The Passive Voice for Formal Reporting

تانية بكالوريا English

الدرس ده عن إيه؟

In the passive voice, the action or the thing that receives the action becomes the subject: A royal tomb was discovered in Luxor. We use it in news reports and formal writing when the action is more important than the person who did it.

الدرس ده عن المبني للمجهول (the passive voice). يعني بدل ما نقول «العلماء اكتشفوا مقبرة»، نقول «مقبرة اتكشفت». الاهتمام هنا بـ الحاجة اللي حصلت مش بمين عملها.

في الكتاب الدرس ده في Unit 3: Echoes of the Past، Lesson 3.4 (Social Media and Historical Events)، في الـ Writing Task: News Report (صفحة 98). الـ checklist بتاعة الكتاب بتقول بالحرف: I use the passive voice for formal reporting، وأمثلة الكتاب: A royal tomb was discovered in Luxor this week / Experts say more details will be revealed. وبيرجع في Consolidation Review B: The inscriptions were translated by experts.

الفكرة ببساطة: مين المهم؟

Active: the doer is the subject. Passive: the receiver (the object of the active sentence) is the subject. The doer can be added with by, or left out.

بص على الجملتين دول:

• Archaeologists discovered a royal tomb in Luxor.Active (مبني للمعلوم): الفاعل (archaeologists) في الأول.
• A royal tomb was discovered in Luxor (by archaeologists).Passive (مبني للمجهول): المفعول (a royal tomb) بقى في الأول، والفاعل ممكن نذكره بعد by أو نشيله خالص.

في الأخبار، القارئ عايز يعرف إيه اللي اتكشف مش اسم كل عامل في الحفر. علشان كده الـ passive بيخلي الخبر رسمي (formal) وموضوعي (objective) ومركز على الحدث.

خطوات التحويل من active لـ passive في 4 خطوات:

1. هات المفعول (اللي وقع عليه الفعل) وحطه في الأول.
2. حط be في نفس زمن الفعل الأصلي (is / was / has been / will be…) واعمله يتفق مع الفاعل الجديد (مفرد ولا جمع).
3. حط الفعل الأصلي في التصريف التالت (past participle = V3): discover ← discovered، find ← found، write ← written.
4. لو الفاعل مهم ضيفه بعد by، لو مش مهم أو مش معروف شيله.

جدول الـ Passive في كل الأزمنة

Passive = be (in the correct tense) + past participle. Only the form of be changes.

ليه الـ Passive في الأخبار والتقارير الرسمية؟

We use the passive in formal reporting when: (1) the doer is unknown, (2) the doer is obvious or not important, (3) we want to keep the focus on the event or object, and (4) we want to sound objective.

ولاحظ كمان: الـ headline (العنوان) في الأخبار بيشيل الـ be خالص علشان يبقى قصير: Ancient Tomb Discovered in Luxor = An ancient tomb has been / was discovered in Luxor. ده مسموح في العنوان بس، مش جوه الخبر.

الـ Reporting Passive: It is believed that…

Formal reports often use reporting verbs in the passive: It is believed / said / reported / thought / estimated that …, or The tomb is believed to be … / is thought to have been …

ده أهم جزء في «formal reporting». لما الصحفي ينقل كلام أو رأي الخبراء من غير ما يقول «أنا شايف»، بيستخدم الأفعال دي: believe, think, say, report, estimate, know, expect, announce, confirm. وفيه شكلين:

• It is estimated that the GEM will receive millions of visitors every year.بيقدّروا إن… (من غير ما نقول مين قدّر).
• It has been confirmed that the statue is genuine.اتأكد رسميًا إن التمثال أصلي.
• The city is said to have been an important port in ancient times.بيقولوا إن المدينة كانت ميناء مهم زمان. to have been لأن الكلام عن الماضي.
• The coins are thought to date from the Ptolemaic period.بيعتقدوا إن العملات راجعة للعصر البطلمي.

أمثلة من موضوعات الوحدة

الأمثلة دي عن الاكتشافات الأثرية، المتاحف، ونشر الأخبار على السوشيال ميديا.

