← Horizons B2 B2 Arabic

11B Grammar

Online reviews

Unit 11

I CAN use the passive with modals to describe processes
I CAN write and analyse reviews

Grammar

10 cards

We use the passive voice in English when the action is more important than the person or thing doing it, or when the doer is unknown, obvious or simply not worth mentioning. When we want to add ideas such as possibility, advice, obligation, permission or expectation, we place a modal verb in front of the passive form. The basic structure is: subject + modal + be + past participle.

Look at the basic pattern in the table below. Notice how the same idea can be expressed in the active voice and the passive voice, and notice that the modal verb stays exactly the same — only the structure around it changes.

Function	Active sentence	Passive with modal
possibility	Customers can return the item.	The item can be returned.
advice	Staff should check the order.	The order should be checked.
obligation	You must complete the form.	The form must be completed.
expectation	The company might deliver on Monday.	The parcel might be delivered on Monday.
future plan	We will publish the review.	The review will be published.

In every passive sentence above, the agent (the person or company that does the action) is not mentioned. We can add the agent with by when the information is useful: The form must be completed by the customer before Friday. In most online reviews and descriptions of company processes, however, the agent is unknown or unimportant, so we simply leave it out.

We can also use the passive with modals to talk about the past. To do this, we insert have been between the modal and the past participle:

Present/Future: The order should be delivered tomorrow.
Past: The order should have been delivered last week.

This past form is extremely useful in online reviews. Reviewers often want to complain that something did not happen as promised: The parcel should have been delivered by 10 a.m., but it arrived at 6 p.m. The same structure works for all modals: The product must have been damaged in the post. The refund could not have been processed without a receipt.

The negative and question forms are also common in reviews and policy texts:

Negative: The product cannot be exchanged after 30 days.
Question: Can* this item be returned? / How should the data be protected*?

This structure is everywhere in online reviews because the writer is usually describing a process, a rule or a problem, not who did what. A typical review of an online shop might say: "Items must be returned within 14 days, and refunds should be processed within five working days." No one cares who does the returning or processing; they care about the rule.

Watch out for two very common mistakes. First, do not forget the word be: ❌ The order should delivered. ✅ The order should be delivered. Second, the verb that follows must be a past participle, not the base form: ❌ The form must be complete. ✅ The form must be completed.

The passive with modals is also the natural style for company policies and terms and conditions, because it sounds formal, neutral and applies the same rule to every reader: Orders should be confirmed by email. Personal data must be protected under GDPR. Compare this with the active version, which sounds more personal: We will confirm your order by email. We will protect your data. In a review, the focus is on the product, the service or the experience, so the passive is almost always the better choice.

Finally, remember that the past participle is the same form you use in the present perfect and the past simple passive. If you know that write - wrote - written → past participle is written, then the passive is The article should be written by an expert. Common irregular past participles that appear in reviews include broken, stolen, forgotten, returned, paid, sent, sold and made. Mastering this single structure will allow you to read, analyse and write almost any review you come across online.

Generating translation…

The package should be delivered before Friday.

All complaints must be submitted in writing.

Required

Look at the two sentences above. What comes between the modal verb and the main action?

the subject and the verb
be + past participle
have + past participle
an adverb and an object

Required

The form ___ by the customer before Friday.

Required

Which sentence is grammatically correct?

The item should returned to the shop.
The item should be return to the shop.
The item should be returned to the shop.
The item should being returned to the shop.

Required

In the sentence 'The order must be processed within 24 hours', the speaker is mainly interested in who processes the order.

Required

Put the words in the correct order to make a passive sentence with a modal.

refunded
should
be
product
The

Required

The parcel ___ delivered yesterday, but it arrived this morning.

Required

Complete each sentence with the correct past participle. Drag the words from the bank below.

submitted
completed
delivered
protected

The package should be before Friday.

All complaints must be in writing.

The form can be online.

Personal data should be .

Listening

5 cards

In this section, you will listen to a short conversation between two friends, Anna and Ben, who are deciding whether to buy a new coffee machine. Before you listen, picture the scene: two friends sitting together at home or in a café, each with a phone in their hand, looking at the same product page online. They are reading the reviews, checking the rating and discussing whether other customers would recommend the product.

