- The police caught the thief yesterday
- The thief was caught by the police yesterday
- The police would have caught the criminal if they had known where he was
- The criminal would have been caught if the police would known where he was
Not all the verbs can be used in passive structures; only transitive verbs:
- John gave Mary an apple
- An apple was given to Mary
- Mary was given an apple
Structures very common:
- People believe that the president is not telling the truth
- It is believed that the president is not telling the truth
- The president is believed not to be telling the truth
- She was worried about having been expelled from shoool
Why do we use the passive structures instead active ones?
- The focus change to the object.
- The are more
- impersonal
- formal
- used in press
- One hundred employees were dismissed by the company.