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A2

The passive: present and past simple – English Grammar Exercises for A2

7 ejercicios

1. Complete the sentences about the Statue of Liberty. Use the present or past simple passive forms of the verbs in brackets.

  • The Statue of Liberty (1) ) is known (know) around the world as a symbol of America, but it (2) ) (not make) in America. It (3) ) (design) in France by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. It (4) ) (give) to the United States by the people of France. The statue’s head and arm (5) ) (finish) first. In fact, these parts (6) ) (make) before the rest of the statue (7) ) (design). At first, there wasn’t enough money to finish the rest of the statue. Finally, enough money (8) ) (find). Over 120,000 people helped to pay for the statue – most of them gave less than $1. The rest of the statue (9) ) (create) in small pieces in France and the pieces (10) ) (take) to America by ship. Finally, the statue (11) ) (put) together in New York. It (12) ) (finish) in 1886.These days, it (13) ) (visit) by over 3.2 million tourists every year.

2. Rewrite the sentences. Use the passive. Say who does/did the action only if this information is important.

  • 1)
    They make Porsche cars in Germany.
  • Porsche cars are made in Germany.
  • 2)
    They built the Eiffel Tower in 1889.
  • 3)
    George Orwell wrote the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four in 1949.
  • 4)
    They held the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
  • 5)
    Steven Spielberg directed the film Schindler’s List in 1993.
  • 6)
    They grow the best coffee in Colombia.
  • 7)
    They sold two million new cars in the UK last year.
  • 8)
    This factory produces 5,000 bicycles every year.

3. Rewrite these sentences in the passive, using the underlined words as the subject of the sentence. Don’t include the doer.

  • 1)
    Somebody wrote the story 200 years ago.
  • The story was written 200 years ago.
  • 2)
    A company made my car in Germany.
  • 3)
    Bookshops don’t sell that book in your country.
  • 4)
    People eat sushi all over the world.
  • 5)
    In the UK, DJs play the number 1 song on the radio every hour.
  • 6)
    Somebody broke a window in the night.
  • 7)
    The journalist didn’t describe India very well in the article.

4. Rewrite these sentences in the passive. Include the doer in the new sentence.

  • 1)
    Frank Gehry designed The Guggenheim, Bilbao
  • The Guggenheim, Bilbao was designed by Frank Gehry
  • 2)
    Marilyn Monroe wore Channel No. 5 perfume
  • 3)
    Every year, 3 million people visit the Taj Mahal
  • 4)
    A fire destroyed many parts of London in 1666.
  • 5)
    Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930.

5. Put the words in the correct order to make questions in the passive.

  • 1)
    made / was / the / where / film
  • Where was the film made?
  • 2)
    was / the book / written / when
  • 3)
    made / cheese / is / how
  • 4)
    your bike / was / when / stolen
  • 5)
    the statue / was / in France / made
  • 6)
    who / her wedding dress / was / designed by

6. Complete the text with present and past simple passive forms of the verbs in the box.

not perform     show     write     love     sell      direct      film
  • The two most popular DVDs ever are very different. The best-selling DVD is Finding Nemo – eight million copies (1) ) on the first day it was available. Most of the voices for the main characters (2) ) by famous actors, but they (3) ) by children all over the world. Pulp Fiction – the second best-selling DVD ever – is a much more adult film. It (4) ) by Quentin Tarantino and it (5) ) in Los Angeles. It’s an unusual film, because the action (6) ) in a strange order – you see the end of the story at the beginning. Audiences loved the acting; most of the characters (7) ) for the actors who played them.

7. Complete the sentences with the active or passive forms of the verbs.

  • 1)
    This sculpture in 1870. (create)
  • 2)
    He some very famous photographs. (take)
  • 3)
    The film on a true story. (base)
  • 4)
    Spike Johansen the film while he was still a student. (direct)
  • 5)
    The author the story in a single day while he was on holiday. (write)
  • 6)
    The car by a company in Milan. (design)

Cómo Practicar

  1. 1Lee cada pregunta cuidadosamente
  2. 2Escribe tu respuesta o selecciona la opción correcta
  3. 3Haz clic en 'Mostrar Respuesta' para verificar tu trabajo
  4. 4Revisa cualquier error e intenta ejercicios similares
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