The passive

The passive

• Gebruik:
  Onbelangrijk / onbekend / overduidelijk / vermijden wie handeling heeft verricht
  Nadruk op wat niet wie

• Vorm:

  Altijd een vorm van to be + voltooid deelwoord (walked, helped, made, been, ...)
  

The passive

Passive vorm:

• Altijd een vorm van to be + voltooid deelwoord (walked, helped, made, been, ...)
  Maar je hebt nog steeds te maken met de tijdsvormen!

Uncountable vs countable nouns

• Countable nouns
  Individual things that can be counted
  Can be singular or plural (1 car, 2 cars -> a/this/each car, no/some/many/a few cars)

• Uncountable nouns

  Neither singular nor plural (gasoline, knowledge)

  Cannot be divided into separate items

  Want to use a quantity? Add a phrase like "a lot of, two cups of, twenty litres of..."

Nouns that can be countable or uncountable

Many nouns can be both countable and uncountable, depending on the context

Would you like some chocolate? (= uncountable, the food in general)
There are only two chocolates left in the box. (= individual items)

Last but not least: no, none, not, etc

No
With (un)countable nouns, comparisons, and with different ("I have no idea" "It is no worse / no different...")

None
Followed by of + plural / uncountable (pro)noun ("None of my friends like/likes to read.")
Or used on its own ("We need to buy some eggs. There are none left.")

Not
Makes verbs negative ( "I did not leave" ) or other words / phrases negative ( "I ordered tea, not coffee" "Not everyone can do the moonwalk")

But beware of double negatives

But beware of double negatives!
I've had hardly no coffee in the house these past few days. X ->

I've had hardly any coffee in the house these past few days.



Luckily, various forms of 'any' can come to your rescue in case of double negatives!
(anyone, anything, anywhere, any...)