[helencurty]

hey everyone, i came across this today with a student of mine. we were doing an exercise where you had to say whether each sentence was active or passive ( 'This house was built by Tom' or ' My mom cleaned my room'., for example).

Usually I have no problems with the passive but I got stuck on this one and am hoping someone can bear the boredom of explaining it to me!!!!

Where has he been?...........passive or active?

Thanks for the help!

[clivehawkins]

Hi there,

This is actually the present perfect tense. The past participle is used in conjunction with the auxiliary verb 'have'. The present perfect is used with
1. unfinished time eg I have eaten 4 cakes this week.
2. unfinished actions eg She has lived in Italy for 7 years
3. when we don't specify 'when' in the past eg Where have you been? (compare Where did you go last year?)


So to answer your query it's an active question.
Compare:
Have you been to Russia? - active
Have you been kissed? - passive

Hope that's not too confusing. I'm told that in the States this tense is rarely used.

[helencurty]

perfect clive, thanks a million.... i was in the middle of trying to explain it when i realised i was confusing myself more than the student!!!!


thanks again

[clivehawkins]

esl-lounge.com Student | Grammar - Pre-Intermediate

You're welcome. Try this link - there's a great explanation of the present perfect.