At home we often talk about things that happen without saying who did them: the bins are collected, the parcel's been delivered, the window was broken. Learners often avoid the passive, or translate with "they" every time: "They collect the bins on Tuesdays". That is fine, but it misses common British patterns. In this episode: • The basic passive • The get-passive in casual speech • Having things done: services • Bad things that happen to you • A home scene • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: The bins are collected on Tuesdays. — someone collects them; who doesn't matter The window was broken last night. — we don't know who did it Our parcel's been delivered next door. — the driver isn't important The washing's been done. — someone has done it The road's being dug up again. — work is happening now The kitchen was painted last year. — by someone The boiler got fixed this morning. — it was fixed (casual) He got told off for being late. — someone told him off (casual) We got stuck in traffic. — we were stuck (casual) My phone got broken at football. — an accident (casual) Did you get paid on Friday? — did they pay you? (casual) She got picked for the team! — she was chosen (casual) We're having the boiler serviced. — an engineer is checking it I need to get my hair cut. — a hairdresser will do it We had the kitchen painted. — a decorator did it I'm getting my car fixed on Friday. — a garage will fix it She's having her eyes tested. — at the optician's We get our windows cleaned once a month. — a window cleaner does it Real British English: the complete spoken course for learners worldwide — modern British accent, everyday grammar, phrasal verbs, idioms, slang, he/she/it for things, and real conversations at home. Listen, repeat out loud, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.