Question

Quebec ____________ (to capture) by the British in the 18th century. captured captures The passive voice is used when we want to focus attention on the person or thing affected by the action. The passive is usually formed by the verb to be + past participle. We can leave out the ‘doer’ or agent, or we can place the ‘doer’ in a prepositional phrase (by + ‘doer’). We use passive forms of tenses in the same way as we use their active equivalents.In the test sentence the main focus is on the name of the city - Quebec (the capital of the province ofQuebec in Canada) that is the subject of the test sentence. The ‘doer’ is placed in the prepositional phrase ‘by the British’. We use this structure ‘passive + by + doer’ when the agent/doer is important.In the test sentence the agent is important because of the historical context: the dramatic victory that ensured British supremacy in Canada.As it is stated in the test sentence that the capture of this city happened in the 18 th century, we are to choose ANSWER 1 ‘was captured’ – Past Simple passive. ‘Captured’ is the past participle of the regular verb ‘capture’.

Accepted Answer

was captured is captured a

Question	Quebec ____________ (to capture) by the British in the 18th century.
A	was captured
B	captured
C	is captured
D	captures
Answer	a
Remark	The passive voice is used when we want to focus attention on the person or thing affected by the action. The passive is usually formed by the verb to be + past participle. We can leave out the ‘doer’ or agent, or we can place the ‘doer’ in a prepositional phrase (by + ‘doer’). We use passive forms of tenses in the same way as we use their active equivalents.In the test sentence the main focus is on the name of the city - Quebec (the capital of the province ofQuebec in Canada) that is the subject of the test sentence. The ‘doer’ is placed in the prepositional phrase ‘by the British’. We use this structure ‘passive + by + doer’ when the agent/doer is important.In the test sentence the agent is important because of the historical context: the dramatic victory that ensured British supremacy in Canada.As it is stated in the test sentence that the capture of this city happened in the 18 th century, we are to choose ANSWER 1 ‘was captured’ – Past Simple passive. ‘Captured’ is the past participle of the regular verb ‘capture’.

Test Captured Passive Past Doer Sentence Quebec British