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What is the passive form of such these sentences:

  • I enjoy watching TV.
  • I don't like playing football.

or

  • I don't want to play football.
  • I'd like to drink a cup of tea.

In normal sentences usually, we simply move the object to the subject of the passive sentence and then we use the passive form of the verb (eg: People love him => He is loved by people) but in this case, I have no idea.

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2 Answers 2

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The passive forms would be as follows:

TV watching is enjoyed by me.
Football playing is not liked by me.

But they sound so unusual that, outside of a mental exercise, nobody would ever actually use them.


There is no direct passive for the additional sentences. (Although a similar kind of translation might be made, it wouldn't be exact.)

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  • Question is edited.
    – X4748
    Jun 30, 2019 at 17:51
  • To play football is wanted by me.
    – Ron Jensen
    Jun 30, 2019 at 17:52
  • I was thinking "Watching TV is something I enjoy" "Playing football is not something I like"
    – Ron Jensen
    Jun 30, 2019 at 17:54
  • These are the passive of "enjoy" but not the passive of the gerund, which is not what X478 asked. Unless I misunderstand the question, that is.
    – Andrew
    Jun 30, 2019 at 18:00
  • @RonJensen To play football is not an object . . . (The use of the infinitive only makes sense in the active voice.) Jun 30, 2019 at 18:00
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(Edit) Ok, so you don't want to make the gerund/infinitive passive, you just want to make the sentence passive. Got it.

The passive voice sounds awkward in this context, and would not normally be something a native speaker would say. Still, if you are determined to do so, the rule is generally the same. Invert subject and object, and change the verb to the passive

Watching TV is enjoyed by me.

Playing football is not liked by me.

To play football is not wanted by me.

To drink a cup of tea is not wanted/desired by me.

Again, all of these are very unusual. In general, we do not use the passive voice for verbs of emotion or perception such as want, like, desire, think, enjoy, etc. -- but there are exceptions. For example, in a formal context, this kind of sentence sounds fine:

The sumptuous meal was enjoyed by all the guests.


Original answer, for general interest

"Being watched" is the passive of "watching", and "being played" is the passive of "playing", but neither really works in this context. With verbs like "enjoy" or "like", you would need an activity where you are the object of the gerund. For example:

I enjoy someone else cooking for me ⟶ I enjoy being cooked for (by someone)

I enjoy someone else singing to me ⟶ I enjoy being sung to (by someone)

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