Passive 1
PASSIVES
When we use the passive, who or what causes the action is often unknown or unimportant OR we want to emphasize the object as opposed to the subject:
A lot of money was stolen in the robbery. (somebody stole it but we don't know who)
Is this room cleaned every day? (does somebody clean it? -it's not important who)
The castle was built 500 years ago. (the castle is more important than who built it)
The passive is formed by combining the verb to be with the past participle. Conjugate the verb to be according to the desired tense. For example, using the verb to write:
Past Simple: was / were written
Present Perfect: has / have been written
Future: will have been written
Some verbs can have two objects. For example, give:
We gave the information to the police.
So it is possible to make two passive sentences:
The police were given the information.
The information was given to the police.
I don't like being…
The passive of doing / seeing etc. is being done / being seen etc.
Take a look:
Active: I don't like people telling me what to do.
Passive: I don't like being told what to do.
I remember being given a toy drum on my fifth birthday.
We managed to climb over the wall without being seen.
Mr. Jones hates being kept waiting.
Get
Sometimes you can use get instead of be in the passive:
There was a fight at the party but nobody got hurt.
You can use get to say that something happens to somebody or something, especially if this is unplanned or unexpected:
Our dog got run over by a car.
You can use get only when things happen or change.
We use get mainly in informal spoken English. You can use be in all situations.
We also use get in the following expressions:
get married, get divorced
get dressed (put on your clothes), get changed (change your clothes)