HEALTH AND SAFETY.- Session 1.- The misunderstanding.

It's very common to fix arrangements on the phone. Here are a few useful phrases to ask to speak to someone:

We are going to try and explain these questions.

• Active: We translate a book every year. (A book: direct object).
• Passive: A book is translated every year.
• Active: The children broke the windows. (The windows: direct object).
• Passive: The windows were broken by the children. (By the children: by agent).

RULES.

• The direct object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
• The verb “to be + past participle” is used in the same verbal tense as the active verb. The verb “to be” is in accordance with the new subject.
• The subject of the active sentence becomes the agent in the passive, when it is mentioned.

FORM.

• The passive of an active tense is formed by putting the verb "to be" into the same tense as the active verb.
• We add the past participle of the active verb.
• The active direct object becomes the passive subject.
• In the passive, we use "by + agent" to say who did the action.

What are the main differences in use between the passive and the active voice?

We normally use the passive:

• When the subject in the active (the person who does the action) is not known, unimportant or is obvious from the context.
  • My motorbike was stolen last night.(Who stole it? We don't know).
  • Obama was elected president of the USA in November, 2008. (By the Americans; it is obvious that only Americans voted for Obama).
• When it is more important to stress the thing done than the doer of it, that is to say, the action is more important than the subject of the action.
  • My car was stolen last nightis more usual than Thieves stole my car last night.
  • He was killed in the war is more usual than The enemy killed him in the war.
  • New roads have been made is more usual than Workers have made new roads.
• The passive voice is often translated into Spanish by the "se" expression or by the third person plural.
  • English is spoken here. = Se habla inglés aquí.
  • He was killed in the war.= Lo mataron en la guerra.
  • The concert has been cancelled.= Han cancelado el concierto / El concierto se ha cancelado.

The passive voice is commonly used in newspapers headlines and boards. In these cases the verb "to be" is frequently omitted.

• Popular politician found guilty means Popular politician was found guilty.
• Sold means This has been sold.
• Three shot at night means Three people have been shot or were shot at night.
• 3 year old boy rescued from a well means 3 year old boy was rescued from a well.

Sometimes, the person we want to speak to is not available and we might want to leave a message. Below there is a list of useful expressions you can use in case you need to leave a message.

Now let's test what we have learned. It should be easy to do the following exercises.

Here's a list of vocabulary related to health and safety issues for people at work.