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Teachers Activity links ____________________ Grammar advanced intermediate beginning ____________________ Reading abridged stories paraphrasing ____________________ Writing essay skills verb choice end focus ____________________ Web Design How To Center Images ____________________ more to come... ____________________ created and maintained by Douglas E. Adams		What do we do with a sentence that doesn't have a direct object, but rather another type of object instead? 1) What about sentences with preposition objects? Although it's not commonly preferred, an active sentence containing a preposition object/object of a preposition can be changed into a passive one. This is more often found in the case of written, academic sentences as opposed to spoken conversation. Take the following sentences as examples: The beaches of Normandy were landed on by Allied troops from the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain in the early hours of June 6, 1944. Dullus International Airport is arrived at by millions of passengers every year. .... However, there are less academic examples: They talked about the situation.....becomes.....The situation was talked about. Tom hasn't slept in his bed.....becomes....Tom's bed hasn't been slept in. A note about phrasal verbs *Phrasal verbs are frequently used in spoken conversation, and they appear to end in a preposition. However, in reality phrasal verbs do not actually contain a preposition. The thing that looks like a preposition is part of the verb and can't be separated from the verb in the same way a preposition could.      Ex: Crooks broke into the bank last night. (active)      Ex: The bank was broken into by crooks last night. (passive) Thus, the bank is actually a direct object. 2) What about indirect objects? What do we do when we have more than one object in a sentence? Which object gets moved to the front? As a general rule of thumb, the direct object is king (or queen) meaning that it takes priority and moves to the front. However, this is not always the case. In a sentence containing both a direct and indirect object it's possible to put the indirect object first. In the sentences below Jessica is the indirect object and answers the question: To whom?      Ex: Tom gave a ring to Jessica. (active)      Ex: Tom gave Jessica a ring. (active) We can make these sentences passive in either of two ways....      Ex: A ring was given to Jessica by Tom. (direct object is first)      Ex: Jessica was given a ring by Tom. (indirect object is first) Both forms are considered correct. 4) What about sentences with a be verb? If a sentence has a "be" verb, we cannot make it passive. The noun [or gerund/infinitive or noun clause] after a "be" verb is not an object. It's a subject complement.      Ex: Tom is a good pilot. (active)...does not become...A good pilot is been by Tom. (passive) Back to page one

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