Passive Infinitive — Exercises on to be done, being done
Practice the passive infinitive and -ing form: hope to be chosen, hate being told, should have been sent — when the action is done to you.
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I really hope ___ for the school team this year.
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to be chosen
The coach chooses — I am chosen. After 'hope' we use the infinitive, and the passive infinitive is 'to be' + past participle. 'To choose' would mean I'm the one picking players.
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I hate ___ what to do — I prefer to work things out myself.
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being told
Other people tell me what to do → passive -ing form: 'being' + past participle. 'I hate telling' would mean I'm the one giving the orders.
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The report should ___ last Friday, but nobody finished it in time.
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have been sent
We're criticising something in the past that didn't happen → 'should have been' + past participle. 'Should be sent' talks about now or the future, and 'should have sent' would mean the report sent something.
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Freelancers expect ___ within thirty days of sending an invoice.
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to be paid
The client pays the freelancer → passive infinitive 'to be paid'. 'Expect' takes the to-infinitive, so 'being paid' doesn't fit, and 'to pay' would make the freelancer the one paying.
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I don't remember ___ about the meeting — when did they send the email?
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being told
Someone else should have told me → 'remember' + passive -ing: 'being told'. 'Remember telling' would mean I told other people; 'remember to' is for things you mustn't forget to do.
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This problem should ___ months ago — now it's too late.
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have been dealt with
A past criticism → 'should have been' + past participle. The verb is 'deal with', so 'with' stays in the passive: 'have been dealt with'.
Passive Infinitive and -ing: to be done, being done, should have been done
When a verb is followed by another verb, that second verb can be passive too. After verbs that take an infinitive — hope, expect, want, deserve, need — the passive is to be + past participle: I really hope to be chosen for the team, Freelancers expect to be paid within thirty days. After verbs that take -ing — avoid, enjoy, remember, mind and usually hate — it is being + past participle: I hate being told what to do, I don't remember being told about the meeting. The active forms are grammatical but reverse the meaning: I hate telling people what to do makes you the one giving orders. With modals, the past passive is have been + participle, used for criticism or deduction about the past: The report should have been sent last Friday, This problem should have been dealt with months ago.
Last updated: · Satori Editorial