Language Form and Meaning: relative clauses, the passive and conditionals
Đã giới thiệu| English | Ý nghĩa |
|---|---|
| passive/ˈpæsɪv/ | passive |
| past participle/pæst pɑːˈtɪsɪpl/ | past participle |
Longer sentences, same rules
- Harder Language Form and Meaning texts join ideas into longer sentences: The robot that we built won a prize. The prize was given by the mayor. If we win again, we'll get a trophy.
- Three patterns cover many of those boxes: relative clauses, the passive and conditionals.
Relative clauses: who, which, that, whose, where
- who for people, which for things, that for both (in clauses without commas), whose for "belonging to", where for places.
- The girl who sits next to me… · The book which I borrowed… · The boy whose bike was stolen… · The town where I was born…
- Mr Lee is the teacher ___ class won the quiz. who / which / whose / where
- The class belongs to the teacher: whose.
Mr Lee is the teacher ___ class won the quiz.
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
The class belongs to the teacher, so "whose".
This is the park ___ we had our class picnic.
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
"Where" refers to a place and introduces what happened there.
The girl ___ won the race is in my class.
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
"Who" for a person who does the action.
Match each word to what it points to.
Độ khó 2/5 · 140 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
Choose the relative word by what it refers to.
The passive: be + past participle
- Use the passive 被动语态 when the action matters more than who did it: The school was built in 1998. Lunch is served at noon.
- Form = be in the right tense + past participle 过去分词: is cleaned, was opened, will be sent, has been finished.
- The letters were send yesterday ✗ → were sent ✓. The passive always needs the past participle.
The invitations were ___ to every family last week.
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
Passive = be (were) + past participle (sent).
The new gym ___ by the mayor next year.
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
"By the mayor" shows the gym receives the action, and "next year" is future: will be + past participle.
The windows are ___ every Friday. (clean)
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
Passive present = are + past participle "cleaned".
Active or passive?
- Ask: does the subject do the action, or receive it? The students painted the wall (they did it). The wall was painted (it received the action).
- A by phrase is a strong clue for the passive: …was written by a student.
Active or passive?
Form and recognise the passive (be + past participle)
Which sentence is passive?
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
The subject "the wall" receives the action; "by the students" says who did it.
A "by" phrase after the verb is a strong clue that the sentence is passive.
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
"…was written by a student" shows who did the action in a passive sentence.
The poem ___ by a twelve-year-old student.
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
The poem receives the action and "by" names the writer.
Conditionals: if + result
- Zero: facts. If you heat ice, it melts. (present + present)
- First: real future. If it rains tomorrow, we will stay inside. (present + will). Never will after if here.
- If it ~~will rain~~ rains, we will stay inside. The if part uses the present.
If you mix blue and yellow paint, you ___ green.
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
A fact uses the zero conditional: present + present.
If it ___ tomorrow, the match will be cancelled.
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
First conditional: if + present, result with will.
"If it will rain, we will stay inside" is correct.
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
The if part uses the present: "If it rains…".
Second conditional: imagined situations
- If I had a dog, I would walk it every day. (past + would): not true now, imagined.
- With be, test texts often use were: If I were taller, I would play basketball.
If I ___ a dog, I would walk it every morning.
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
Second conditional (imagined): if + past, result with would.
If I ___ taller, I would play basketball. (be)
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
Test texts use "were" in the second conditional, for every person.
Match each sentence to its conditional type.
Độ khó 2/5 · 140 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
The verb forms show which type.
Common mistakes
- Using which for a person: the man which… ✗ → the man who.
- Forgetting be in the passive: The bridge built in 1900 ✗ (as a full sentence) → The bridge was built.
- Mixing conditionals: If I have time, I would help ✗ → If I had time, I would help or If I have time, I will help.
Which sentence is correct?
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
"Which" cannot refer to a person; the bridge sentence needs "was"; "have … would" mixes two conditionals.
Read to the end of the sentence
- The clue is often after the box: The cake ___ by my brother → by shows passive. If I ___ a million dollars + would → had.
- Read the full sentence before you choose. It costs five seconds and saves the question.
In "The cake ___ by my brother", what tells you the box needs a passive verb?
Độ khó 1/5 · 100 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
The clue is after the box; reading to the end shows it.
Make a correct sentence.
Độ khó 3/5 · 200 xu + phần thưởng nhỏ khi hoàn thành lần đầu tiên hôm nay
"Which was opened in 1990" describes the museum; the main verb is "is".
Recap
- who / which / that / whose / where by what they point to.
- Passive = be + past participle; check who does the action.
- if + present → will; if + past → would; zero conditional for facts.
Write three sentences about your school: one with "who" or "where", one passive sentence, and one first conditional.
Writing the patterns yourself makes the test boxes faster to spot.
Official sources
- Language Form and Meaning format checked on 15 November 2026 in the TOEFL Junior Test Taker Handbook (ETS, PDF).
- Language Form and Meaning sample questions (ETS). All examples here are original.