Passives with an agent
We use the prepositionbyto introduce the doer or the agent of the action. We use this structure when the agent is important:
Mr Ward has been arrestedby the FBI.
The community was destroyedby a floodin 1862.
When the subject of the passive clause is not the real agent of the verb, we use other prepositions in passive structures:
I’d been decorating the bedroom and Iwas coveredin paint.(Paint isn’t the real agent; I am the agent; I was painting.)
When the doer or agent of the action is an instrument, we usewith:
The doorwas smashedopenwith a hammer.
Passives without an agent
Passive structures without an agent are very common. We use these structures when an agent is not important, or is unknown or obvious:
All applicationsmust be receivedbefore 31 July.
The datawas analysedand the resultshavejustbeen published.
I walked to work. The car’sbeingrepaired.
Itandthere
We often use an impersonal expression withitortherewhen the agent is not important:
Itwas decidedto charge £10 per ticket.
Ithas been estimatedthat in Tanzania one elephant in three is an orphan.
Therewereno commentsgivenabout the proposal and no decisionsmade.(No comments were given … no decisions were made.)
See also:
It
There is,there’sandthere are