PHOTOSYNTHESIS
THE PASSIVE
Part 1
In scientific writing in English. the passive is used very often. Scientists writing in English hardly ever say "I did this" or "I carried out the experiment". To use the first person all the time gives the impression that the Scientist, and not the science, is important. The use of the first person places emphasis on the personal aspect, whereas scientific writing should be impersonal and objective, with the emphasis on the scientific task rather than the people who carried it out. To understand and use the passive easily and naturally is therefore important and that is why it is placed here in the English for Biology curriculum.
The passive of the verb is formed like this:
The laboratory is used every day.
We use the verb "to be" + the past participle
- is + use
Look at each sentence below.
| PRESENT | |
|---|---|
| Active | Passive |
| The students use the laboratory every day. The students used the laboratory yesterday. | The laboratory is used by the students every day. The laboratory was used by the students yesterday. |
Now click on the tasks below for some practice.
Task 1A
Task 1B
Task 1C