Language Related Task

Name:   Zuzana Hamtáková
Assignment:   Language related task
Word count:   942
A. The explorers were eaten by a polar bear. (Pre-intermediate).
1. The letters were sent by a secretary; The house was built in 1922.
2. Used to talk about:
  * Complete finished action and event in which the person or thing that causes the action is often not important.
  * We are more interested in what happened to a thing or person rather than who or what caused it.   (e.g. The meeting was held in the conference room.)
  * If necessary, we can use ‘by’ to say who or what (agent) is responsible for the action. (e.g. The explores were eaten by a polar bear. )
3. i. A dialogue.....
Jane: Oh, your house is really beautiful!
Susan: Thank you, we bought it about 3 years ago.
Jane: Was it expensive?
Susan: Well, yes. It was built in 1922 so we had to pay a lot for the reconstruction.
Jane: Do you know who built the house?
Susan: I have no idea!
ii. A diagram
object
verb
subject

Somebody built the house in 1922.   Active

agent
verb
subject
                The house was built in 1922. [by somebody] Passive
iii. Concept questions and answers:
Is the passive example sentence referring to future, present, or past time? Past.
Do we know who built the house? No. Somebody and we do not know who exactly.
Is it important for us to know? No, it is not important.
If we want to mention who built the house what can we add? We can add ‘by’.
So can we say that house is more important than the person who built it? Yes.
4. Subject + ‘to be’ (was, were) + past participle
Passive past simple
5. It is often hard for students to recognize when listening because the verb be may be pronounced with weak, more fluent forms such as, /wəz/ or /wə/.
6. Typical error:
i. X The house built in 1922.
Correction: The house was built in 1922.
Students make an active sentence when they want a passive meaning.
X The letters sent the secretary.
Correction:...