While you listen, try to spot the vocabulary from the previous section: review, rating, recommend, delivery, refund, complaint, warranty. These words will tell you what each speaker thinks about the product. Listen especially for the phrases should have been and should be — this is the passive with modals from the grammar section, and it appears several times in the conversation because the speakers are describing rules, expectations and disappointments.

You will hear eleven turns in total. Anna tends to ask short, direct questions; Ben tends to give longer answers with specific numbers and examples. Notice how Ben uses the passive to describe the company policy (the warranty should be checked before a refund is given) rather than saying "we should check the warranty".

Prediction question: What kind of product do you think Anna and Ben are discussing? What might they be worried about? Take a moment to think about this before the conversation starts. You will check your answer in the next step.

After you have listened once for the general meaning, listen a second time and write down any numbers, dates or ratings you hear. These are the specific details you will need for the follow-up questions.

Generating translation…

Two friends, Anna and Ben, are sitting together and looking at an online shop on their phones. They are reading the reviews of a new product and trying to decide whether to buy it.

A
Anna Have you read the reviews for that new coffee machine yet?
B
Ben Yes, I read about ten of them this morning. I'm thinking of buying it.
A
Anna What's the overall rating?
B
Ben About 4.3 out of 5, which is pretty good.
A
Anna Do most people recommend it?
B
Ben Most do, but there are a few complaints about the delivery service.
A
Anna What kind of complaints?
B
Ben Some say the parcel should have been delivered in two days, but it took almost a week.
A
Anna Did those customers get their money back?
B
Ben Some did. Others say the warranty should be checked before a refund is given.
A
Anna OK, I think I'll order it then.

Required

What are Anna and Ben mainly talking about?

A restaurant they visited last weekend
A new coffee machine they are thinking of buying
A holiday they are planning together
A book they have just finished reading

Required

All customers who complained about late deliveries received a refund.

Required

Some customers said the parcel should ___ delivered in two days, but it took almost a week.

Pronunciation

6 cards

Many past participles in English end in the letters -ed, but we do not always pronounce the "e". The sound we use depends on the last sound of the verb.

There are three possible pronunciations:

1. /t/ — after voiceless consonants (p, k, f, s, ʃ, tʃ, θ). The /t/ is a sharp puff of air. Your throat does not vibrate. Put your hand on your throat while you say liked — you should feel no buzz at the very end of the word.

like → liked /laɪkt/
watch → watched /wɒtʃt/
finish → finished /ˈfɪnɪʃt/
publish → published /ˈpʌblɪʃt/

2. /d/ — after voiced sounds (all vowels, b, g, v, z, ʒ, dʒ, ð, m, n, ŋ, l, r, w, j). The /d/ uses the same place in the mouth as /t/, but the throat does vibrate. Put your hand on your throat while you say reviewed — you should feel a buzz.

recommend → recommended /rekəˈmendɪd/
review → reviewed /rɪˈvjuːd/
refund → refunded /rɪˈfʌndɪd/
return → returned /rɪˈtɜːnd/

3. /ɪd/ — after /t/ or /d/ only. We add a whole extra syllable: a short "id" as in kid.

rate → rated /ˈreɪtɪd/
decide → decided /dɪˈsaɪdɪd/
need → needed /ˈniːdɪd/
post → posted /ˈpəʊstɪd/

This matters in online reviews because reviewers use many past participles in the same paragraph: I liked the product. The item arrived late. The shop refunded my money. The order was posted yesterday. If you always say /ɪd/, you will sound unnatural and add a syllable that is not there. British speakers in particular are very careful to use the correct sound in these short function endings.

To make these three sounds correctly:

For /t/: place the tip of the tongue on the ridge behind your top teeth and release a small puff of air. Do not use your voice. Try: liked, watched, finished, published.
For /d/: the tongue position is the same, but this time you turn on your voice. You should feel a buzz in your throat. Try: reviewed, refunded, played, returned.
For /ɪd/: simply add a short "id" after the /t/ or /d/. Try: rated, decided, needed, posted.

A simple rule of thumb: if the verb already ends in /t/ or /d/, add the extra /ɪd/. Otherwise, look at the sound before -ed: voiceless → /t/, voiced → /d/. The most common mistake is to add a vowel after every -ed, so practice listening carefully before you speak.

