LEVEL 5 - LESSON 3

The fire destroyed six homes.

Six homes were destroyed by the fire.  

 

The Red Cross gave assistance.

Assistance was given by the Red Cross.

The military evacuated hundreds of people.

Hundreds of people were evacuated by the military.

They hospitalized me almost immediately.

I was hospitalized almost immediately.

The disaster killed many people.

Many people were killed in the disaster.

People donated millions of dollars.

Millions of dollars were donated .

REVIEW: PAST PASSIVE

Use past passive to place emphasis on an action or event, rather than on its agent. For example, in this sentence, the buildings are given more emphasis than the fire:

 

Many buildings were destroyed in the fire. 

In passive structures, the agent of the action can be omitted altogether. This often happens when the agent is unimportant or unknown:

 

I was evacuated (by the military).

The tornado warning was announced on the radio (by someone).

The agent is also omitted when it is common knowledge, or when including it would be stating the obvious:

 

Thousands of people were killed (in the tsunami).

The fire was eventually put out (by the firefighters).