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The café is being taken over
Passive voice
Isla takes the café on. Whoever is free that evening does the refit. The turning point of the course.
- Level
- B1
- Length
- 60 min
- Exercises
- 5
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About this lesson
A 60-minute lesson for B1 groups. Isla has taken over the café on Mill Street, and it is being done up in the evenings by whoever is free. Dev supplies the materials at cost, Tomek does the carpentry, and no job on the list has one person's name against it. That is exactly when English uses the passive.
Pairs describe the half-finished café from a picture. A short text follows, ending with the job list: DONE, BEING DONE, STILL TO DO. Students fill the gaps in a note Isla left on the door and argue in groups of three about whether to open in a week or open properly, using therefore, whereas, however and as a result. Ten sentences to correct close the lesson. Afterwards students can describe a process where what happened matters more than who did it, and argue about how to do it.
Describe a process where who did it matters less than what happened, and argue about how to do it.
- Grammar
- The simple passive; connecting words expressing cause and effect and contrast.
- Function
- Expressing opinions; initiating and closing a conversation.
- Words (15)
- leaserenewrefurbishlicencesuppliernoticeapplyat costthereforewhereasas a resulthowevertake overdo upchip in
Why Polish speakers get this wrong
Polish requires every negative in the clause: „nikt mi nic nie powiedział” has three. English allows one. So Nobody didn't tell me anything and I wasn't told nothing sound complete to a Polish speaker, and they come out whenever the talk turns to who was told what. A refit where Isla was not told about the paint is where it surfaces.
The note in Exercise 3 prints I was not told about the paint until Thursday evening in full, and the teacher reads it aloud twice. In the discussion, question 4 asks who has been told what; the notes say to write any double negative on the board, unmarked. Exercise 5 then hands it back twice, in items 6 and 7, and the class counts the negatives.
Free guide: Nobody told me anything: why Polish speakers use double negatives in English →
60 min · 5 exercises
- 1The cafe on Mill Street, Wednesday eveningPicture description · Lead-in7 min
- 2The list on the back wallGraded reading · Presentation10 min
- 3A note on the door, Saturday morningGap fill · Controlled practice11 min
- 4Open in a week, or open properlyDiscussion questions · Freer practice13 min
- 5What nobody was toldError correction · Review11 min
What nobody was told
Read the ten sentences about the work at the cafe. Eight of them have one mistake. Two are correct. Write the correct words on the line. If a sentence has no mistake, write correct.
- The floor was sand twice, and it was finished on Thursday night.
- The licence has applied for, and it still has not come back.
- The cafe sign is repainting indoors at the moment.
- Nobody didn't tell me anything about the delivery.
- I wasn't told nothing about the paint until Thursday evening.
- The neighbours have not been told anything about the opening day.
As printed on the student sheet. Answers are in the teacher pack.
- 1Student pack7 pages · A4 PDF
- 2Teacher pack: plan, notes, answer key13 pages · A4 PDF
Questions about this lesson
How long does it take?
60 minutes in five steps: picture description 7, graded reading 10, gap-fill 11, discussion 13, error correction 11. If the room is slow in the discussion, the notes say to cut question 3 and keep four minutes for question 6, the opening day.
How is the passive introduced?
Through the job list, not a rule. After the reading, you write three lines from it on the board and ask who sanded the floor: the page never says, and nothing is lost. The notes say not to name the form. Students then build the same three shapes from bare verbs in the gap-fill.
What is in the teacher pack?
Thirteen pages: the plan, keys, a rubric for the picture task, and notes for each exercise. They cover what to accept, such as contractions, and what to expect, such as the floor sanded with be missing, or the floor was sanded by us, which is good English but the wrong sentence here.