• A royal tomb was discovered in Luxor this week.مقبرة ملكية اتكشفت في الأقصر الأسبوع ده. ده الـ lead بتاع الخبر (What + Where + When).
• The discovery was announced by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.الاكتشاف اتعلن بواسطة وزارة السياحة والآثار. ذكرنا الفاعل بـ by لأنه مهم (مصدر رسمي).
• Dozens of statues have been found under the water near Alexandria.عشرات التماثيل اتلاقت تحت المية قرب إسكندرية. present perfect passive.
• The fragile papyrus is being examined in a special laboratory.البردية الضعيفة بيتم فحصها دلوقتي في معمل خاص. present continuous passive.
• More details will be revealed next month.تفاصيل أكتر هتتكشف الشهر الجاي. future passive. ده الـ closing في مثال الكتاب.
• The artefacts must be handled carefully.الآثار لازم يتم التعامل معاها بحرص. modal passive.
• In the past, discoveries were reported slowly in newspapers.زمان الاكتشافات كانت بتتنشر ببطء في الجرايد. ده الـ background في الخبر.
• Today, photos of the site are shared online within minutes.النهارده صور الموقع بتتنشر أونلاين في دقايق.
• The inscriptions were translated by experts.النقوش اتترجمت بواسطة خبراء. (Review B)
• The tomb had been robbed before it was found.المقبرة كانت اتسرقت قبل ما يلاقوها. past perfect passive: حاجة حصلت قبل حاجة في الماضي.

إزاي تستخدمه في الـ News Report

The book's news report has five parts: Headline – Lead – Details – Background – Closing. The passive fits naturally in every part.

نموذج قصير (مش كامل، علشان تشوف الـ passive جوه خبر حقيقي):

لاحظ: الكاتب ما قالش «أنا» ولا «إحنا»، وكل التركيز على التماثيل والاكتشاف. وده بالظبط معنى formal reporting.

إمتى منستخدمش الـ Passive؟

Only transitive verbs (verbs with an object) can be passive. Verbs like happen, arrive, die, appear, disappear, exist have no passive form.

الفعل لازم يكون ليه مفعول علشان يتعمل passive. أفعال زي happen / arrive / disappear / appear / die / exist مش بيبقى ليها مفعول، فمينفعش تتحول:

• ✗ The accident was happened near the temple. ← ✓ The accident happened near the temple.happen مالهاش passive.
• ✗ Many old posts were disappeared. ← ✓ Many old posts disappeared.disappear مالهاش passive.

وكمان متكترش من الـ passive لو الفاعل مهم جدًا للقصة. مثلًا: Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun's tomb. هنا اسم Carter جزء من الخبر، فـ active أوضح (أو passive مع by).

إزاي بييجي في الأسئلة؟

الأسئلة في الكتاب والمراجعات بتيجي بالأشكال دي. هنحل مثال لكل شكل:

1) Only one sentence in each group is grammatically correct. Choose the correct answer.

a. The statues was found near the harbour.

b. The statues were find near the harbour.

c. The statues were found near the harbour.

d. The statues have finding near the harbour.

الإجابة: c. statues جمع = were، والفعل find تصريفه التالت found.

2) Write the correct form of the verb between brackets.

The new hall (open) by the Prime Minister next week.

الإجابة: will be opened — next week = مستقبل، والقاعة مش بتفتح نفسها، فـ passive.

3) Rewrite the sentence in the passive.

The team has photographed every wall of the tomb.

الإجابة: Every wall of the tomb has been photographed (by the team). — has + been + V3، ومش لازم نذكر the team.

تدريب

A. Choose the correct answer from a, b, c or d.

1. 1. A rare golden ring ______ in Saqqara last month. a. discovered b. was discovered c. has discovered d. is discovering

   Show answer

   b. was discovered — last month = ماضي بسيط، والخاتم مش بيكتشف نفسه.

2. 2. The results of the study ______ next year. a. will publish b. will be publish c. will be published d. are publishing

   Show answer

   c. will be published — will + be + V3.

3. 3. Hundreds of artefacts ______ to the GEM since 2020. a. have been moved b. has been moved c. were moved d. have moved

   Show answer

   a. have been moved — since = present perfect، وartefacts جمع = have.

4. 4. The old map is very delicate and must ______ carefully. a. handle b. be handled c. handled d. be handling

   Show answer

   b. be handled — modal + be + V3.

