Rwanda Is Bordered by Four Countries: the Present Simple and the Present Passive for Describing a Country – Geography of Rwanda (Senior 4 English) | Ganzaa

Geography of Rwanda

Lessons

Senior 4 · English

Geography of Rwanda

5 lessons

Lesson 3 of 5

Rwanda Is Bordered by Four Countries: the Present Simple and the Present Passive for Describing a Country

25 min

Let's begin

Open any atlas, encyclopedia or geography textbook and count the verbs. Almost all of them are in two forms: the present simple (Rwanda lies in East Africa) and the present passive (It is bordered by four countries). These two forms are the grammar of facts. In this lesson you learn exactly when each one is used, how to build it without mistakes, and how to decide whether a sentence needs a passive at all.

A model text: Rwanda at a glance

An entry for a school fact file, written by Ganzaa from the facts in Lessons 1 and 2. The verbs are in bold.

Rwanda lies in East Africa, a little south of the Equator. It is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and it has no coastline. The country is divided into four provinces and the City of Kigali, which are in turn divided into thirty districts. Most of the land is drained by the Nyabarongo and the Akagera, which flow east towards Lake Victoria. In the west, Lake Kivu is shared with the Democratic Republic of the Congo; methane gas is extracted from its deep water and is burned to generate electricity. The Virunga volcanoes rise in the north-west, and their upper slopes are protected as a national park. The central plateau consists of rounded hills, and many slopes are cut into terraces. Rain usually falls in two seasons. Plastic carry bags are not sold in shops, because they are banned by law.

Notice: sort the bold verbs into two lists. In the first, the subject does something or is something (lies, has, flow). In the second, something is done to the subject (is bordered, is extracted). The first list is the present simple active; the second is the present passive.

1 The present simple

Use	Example
Permanent facts and states	Rwanda lies in East Africa. It has no coastline.
General truths and things that happen regularly	Rivers flow downhill. Rain usually falls in two seasons.
Describing what something is made of or contains	The central plateau consists of rounded hills. The park contains five volcanoes.
Timetables (illustrative)	The bus to Musanze leaves at 7.30 every morning.

Subject	Affirmative	Negative	Question
I, you, we, they, plural nouns	The rivers flow east.	They do not (don't) flow west.	Do they flow east?
he, she, it, singular nouns	The river flows east.	It does not (doesn't) flow west.	Does it flow east?

Spelling of the third person -s: most verbs add -s (lies, rises, borders); verbs ending in -s, -sh, -ch, -x or -o add -es (crosses, reaches, goes); a consonant + y becomes -ies (carry → carries, dry → dries), but a vowel + y just adds -s (stay → stays); have becomes has.

State verbs. Verbs that describe a permanent position or make-up, such as lie, border, belong to, consist of, contain, depend on, include, are not normally used in the continuous. The Akagera flows into Lake Victoria (always true). Use the present continuous only for something temporary: The river is flooding the valley this week.

2 The present passive

Form: am / is / are + past participle. The verb be agrees with the new subject.

	Singular subject	Plural subject
Affirmative	The lake is shared with the DRC.	The slopes are protected as a park.
Negative	Coal is not mined here.	Plastic bags are not sold in shops.
Question	Is methane extracted from the lake?	Are the districts divided into sectors?

Past participles to know for describing places: grow → grown, know → known, find → found, build → built, make → made, sell → sold, hold → held, speak → spoken, cut → cut, burn → burned (or burnt).

When to use the passive

The doer is unknown, obvious or unimportant. Methane is extracted from the lake. Who does it matters less than what happens.
To keep your topic as the subject. A paragraph about Lake Kivu reads better if Lake Kivu or it begins each sentence: Lake Kivu lies on the border. It is shared with the DRC.
In formal, factual writing, such as reports, geography answers and scientific descriptions.

Add by + the doer (the agent) only when it gives useful information: The border is marked by the Akagera River (useful); Tea is grown by people (useless: who else would grow it?).

Phrases that geography writing uses again and again: is located in, is situated in, is bordered by, is divided into, is drained by, is surrounded by, is known as, is covered with, is shared with, is made up of.

Worked example 1: active to passive, and deciding on the agent

Make each sentence passive. Keep the agent only if it adds information.

The Akagera River marks the border with Tanzania. Object: the border with Tanzania → new subject. Verb: marks → is marked (singular subject). Agent: the river is new information, so keep it. → The border with Tanzania is marked by the Akagera River.
The law bans plastic carry bags. New subject: plastic carry bags (plural) → are banned. Agent: by law may stay because it tells us the reason. → Plastic carry bags are banned by law.
They protect the upper slopes of the volcanoes as a national park. New subject: the upper slopes (plural) → are protected. Agent: they is vague and tells us nothing, so drop it. → The upper slopes of the volcanoes are protected as a national park.

Worked example 2: active or passive?

