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Learning Passive Modals: It Can
Be Done! |
Imagine that you are planning to travel to another
country. There is a lot that you need to do before you
leave. Here are some things that might need to be done:
Your passport has to be renewed.
Your hair still needs to be cut.
Your shoes should be repaired.
And your dog is supposed to be taken to a friend’s
house.
All of these sentences use either modals or something
called “phrasal modals," and they are in the passive
voice.
You may remember that, in a passive sentence, the person
performing the action is not stated because it is not
very important to know who that person is.
For example, in the sentence about the haircut, the
listener does not know who will cut your hair. But that
is ok, because it is not very important to that
statement.
You may also recall that, for the passive voice, we use
the structure be + past participle, as you noticed in
all of the example sentences.
Now, let’s move on to a quick reminder about modals:
Modals are helping verbs that express possibility,
ability, duty, permission or advisability. Words like
can, could, may, might, must and should – and even will
– are all modals. But modals also include something
called “phrasal modals” – phrases such as has to, ought
to and be supposed to.
As you heard in our examples at the start of the
program, we sometimes need the passive form of modals
and phrasal modals.
But, don’t worry! This is surprisingly simple.
The structure is: modal or modal phrase + be + the past
participle.
For example, in the sentence about the haircut, need is
the modal. Then comes the verb be, and its form does not
change. And, cut is the past participle of the irregular
verb to cut.
The past-passive form
Ok, now imagine that some of the things on your travel
“to do” list are complete. But, some of the other things
still need to be completed.
How can you tell someone this using the past tense of
modals and phrasal modals?
For all modals and some phrasal modals, the only
difference is changing be to have been. So, the
structure becomes modal or modal phrase + have been +
the past participle. Listen to an example.
My shoes should have been repaired last week.
In this sentence, should is the modal. Then comes have
been – which stays the same – plus repaired, which is
the past participle of the verb to repair.
But for other phrasal modals – ones that contain the
verb be – the be changes to past tense. This includes
the phrasal modals be supposed to, be able to and be
allowed to.
The structure for this is: past tense form of be (with)
phrasal modal + have been + the past participle.
Here is an example:
My dog was supposed to have been taken to a friend’s
house.
Here, the be changes to was. And notice that the words
have been still do not change. And, the past participle
of the verb to take is taken.
Asking a question
But, what if you want to ask a question? Using the
question form of many English grammar structures can be
tricky.
So let’s try to make questions out of a few of our
example sentences. When asking a yes-or-no question, the
question can begin with one of several words. For
instance, it may begin with the modal, such as should,
can and could, or with the word do, did or does or is or
are?
Here is an example with does:
Does your passport have to be renewed?
Here is one with is:
Is your dog supposed to be taken to a friend’s house?
And, here is an example with should:
Should your shoes be repaired by next week?
Avoiding the passive
At times, it is best to avoid the passive voice; the
sentence structure can create unclear statements. And,
in some types of academic writing, such as essays,
passive voice is usually discouraged. However, in other
types of written and spoken communication, it is readily
used. You will see and hear the passive voice in written
and broadcast journalism, scientific writing and
sometimes in formal letters. And, of course, we use the
passive voice in informal speech and writing. So, it is
useful to know how to use passive modals.
What can you do?
So, what can you do to practice? Here are a few
possibilities. Feel free to write your answers in the
comments section:
1. Imagine that you manage a company. You must write a
memo to remind your employees what the company policies
are. This includes dress code, social behavior and use
of the kitchen and appliances. Start your memo: “This is
a friendly reminder about office rules.” Then, use
passive modals to write the rules. For example: “Dishes
may be used, but they must not be left dirty in the
sink.”
2. Think about what is happening around your city. What
are some things that need to, should, could or may
happen or have already happened? For example, do the
streets need to be repaired? For this practice, you can
use the passive form or past-passive form. Here’s an
example: “The new metro station should be completed in
2018.” That's the passive modal. Or “The new metro
should have been completed in March.” That's the
past-passive modal.
And, if you're feeling brave, you can even try using the
question form of passive or past-passive modals.
Learning these grammar structures is not too difficult,
and I am here to tell you this: it can be done.
I’m Alice Bryant.
Alice Bryant wrote this story for Learning English.
Ashley Thompson was the editor. |
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