The story of Guy Fawkes
I costumi di Halloween non sono ancora stati riposti che già nel Regno Unito ci si prepara per un altro evento: Bonfire night, la notte dei falò.
Come ogni anno da più di quattro secoli a questa parte, infatti, la notte del 5 novembre i sudditi di Sua Maestà festeggeranno con falò e fuochi di artificio il fallimento della “Congiura delle polveri”, un complotto messo a punto da un gruppo di cattolici inglesi nel 1605 per far saltare in aria il Parlamento e uccidere il re protestante Giacomo I e i membri del suo governo e ripristinare, così, il cattolicesimo in Inghilterra.
Questo video realizzato da Twinkl ci permette di saperne di più su questa festa tanto antica quanto singolare e al tempo stesso ci dà l’opportunità per ripassare insieme come si costruisce la forma passiva del Past Simple.
“In 1605 King James I was the King of England. He was also king of Scotland. However, some people did not like him as, under his rule, England was a Protestant country and some people were Catholics.
A man called Robert Catesby and his friends plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament with the King and his government inside. One of his friends was called Guy Fawkes. They decided to use gunpowder to blow up underneath the King’s chair. Their plan was to cause an enormous explosion!
Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder were put in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament on the 5th of November 1605. However, the plan didn’t work! The barrels were found by the King’s guards and some of the men, including Guy Fawkes, were arrested for trying to kill the King. Guy Fawkes was put in prison until he confessed to trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament, the King and his government. He was executed!
The King decided that on the 5th of November every year from that day we would remember the Gunpowder Plot and how the plan failed!
Every year we burn bonfires and put a model of Guy Fawkes on top. We light fireworks and sparklers and celebrate the failure of the Gunpowder Plot.
And this is the story of The Gunpowder Plot. Remember, Remember, the 5th of November.”
Prima di vedere come si costruisce la forma passiva del Past Simple, diamo un’occhiata ad alcuni vocaboli relativi al Gunpowder plot contenuti nel video:
barrel = a large round container, usually made of wood or metal, with flat ends and, usually, curved sides (barile)
cellar = a room or set of rooms below the ground floor of a building (scantinato)
government = the group of people who are responsible for controlling a country or a state (governo)
guard = a person who protects a place or people, or prevents prisoners from escaping (guardia)
gunpowder = explosive powder used especially in bombs or fireworks (polvere da sparo)
plan = something that you intend to do or achieve (piano, progetto)
plot = a secret plan made by a group of people to do something wrong or illegal (complotto)
prison = [countable]a place for keeping people accused of a crime and awaiting trial, or for keeping prisoners (prigione)
(to) arrest = to take or keep in custody by authority of law (arrestare)
(to) blow up = to destroy or become destroyed by explosion (far salatare in aria)
(to) confess = to admit a fault (confessare)
(to) execute = to put to death according to a legal order (giustiziare)
(to) fail = to be unsuccessful (fallire)
(to) kill = to make somebody/something die (uccidere)
(to) plot = to plan secretely (complottare)
E passiamo ora alla forma passiva del Past Simple.
Per le frasi affermative, la forma passiva si costruisce:
subject + was/were* + past participle del verbo principale (terza colonna del paradigma)
es. Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder were put in the cellars.
es. The barrels were found.
es. Some of the men, including Guy Fawkes, were arrested.
es. Guy Fawkes was put in prison.
es. He was executed.
*was per I, he, she, it
were per you, we, they
Per le frasi negative:
subject + wasn’t/weren’t** + past participle del verbo principale (terza colonna del paradigma)
es. Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder weren’t put in the cellars.
es. The barrels weren’t found.
es. Some of the men, including Guy Fawkes, weren’t arrested.
es. Guy Fawkes wasn’t put in prison.
es. He wasn’t executed.
**wasn’t per I, he, she, it
weren’t per you, we, they
Per le frasi interrogative:
was/were + subject + past participle del verbo principale …?
es. Were thirty-six barrels of gunpowder put in the cellars?
es. Were the barrels found?
es. Were some of the men, including Guy Fawkes, arrested?
es. Was Guy Fawkes put in prison?
es. Was he executed?
Le risposte brevi- o short answers, invece, si formano:
Yes, subject pronoun was/were.
No, subject pronoun wasn’t/weren’t.
es. Were the barrels found? Yes, they were.
es. Was Guy Fawkes put in prison? Yes, he was.
Soffermiamoci, ora, su questa frase del video: The barrels were found by the King’s guards.
La preposizione by introduce quello che in inglese viene chiamato agent, ossia la persona, l’animale, il fatto ecc. che provoca l’azione subita dal soggetto.
Attenzione: l’agent non va espresso se è sconosciuto, irrilevante o ovvio in base al contesto (e.g. somebody, someone, un pronome personale).
A questo punto, per fare un po’ di pratica con la forma passiva del Past Simple, ecco qui degli esercizi che ho scelto per voi:
PASSIVE FORM PAST SIMPLE – EXERCISE 1
PASSIVE FORM PAST SIMPLE – EXERCISE 2
PASSIVE FORM PAST SIMPLE – EXERCISE 3
PASSIVE FORM PAST SIMPLE – EXERCISE 4
Invece, per avere altre informazioni su questa celebrazione, vi rimando ai post:
– Bonfire Night celebrations per saperne di più sui festeggiamenti per la notte dei falò;
– Bonfire Night – The Gunpowder Plot, per scoprire la storia terribile di “polvere da sparo, tradimento e complotto” all’origine di questa celebrazione;
– Bonfire Night – Toffee Apples, per imparare a fare le mele caramellate, un dolce tipico di questa ricorrenza.
Happy Bonfire night! j