Complete with the present simple, active or passive: Lake Kivu ___ (lie) on the western border. It ___ (share) with the DRC. Methane ___ (extract) from its deep water. The Rusizi River ___ (carry) its water south.

Ask: does the subject do the action, or receive it? A lake does not "lie" anything; it simply lies there. Lie takes no object, so it cannot be passive: lies.
The lake does not share anything; Rwanda and the DRC share it. The subject receives the action: is shared.
Methane does not extract; people extract it: is extracted.
The river does the carrying, and its water is the object: active, third person, consonant + y → -ies: carries.

Answer: Lake Kivu lies on the western border. It is shared with the DRC. Methane is extracted from its deep water. The Rusizi River carries its water south.

Warning

"Rwanda is located in East Africa", never "Rwanda locates in East Africa". Locate means "find the position of"; a country does not find itself. The same goes for situate: Huye is situated in the Southern Province.
Verbs with no object have no passive: lie, rise, flow, happen, occur, arrive. Wrong: The volcanoes are risen in the north-west. Right: The volcanoes rise in the north-west.
Don't forget be: Tea grown on the hills is not a sentence. Write Tea is grown on the hills.
Agreement: The districts are divided into sectors, not is divided; Each district is divided into sectors.
Third person -s: The river flows; it doesn't flow west (no -s after doesn't).

Tip

The "by zombies" test. If you can add "by zombies" after the verb and the sentence still makes grammatical sense, it is passive: Tea is grown on the hills (by zombies) works, so it is passive; Rwanda has no coastline (by zombies) makes no sense, so it is active. It sounds silly, which is why you will remember it.

How to Use the Passive Voice in English, Oxford Online English (about 14 minutes, 2019). Watch the first half, on how the passive is formed and when it is used. Pause after each section and write one sentence about Rwanda that follows the same rule.

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Practice

Write the third person singular: (a) carry (b) reach (c) stay (d) go (e) have (f) cross.
Correct the verb: (a) Lake Kivu is lying between Rwanda and the DRC. (b) The Nyabarongo don't flow into Lake Kivu. (c) Huye locates in the Southern Province. (d) The volcanoes are risen above the farmland.
Make passive. Keep the agent only where it adds information. (a) Rwanda shares Lake Kivu with the DRC. (b) People call Rwanda "the land of a thousand hills". (c) Five Virunga volcanoes overlook the farms of the north-west. (d) Farmers cut terraces into many slopes.
Write questions in the present passive for these answers: (a) Yes, methane is extracted from Lake Kivu. (b) It is divided into thirty districts.
Complete with the present simple, active or passive: The Eastern Province ___ (cover) the largest area of any province. It ___ (know) for its savanna, much of which ___ (protect) as Akagera National Park. The Akagera River ___ (form) its border with Tanzania.
Rewrite this paragraph so that Kigali or it is the subject of every sentence: Several hills and valleys make up Kigali. The law divides the city into three districts. Visitors from many countries see it every year.
Write a fact file of 80–100 words on your own district. Use at least four present simple verbs and three present passives, and underline the passives.

Show answersHide answers

(a) carries (b) reaches (c) stays (d) goes (e) has (f) crosses.
(a) Lake Kivu lies between Rwanda and the DRC. (b) The Nyabarongo doesn't flow into Lake Kivu. (c) Huye is located (or is situated) in the Southern Province. (d) The volcanoes rise above the farmland.
(a) Lake Kivu is shared with the DRC. (b) Rwanda is called (or is known as) "the land of a thousand hills". (c) The farms of the north-west are overlooked by five Virunga volcanoes. (Keep the agent: it is the new information.) (d) Terraces are cut into many slopes.
(a) Is methane extracted from Lake Kivu? (b) How many districts is it divided into? (or: Into how many districts is it divided?)
covers; is known; is protected; forms.
Kigali is made up of several hills and valleys. It is divided into three districts (by law). It is seen every year by visitors from many countries.
Answers will vary. Check the form of each passive (is/are + past participle), the agreement, and the -s on singular present simple verbs.

Quick check

Choose the correct sentence.

Key points

Present simple for permanent facts, general truths, regular events and timetables; third person singular adds -s (flows, carries, has).
Present passive = am/is/are + past participle, used when the doer is unknown or unimportant, to keep the topic as subject, and in formal writing.
Add by + agent only when it gives useful information.
Verbs without an object (lie, rise, flow) have no passive; a place is located or is situated.

Sources and credits

Fact-file text, grammar explanations and tables, active-to-passive diagram, worked examples and practice written by Ganzaa. The facts in the fact file come from the sources credited in Lessons 1 and 2.
Photo: Hills with terrace and tea plantation, Peace Batuma, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Video: How to Use the Passive Voice in English, Oxford Online English, embedded from YouTube.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1A model text: Rwanda at a glance

21 The present simple

32 The present passive

A model text: Rwanda at a glance

1 The present simple

2 The present passive