Learn how to use the present passive voice of English verbs
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chihiro: Hey, everyone! Chihiro here. But You Were Told by Them in English! |
| Ryan: In this lesson, you'll learn how to invite someone to a party. |
| Chihiro: This conversation takes place outside the office. |
| Ryan: The conversation is between Drew and Teddy. |
| Chihiro: They are friends, so they'll be speaking casually. |
| Ryan: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Teddy: Hey, we're going to throw you a little welcome back party at my friend's house. She's really into art, so her place is done up nicely. It'll be a great place to have a get-together. Your old friends are invited too. |
| Drew: Hey, thanks, Teddy. Sounds like fun! When is it? |
| Teddy: This Saturday. I can come and pick you up at your hotel and also be the designated driver. |
| Drew: Sounds good. |
| Teddy: Oh, and Janine was also invited. |
| Drew: Wh…why the heck would you do that? |
| Teddy: Oh come on, she's not that bad! She's got a great sense of humor! |
| Drew: And she doesn't understand the phrase "No, I'm not interested. Stop asking me." |
| Teddy: Well, you've got to admire her persistence. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Teddy: Hey, we're going to throw you a little welcome back party at my friend's house. She's really into art, so her place is done up nicely. It'll be a great place to have a get-together. Your old friends are invited too. |
| Drew: Hey, thanks, Teddy. Sounds like fun! When is it? |
| Teddy: This Saturday. I can come and pick you up at your hotel and also be the designated driver. |
| Drew: Sounds good. |
| Teddy: Oh, and Janine was also invited. |
| Drew: Wh…why the heck would you do that? |
| Teddy: Oh come on, she's not that bad! She's got a great sense of humor! |
| Drew: And she doesn't understand the phrase "No, I'm not interested. Stop asking me." |
| Teddy: Well, you've got to admire her persistence. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Ryan: Okay, parties. |
| Chihiro: Yes, what about them? |
| Ryan: Have you hosted any before? |
| Chihiro: I have, it's lots of fun! You get to meet the friends of your friends and just have a good time. But in the morning, the magic melted and I turned into a house maid. |
| Ryan: Host to house maid, right? |
| Chihiro: Yeah, you wake up and there's no party, no pumpkin, no prince charming either. |
| Ryan: You sure about that? |
| Chihiro: The point here is, listeners, that in the United States, people get together for many different occasions. When invited, it's not uncommon to take people with you, even if they don't know the others. |
| Ryan: Of course, this depends on the kind of gathering. It’s also common to get together at somebody's house, as it is more personal than a restaurant. Often, people will bring some food or drink with them so that there’s more for everybody; however, the organizer of the party is the main person who makes sure that everything is going well. As Chihiro did. |
| Chihiro: I was a great host thank you. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Ryan: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Chihiro: to be into [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: to be interested in something |
| Chihiro: to be into [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: to be into [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: to be done up [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: slang for to be well decorated or dressed or complete |
| Chihiro: to be done up [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: to be done up [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: to pick up [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: to get somebody or something |
| Chihiro: to pick up [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: to pick up [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: to designate [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: to give somebody or something a role |
| Chihiro: to designate [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: to designate [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: heck [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: word used in place of the swear word 'hell' that is not offensive |
| Chihiro: heck [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: heck [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: sense of humor [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: perceive funny things as funny |
| Chihiro: sense of humor [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: sense of humor [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: to admire [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: to feel wonder and approval about something |
| Chihiro: to admire [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: to admire [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: persistence [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: ability to endure difficulty and continue doing something |
| Chihiro: persistence [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: persistence [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Ryan: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the phrases from this lesson. |
| Chihiro: The first phrase is, |
| Ryan: "designated driver" |
| Chihiro: Which Teddy offers to be on the day of the party. This means that he will not drink any alcohol so that he can drive after the party. Assigning a designated driver for the night when people are going out to drink is a common thing to do. |
| Ryan: And should be done always. Now the next phrase is one that Drew mentions, he says that he is |
| Chihiro: "not interested" |
| Ryan: in Janine. This means that he is not attracted to her. It's a polite yet direct way to say that a person doesn't like another and we can use it to turn offers down as well. A common mistake to avoid is to not accidentally say "interesting" as in |
| Chihiro: "I'm not interesting" |
| Ryan: because that would change the meaning of the phrase and imply that you are a boring person. |
| Chihiro: Good point. So, Ryan, when was the last time you used this phrase? |
| Ryan: Umm... yesterday |
Lesson focus |
| Ryan: The Focus of the This Lesson Is the Passive Form. |
| Chihiro: We use the passive form when the action and the thing or person receiving the verb is more important than who did it. This means that the listener's attention is not on the person or thing doing the action, but rather on the action itself or the receiver of the action. |
| Ryan: Let's clear that up with an example from the dialogue. Teddy says that his friend's |
| Chihiro: "place is done up nicely" |
| Ryan: and uses the passive form. If you compare the active form, |
| Chihiro: "she does her place up nicely," |
| Ryan: it has a different feel to it. |
| Chihiro: The passive form allows the listener to concentrate more on the place itself, as opposed to the friend doing the action. In other words, in the first sentence, the "place" is what's in the spotlight. |
| Ryan: And in the second example, "she" is in the spotlight. |
| Chihiro: And that would be the difference in feeling. It's formed by the verb "to be" and the past participle of the main verb. |
| Ryan: In other words, "is done up" is the verb "to be" conjugated, and "done up" is in the past participle form. |
| Chihiro: Here's another example from the dialogue, |
| Ryan: "Janine was also invited." |
| Chihiro: In this case, Janine being invited to come is the focus, and not who invited her. If we mention the person who invited Janine, for example, "Teddy invited Janine," then the attention would perhaps turn to the inviter, Teddy. |
| Ryan: In that case, Drew might have become angry at Teddy instead of annoyed at the fact that Janine is coming! |
| Chihiro: Right, which is another reason why people use the passive. If you don't want to blame somebody directly, than you can use this construction. For example, if somebody broke a window, Ryan could say, |
| Ryan: “The window was broken” |
| Chihiro: As opposed to, |
| Ryan: “Chihiro broke the window” |
| Chihiro: Right, so we don't have to accuse anybody of doing anything. So "the window was broken" is the appropriate thing to say. |
| Ryan: Right. When might you use such passive constructions Chihiro, besides the above example? |
| Chihiro: Well, it's often used at work, when something happens, and it's not appropriate to accuse your colleagues. |
| Ryan: Good example. So say a guy named John Doe didn't finish a report in which the whole group needed to present to the boss. Instead of saying, |
| Chihiro: “John Doe didn't finish the report.” |
| Ryan: You can say, |
| Chihiro: “The report is not finished yet.” |
| Ryan: And you don't need to mention John Doe. |
| Chihiro: Unless you want to get him in trouble, which in that case you would use the regular active tense. |
| Ryan: Now, you may have noticed that the examples were in both present and past tense. You can use this construction in all tenses. |
| Chihiro: You probably have heard it before, and might even have used it as well. But now you have a better understanding of it. |
| Ryan: Right, so see how you can use them at different times now? |
| Chihiro: You can really use it to your advantage! |
Outro |
| Ryan: Well, that just about does it for today. Bye for now! |
| Chihiro: See you all soon! |
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