Advanced passive: get done and need doing
He got promoted, the car needs washing, she was given a prize, it has been dealt with.
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You already know the passive with be in every tense. At C1, the passive has a few more forms and limits: get instead of be, need doing with a passive meaning, verbs with two objects, and verbs that keep their preposition or their to.
Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
get + past participle | Our car got stolen last night. |
need + -ing | The windows need cleaning. |
need to be + participle | The windows need to be cleaned. |
person as subject | She was given a prize. |
verb + preposition | The problem has been dealt with. |
be made / seen + to | We were made to wait for an hour. |
Get + past participle
Get + past participle is an informal passive. It is common for things that happen to someone unexpectedly, often something bad, and for changes of state. Questions and negatives use do, not get alone.
- Our car got stolen outside the hotel.
- He got arrested for driving without a licence.
- She got promoted after only a year.
- I got paid on Friday, so I'll buy the drinks.
- Did you get invited to the wedding?
- Incorrect: Were you got invited to the wedding?
- Correct: Did you get invited to the wedding?Get is a main verb, so questions need did.
Get is not used for states or in formal writing.
- Incorrect: The theory got believed by most scientists.
- Correct: The theory was believed by most scientists.
Some fixed phrases with get are not really passives: get dressed, get married, get lost, get changed, get divorced.
Need doing and need to be done
Need + -ing has a passive meaning: something needs someone to do it. It means the same as need to be + past participle. Need doing is more common in everyday British English. Want + -ing is used the same way in informal British English.
- The house needs painting.
The house needs to be painted.
- Your hair needs cutting.
- These figures need to be checked before the meeting.
- The grass wants cutting again.
- Incorrect: The car needs to repair.
- Correct: The car needs repairing. / The car needs to be repaired.The car doesn't repair anything; someone repairs it.
Verbs with two objects
Verbs like give, send, offer, show, tell, lend, award, promise, teach have two objects: a person and a thing. Either can become the subject of the passive. Starting with the person is more common.
- They gave her a prize. → She was given a prize.
- They offered me a job. → I was offered a job. / A job was offered to me.
- Nobody told us about the change. → We weren't told about the change.
Some verbs never take the person as the subject: explain, describe, suggest, say, announce, report. The thing is the subject, and the person comes after to.
- Incorrect: She was explained the rules.
- Correct: The rules were explained to her.
- Incorrect: I was suggested a better plan.
- Correct: A better plan was suggested to me.
Verbs with a preposition
When a verb needs a preposition, the preposition stays after the participle in the passive.
- The children are looked after by their grandmother.
- The complaint has been dealt with.
- This idea was laughed at by everyone.
- Nothing was paid for in advance.
- Incorrect: The problem has already been dealt.
- Correct: The problem has already been dealt with.Deal with is one verb, so with must stay.
Make, see, hear: to in the passive
After make, see and hear, the active has no to: They made us wait. In the passive, to appears.
- We were made to wait for over an hour.
- He was seen to leave the building at midnight.
See and hear can also take -ing: He was seen leaving the building.
- She was heard to say that she would resign.
- Incorrect: We were made wait for over an hour.
- Correct: We were made to wait for over an hour.
Let + verb has no passive. Use be allowed to instead: They let us leave early → We were allowed to leave early.