You will hear this sound in almost every review you read online, and using it correctly will make your spoken English sound much more natural and fluent.

Generating translation…

The -ed ending has three pronunciations in English. After voiceless sounds like /p/, /k/, /f/, /s/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/ and /θ/, we say /t/: liked /laɪkt/, finished /ˈfɪnɪʃt/. After voiced sounds like vowels, /b/, /g/, /v/, /z/, /m/, /n/, /l/ and /r/, we say /d/: reviewed /rɪˈvjuːd/, refunded /rɪˈfʌndɪd/. After /t/ or /d/ only, we add an extra syllable /ɪd/: rated /ˈreɪtɪd/, posted /ˈpəʊstɪd/.

Required

Audio is being generated — try again in a minute.

Listen to the sentence. What is the final sound in the word 'liked'?

/t/
/d/
/ɪd/

Required

Read the sentence aloud. Pay attention to the final /t/ sound in 'liked'. Do not add a vowel after it.

I really liked the design.

Required

Read the sentence aloud. Notice the final /d/ sound in 'refunded'. Your voice should buzz.

The shop refunded my money within 48 hours.

Required

Read the sentence aloud. Notice the extra /ɪd/ syllable at the end of 'rated'.

The product was rated five stars by over a thousand users.

Speaking

7 cards

In this section, you will practise the language you need to write your own online review and to analyse reviews written by other people. The phrases below are organised into three groups: opening, describing the experience, and closing.

1. Opening — describing the product or service.

I recently bought the ___ and I would like to share my experience.
I am writing to give feedback on my recent order.
Overall, the product is excellent, but there are a few issues.
I have been a customer of ___ for over three years.

2. Describing the experience — using the passive with modals.

The parcel should have been delivered in two days, but it took a week.
The form can be completed online in less than five minutes.
The refund should be processed within 14 days of returning the item.
Complaints must be sent in writing to the customer service team.
Personal data should be protected at all times.
The product cannot be exchanged after 30 days, which I think is unfair.

3. Closing — making a recommendation.

I would recommend this product to anyone who ___.
I would not recommend this product because the customer service is poor.
In my opinion, the quality could be improved.
I hope my feedback is useful. Thank you for reading my review.

When you analyse a review, look for three things:

the rating — out of 5 or 10, usually shown as stars;
the structure — most successful reviews start with a short summary, then describe specific points (delivery, quality, customer service), then give a clear recommendation;
the language — good reviews use the passive with modals to describe rules and processes, and they include key vocabulary such as refund, delivery, warranty, complaint and recommend.

Notice also the tone. Positive reviews often use words like excellent, perfect, friendly, fast; negative reviews often use words like disappointing, slow, rude, damaged. The best reviews stay polite and factual, even when they are complaining, which makes them more useful to other customers and more likely to be taken seriously by the company.

You will first listen to a short model conversation between a customer and a shop assistant, then you will repeat the key phrases aloud, and finally you will have a live conversation with the AI. The AI will play the role of a shop assistant responding to a complaint, and you will use the passive with modals to describe what should have happened, supported by the vocabulary from this lesson.

Generating translation…

A customer and a shop assistant are talking on the phone. The customer wants to leave a review of a recent order and complain about a late delivery.

T
Tom Good morning. Customer service, Tom speaking. How can I help?
E
Emma Hello, I'd like to leave some feedback about my recent order. I want to give a review.
T
Tom Of course. Would you like to give us a rating, or write a longer review?
E
Emma I want to write a review. The product itself is great, but the delivery was very slow.
T
Tom I'm sorry to hear that. How would you rate the delivery?
E
Emma I'd give it two stars. The parcel should have been delivered in two days, but it took almost a week.
T
Tom Thank you for letting us know. I'll pass your feedback to the delivery team.

I would recommend this product to anyone looking for good value for money.

Required

Read the sentence aloud. Notice the past passive with the modal: should + have been + delivered.

The parcel should have been delivered in two days, but it took almost a week.

Required

Read the sentence aloud. This is a typical closing sentence for a negative review.

I would not recommend this product because the customer service was very poor.

