6.2 Passive Voice, Gerunds, and Infinitives
Key Takeaways
Passive voice uses be (or get) + past participle; tense lives on the be form (is written, was written, has been written, will be written).
By-agents are optional; omit them when the doer is unknown, obvious, or unimportant—common in academic style.
Causatives: have/get something done (service by someone else); get + object + to-infinitive; have + object + bare infinitive for causing action.
Some verbs require a gerund (enjoy studying), some a to-infinitive (decide to study), and some change meaning by pattern (stop smoking vs stop to smoke).
Participle adjectives: -ing = causing the feeling (boring lecture); -ed = experiencing it (bored students).
6.2 Passive Voice, Gerunds, and Infinitives
Quick Answer: Build passives with be/get + past participle; put tense on be. Use have/get + object + past participle for services done by others. After verbs, memorize gerund-only, infinitive-only, and meaning-change lists. Match -ing/-ed adjectives to cause vs. experience.
Nonfinite forms and the passive voice appear throughout iTEP Grammar, from intermediate blanks to advanced error IDs. Treat them as closed systems: once you know which slot needs which form, options become easy to eliminate.
Passive voice across tenses
Active: Researchers published the findings in 2024.
Passive: The findings were published in 2024 (by researchers).
Form: subject (patient) + be (correct tense/aspect) + past participle (+ optional by + agent).
| Active tense | Passive pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | am/is/are + V3 | The policy is reviewed annually. |
| Past simple | was/were + V3 | The samples were stored overnight. |
| Present continuous | am/is/are being + V3 | The manuscript is being edited now. |
| Past continuous | was/were being + V3 | The data were being coded during the audit. |
| Present perfect | has/have been + V3 | Three hypotheses have been tested. |
| Past perfect | had been + V3 | The instrument had been calibrated before use. |
| Future | will be + V3 | Results will be released next month. |
| Modal | modal + be + V3 | The error must be corrected. |
| Modal perfect | modal + have been + V3 | The file may have been deleted. |
Only transitive verbs form ordinary passives (they take objects). Arrive, happen, and sleep do not passivize in standard English.
By-agent and when to omit it
Use by + agent when the doer matters: The theory was proposed by Kuhn. Omit the agent when the doer is unknown, generic, or irrelevant—typical in methods writing: Participants were randomly assigned to groups. On the exam, do not invent a by-phrase if the stem does not need one; do not drop by when the option set is testing agent structure.
Get-passive
Get + past participle is common in spoken and informal written English for events with change or adversity: The window got broken; She got promoted. Academic prose prefers be-passives, but iTEP may accept get when the stem is conversational. Never write got been or was get.
Causative structures: have / get / make
Causatives express that someone arranges or forces an action:
| Pattern | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| have/get + object + past participle | arrange for a service | We had the survey translated. / We got the figures checked. |
| have + object + bare infinitive | cause someone to do something | The chair had the committee revise the rubric. |
| get + object + to-infinitive | persuade/cause | The tutor got the students to outline first. |
| make + object + bare infinitive | force | The deadline made the team work overnight. |
| make + object + past participle (passive sense) | cause object to receive action | She made her voice heard. |
Trap: I had my laptop repairing (wrong) → repaired (service) or I had the technician repair my laptop.
Gerunds vs. infinitives after verbs
A gerund is the -ing form used as a noun: Writing daily improves clarity.
A to-infinitive is to + base verb: She hopes to publish soon.
Verbs commonly followed by a gerund
enjoy, avoid, consider, delay, deny, discuss, finish, keep, miss, practice, quit, risk, suggest, mind, postpone, put off, give up, can’t help
- Students should avoid submitting uncited work.
- The committee suggested expanding the sample.
Verbs commonly followed by a to-infinitive
agree, choose, decide, expect, hope, learn, need, offer, plan, promise, refuse, want, wish, afford, appear, seem, tend, fail, manage
- They decided to extend the trial.
- The model failed to predict the outlier.
