AI in my life: listening and the future passive
First the listening skill. Read the questions before you listen, listen once for the general idea, then listen again for numbers and details, such as how long something takes. Now the grammar. We form the future simple passive with will be + past participle. In an active sentence the subject does the action: The teacher will check the exams. In a passive sentence the thing that receives the action becomes the subject: The exams will be checked. Follow two steps. Step 1: the object of the active sentence becomes the subject. Step 2: the verb becomes will be + past participle. Add by + the doer only when it matters: The machine will be checked by an engineer. The negative is will not (won’t) be + participle, and the question is Will + subject + be + participle? Useful participles: do – done, send – sent, write – written, build – built, make – made, teach – taught. Be careful: AI and machines will change many tasks, but people will still be needed to design, control and check them.
| Active | Future passive | Note |
|---|---|---|
| The teacher will check the exams. | The exams will be checked. | object becomes subject |
| They will build a new library. | A new library will be built. | will be + participle |
| We won’t use the old machine. | The old machine won’t be used. | negative: won’t be |
| Will they send the results? | Will the results be sent? | question: Will + subject + be |
Next month our town library will start using a new sorting machine. At the moment returned books are sorted by hand, and this takes about three hours every evening. When the machine has been installed, the books will be scanned at the desk and sorted into boxes in ten minutes. Some people worry that jobs will be lost, but the librarians will not be replaced. The machine will be checked every week by an engineer, and the librarians will have more time to help children choose stories. The library will be opened an hour earlier, too.
Future news. Write five future passive sentences for a news report about your town in ten years (for example: A new park will be built.). Read them to a grown-up, who says which sentences describe a change that you would like and which one you would not like.