Required

You are a customer who bought a product online three weeks ago. The product itself is fine, but the delivery was very late. You want to complain and ask for a refund. Use the passive with modals to describe what should have happened (for example: 'The parcel should have been delivered in two days'). Use vocabulary from this lesson: refund, delivery, complaint, warranty, recommend. Try to speak for at least four turns.

Required

I CAN use the passive with modals to describe processes and complaints
I CAN write an online review using appropriate vocabulary
I CAN analyse the key features of an online review (rating, structure, language)
I CAN pronounce the -ed ending in past participles correctly

Vocabulary

6 cards

Before you write or analyse an online review, you need the right vocabulary. This lesson introduces eight common words that appear in almost every product or service review. The table below gives you the part of speech, a quick gloss in Arabic, and a short example sentence for each.

Word	Part of speech	Arabic gloss	Example sentence
review	noun	مراجعة	I read over fifty customer reviews before I bought this phone.
rating	noun	تقييم (من 1 إلى 5)	The restaurant has a rating of 4.7 stars on Google.
recommend	verb	يوصي / ينصح	Many users recommend this brand for its excellent build quality.
refund	noun / verb	استرداد المال	You can ask for a full refund within 14 days.
delivery	noun	توصيل / شحن	The delivery took three weeks, which was much longer than promised.
complaint	noun	شكوى	I sent a formal complaint to customer service last Monday.
feedback	noun	ملاحظات وآراء	The manager thanked us for our honest feedback.
warranty	noun	ضمان	The product comes with a two-year warranty against defects.

These eight words form a typical review pattern. A reviewer usually describes the product or service, gives a rating out of 5 or 10, and then offers a recommendation. If something went wrong, they describe the delivery, the refund process, the complaint they made, and the warranty situation. They often thank the company for reading their feedback at the end.

When you read a review, try to spot these key nouns. They are signposts that tell you the topic of the review and the writer's mood: refund, complaint and warranty usually point to a negative review, while recommend, feedback and good ratings usually point to a positive one. A quick way to skim a review is to scan for these words first and decide whether the writer is happy or unhappy.

Be careful with recommend. In English we say recommend something to someone or recommend that someone (should) do something:

She recommended the book to her colleagues.
He recommended that we should try the new menu.

The noun refund is the money you get back, but the verb refund is what the shop does to your money: I asked for a refund (noun). *The shop refunded* my money within 48 hours (verb). Both forms are common in reviews.

Pay attention to delivery — in the meaning "the service of bringing a product to a customer", it is almost always uncountable, so we say The delivery was late, not a delivery was late, unless we mean one specific delivery event: My first delivery arrived on time, but the second delivery was a week late.

Complaint is countable: I made a complaint. I sent two complaints. I have a complaint. The related verb is complain (to complain about something), and the related adjective is complaining (a complaining customer).

Finally, warranty is a written promise from a company that it will repair or replace a product if it breaks within a certain time. If you have a problem with a product, the first thing to check is whether the warranty is still valid, because this decides whether the company has to give you a refund or a replacement. British English usually uses the spelling warranty (not guaranty).

In the next sections, you will hear these words in a real review dialogue, and you will use them in your own speaking and writing tasks.

Generating translation…

Study these eight key words for online reviews. You will hear them in the listening dialogue and use them in the speaking task.

complaint kəmˈpleɪnt
A complaint is a statement that something is wrong or not satisfactory; an expression of dissatisfaction or an
delivery dɪˈlɪvəri
The act of bringing something to a person or place; the process of being delivered.
feedback ˈfiːdbæk
Comments, criticism, or information about something that helps you understand how good or bad it is; in system
rating ˈreɪtɪŋ
A rating is a measurement or evaluation that indicates the quality, rank, or score of something, often express
recommend ˌrɛkəˈmɛnd
To suggest that something is good or suitable for a particular purpose or person; to advise someone to do or c
refund ˈriːfʌnd
A repayment of money, especially when a customer returns a product or is unsatisfied with a service.
review rɪˈvjuː
to think or talk about something again, in order to make changes to it or to make a decision about it: If crit
warranty ˈwɒrənti
A written guarantee that promises to repair or replace a product if it has defects within a certain time perio