Level 1 — Foundation · Spoken Clauses & Connected Speech
Drill 13: Describing a Process Out Loud in Passive Voice
Describe one step of a process out loud using passive voice, live, so the listener's attention lands on what happened — not on who did it.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this drill, you should be able to:
- Say a passive sentence (be + V3) correctly and immediately, without a planning pause
- Decide live whether to include or drop 'by + doer' while speaking
- Keep the receiver of the action in the sentence's opening position, matching the intended focus
Introduction
Lesson 13 taught you to notice why a writer opens a sentence with the receiver of an action instead of the doer. This drill asks you to build that same choice live — describing a process step out loud, in passive voice, with no time to plan the sentence first.
Shadow the Model
The containers are scanned before they're loaded onto the vessel.
Listen once all the way through, then shadow it. Notice "are scanned" carries the sentence's main stress, not "containers" — in fluent speech the passive verb itself is never rushed or swallowed.
Your Turn
Your Turn
Scenario: at a warehouse, staff weigh every package before it ships. When the timer starts, say one passive sentence describing this step, with "package" or "every package" opening the sentence — speak immediately, no planning pause.
Speak your passive sentence now
Record Yourself
Say your passive sentence, then record it and compare against the model.
Model Answer
Show a model answer
There's no single correct sentence — "Every package is weighed before it ships" and "Packages are weighed before shipping" are both natural. What matters is that the passive verb ("is weighed" / "are weighed") came out immediately and correctly, with the package, not the staff, opening the sentence.
Vocabulary in Context
weighverbneutral
to measure how heavy something is (ওজন করা)
Often with weigh the container, weigh the options, weigh carefully
“Every container is weighed at the gate before it is loaded.”
shipverbneutral
to send goods somewhere, usually by a carrier (পাঠানো/চালান করা)
Often with ship goods, ship by sea, shipped from
“We ship the goods by sea to arrive within three weeks.”
Self-Check
Self-Check
- Did you speak immediately, with no pause to plan the sentence?
- Did your passive verb use the correct "be + V3" form?
- Did the receiver of the action, not the doer, open your sentence?
Next: Speaking 14 — Speaking Instantly With Gerunds and Infinitives: saying, live, whether an activity is your subject or your purpose.