Verbs that take either with little meaning change
begin, start, continue, like, love, hate, prefer (often interchangeable, with mild style differences).
Meaning-change pairs (high-yield traps)
| Verb | + gerund | + infinitive |
|---|---|---|
| stop | end a habit: stop smoking | pause in order to do X: stop to smoke |
| remember | recall a past act: remember locking the lab | not forget to do X: remember to lock the lab |
| forget | not recall a past act | fail to do a duty: forget to submit |
| try | experiment with a method: try using a rubric | make an effort: try to finish by Friday |
| regret | feel sorry about a past act | formal bad news: regret to inform |
| mean | involve: This means rewriting Chapter 2 | intend: I mean to rewrite Chapter 2 |
| go on | continue the same activity | change to a new activity: went on to discuss |
Memorize these pairs; iTEP loves near-miss options that swap gerund and infinitive.
Adjectives and nouns + infinitive
It is important to cite sources. / She is ready to present. / Their goal is to reduce error.
Purpose infinitives answer “why?”: Researchers sampled broadly to improve validity.
In order to is a formal purpose marker: in order to meet the deadline.
For + gerund marks purpose of a tool/function: a tool for measuring humidity (not for to measure).
Preposition + gerund only
After a preposition, use a gerund, not an infinitive: interested in learning, good at solving, before submitting, without checking. ❌ interested in to learn.
Participle adjectives: -ing vs. -ed
| Form | Role | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -ing | source/cause of a feeling or quality | a boring lecture, a surprising result |
| -ed | experiencer of the feeling | bored students, surprised researchers |
- ❌ I am very boring in statistics class (says you cause boredom)
- ✅ I am very bored in statistics class (you experience boredom)
- ✅ The statistics class is boring.
Other pairs: interested/interesting, confused/confusing, excited/exciting, exhausted/exhausting, frightened/frightening.
Passive gerunds and infinitives
- Passive infinitive: to be + V3 — The draft needs to be revised.
- Passive gerund: being + V3 — She hates being interrupted.
- Perfect infinitive: to have + V3 — He claims to have finished.
- Perfect passive infinitive: to have been + V3 — The file seems to have been moved.
These forms appear on advanced blanks. Match aspect to the time relation: prior action → perfect; patient role → passive.
Object + infinitive / gerund patterns
- ask/tell/want/expect/encourage + object + to-infinitive: The advisor encouraged students to revise.
- make/let/have + object + bare infinitive: Let the data speak for themselves.
- see/hear/watch + object + bare infinitive / -ing (full act vs. in progress): I heard her present the findings vs. I heard her presenting the findings.
Exam application
On fill-in-the-blank, diagnose voice (active vs. passive), then tense on be, then participle. For nonfinites, identify the governing verb or preposition first—do not choose an infinitive after enjoy or a gerund after decide.
On error identification, common faults include active/passive mix-ups (The paper published in 2024 missing was), wrong participle after be, gerund/infinitive swaps after meaning-change verbs, and -ed/-ing adjective confusions.
Quick elimination order
- Does the subject receive the action? → passive; check be + V3.
- Is there a causative (have/get/make)? → match the causative template.
- What verb or preposition governs the blank? → gerund, infinitive, or bare form.
- Is the blank an adjective describing cause or experiencer? → -ing vs. -ed.
- Purpose? → to-infinitive or for + gerund for tools—not both mixed.
Drill these five questions until they fire automatically under the Grammar section’s ten-minute clock.
Which sentence correctly forms the present perfect passive?
The hypotheses have tested carefully.
The hypotheses are being test carefully.
The hypotheses have being tested carefully.
The hypotheses have been tested carefully.
“We ____ the questionnaire translated by a professional service.” Which causative best fits a completed service?
had
made
let
did
Which option correctly completes: “After years of lab work, she finally stopped ____ the same failed protocol”?
to use
using
use
used
Choose the correct participle adjectives: “The ____ results left the team ____.”
confused / confusing
confused / confused
confusing / confused
confusing / confusing
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.