Future IActive:Ritawill writea letter.
Passive:A letterwill be writtenby Rita.
HilfsverbenActive:Ritacan writea letter.
Passive:A lettercan be writtenby Rita.

Examples of Passive Level 4

TenseSubjectVerbObject
Present ProgressiveActive:Ritais writinga letter.
Passive:A letteris being writtenby Rita.
Past ProgressiveActive:Ritawas writinga letter.
Passive:A letterwas being writtenby Rita.
Past PerfectActive:Ritahad writtena letter.
Passive:A letterhad been writtenby Rita.
Future IIActive:Ritawill have writtena letter.
Passive:A letterwill have been writtenby Rita.
Conditional IActive:Ritawould writea letter.
Passive:A letterwould be writtenby Rita.
Conditional IIActive:Ritawould have writtena letter.
Passive:A letterwould have been writtenby Rita.

Passive Sentences with Two Objects Level 3

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.
 SubjectVerbObject 1Object 2
Active:Ritawrotea letterto me.
Passive:A letterwas writtento meby Rita.
Passive:Iwas writtena letterby Rita.
.
As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. Thats why it is usually dropped.

Personal and Impersonal Passive

Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.
Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.
Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.
Example: he says – it is said
Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).
Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.
Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.
Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.
The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).
Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.

Exercises

Exercises on Passive (Form)

Exercises on Passive (Active → Passive)