5. 5. ______ that the temple was built for the god Amun. a. It believes b. It is believed c. It was believing d. They are believed

   Show answer

   b. It is believed — reporting passive: It is believed that…

6. 6. The mask ______ when we arrived, so we couldn't see it. a. was being cleaned b. is cleaned c. was cleaning d. has cleaned

   Show answer

   a. was being cleaned — كان بيتنضف وقت ما وصلنا (past continuous passive).

7. 7. The ancient city ______ to have been destroyed by an earthquake. a. thinks b. is thought c. is thinking d. thought

   Show answer

   b. is thought — The city is thought to have been… (بيعتقدوا إنها اتدمرت).

8. 8. The old photograph was shared ______ thousands of users. a. from b. with c. by d. of

   Show answer

   c. by — الفاعل في الـ passive بييجي بعد by.

B. Only one sentence in each group is grammatically correct. Choose the correct answer.

1. 9. a. The coins were cleaned by students. b. The coins was cleaned by students. c. The coins were clean by students. d. The coins have cleaning by students.

   Show answer

   a — coins جمع = were + V3 (cleaned).

2. 10. a. The accident was happened near the excavation site. b. The accident happened near the excavation site. c. The accident has been happened near the excavation site. d. The accident is happened near the excavation site.

   Show answer

   b — happen مالهاش passive.

3. 11. a. A new tomb has be found in Aswan. b. A new tomb has been find in Aswan. c. A new tomb has been found in Aswan. d. A new tomb have been found in Aswan.

   Show answer

   c — tomb مفرد = has + been + found.

4. 12. a. More details will reveal soon. b. More details will be revealing soon. c. More details will be revealed soon. d. More details will revealed soon.

   Show answer

   c — will + be + V3.

C. Write the correct form of the verbs between brackets (active or passive).

1. 13. The Rosetta Stone (find) in 1799 near the city of Rashid.

   Show answer

   was found — حدث في الماضي، والحجر اتلاقى.

2. 14. Today, many historical posts (share) on social media every minute.

   Show answer

   are shared — present simple passive (حاجة بتحصل دايمًا).

3. 15. At the moment, the statue (restore) by a team of experts.

   Show answer

   is being restored — at the moment = present continuous passive.

4. 16. Archaeologists (work) at the site since 2023.

   Show answer

   have worked / have been working — هنا active لأن archaeologists هم اللي بيشتغلوا، وwork مالهاش مفعول.

5. 17. The tomb (rob) before the archaeologists arrived.

   Show answer

   had been robbed — حصل قبل حدث تاني في الماضي = past perfect passive.

6. 18. It (report) that the museum will open a new children's gallery.

   Show answer

   is reported / has been reported — reporting passive.

D. Rewrite in the passive. Then write.

1. 19. Rewrite in the passive: Experts examine the coins in a laboratory.

   Show answer

   The coins are examined in a laboratory (by experts). — present simple، coins جمع = are.

2. 20. Rewrite in the passive: The ministry will announce the discovery tomorrow.

   Show answer

   The discovery will be announced (by the ministry) tomorrow.

3. 21. Rewrite in the passive: Someone has deleted the original video.

   Show answer

   The original video has been deleted. — someone مش معروف، فبنشيله خالص.

4. 22. Rewrite starting with the words given: People believe that the statue is 3,000 years old. → The statue …

   Show answer

   The statue is believed to be 3,000 years old. — ولو عايز It: It is believed that the statue is 3,000 years old.

5. 23. Find and correct the mistake: The new gallery was visit by 5,000 students last week.

   Show answer

   visit ← visited: was visited. — لازم V3.

6. 24. Write a headline and a lead (What + Where + When) for a news report about a papyrus found in the Delta.

   Show answer

   مثال: Ancient Papyrus Found in the Delta / A 2,000-year-old papyrus was discovered in Kafr El-Sheikh on Monday morning. — العنوان من غير be، والـ lead فيه passive + فين + إمتى.

7. 25. Write THREE sentences for the Details and Closing parts of the same report. Use a different passive form in each.

   Show answer

   مثال: The papyrus was found by a team of local archaeologists. It is thought to contain a list of temple offerings. It will be displayed at the GEM after it has been restored. — past simple / reporting passive / future + present perfect passive.