THE PASSIVE VOICE

Form and main uses

Susana Antón

The Passive voice

1. Passive forms:1.1 Active and passive structures1.2 Passive verb forms1.3 Verbs not used in the passive1.4 Passive agent1.5 Verbs with two objects1.6 Sentences using a clause as the object1.7 Sentences using an infinitive as the object1.8 Object complements1.9 GET

2. Uses of the passive3. Meaning and semantic features

1. Passive forms

1.1 Active and passive structures

Compare:

- They built this house in 1486 (active)- This house was built in 1486 (passive)

- A friend of ours is repairing the roof (active)- The roof is being repaired by a friend of ours (passive)

- This book will change your life (active)- Your life will be changed by this book (passive)

1. Passive forms

1.2. Passive verb forms

Tense Subject Verb Object Simple present

Active Rita writes a letter.

Passive A letter is written by Rita.

Simple past Active Rita wrote a letter.

Passive A letter was written by Rita.

Present Perfect

Active Rita has written a letter.

Passive A letter has been written by Rita.

Future Active Rita will write a letter.

Passive A letter will be written by Rita.

Auxiliary verbs

Active Rita can write a letter.

Passive A letter can be written by Rita.

1. Passive forms

Tense Subject Verb Object Present Progressive

Active Rita is writing a letter.

Passive A letter is being written by Rita.

Past Progressive

Active Rita was writing a letter.

Passive A letter was being written by Rita.

Past Perfect Active Rita had written a letter.

Passive A letter had been written by Rita.

Future Perfect Active Rita will have written a letter.

Passive A letter will have been written by Rita.

Conditional I Active Rita would write a letter.

Passive A letter would be written by Rita.

Conditional II Active Rita would have written a letter.

Passive A letter would have been written by Rita.

1.2. Passive verb forms

1. Passive forms

UNUSUAL CASES:Future progressive passives (will be being + pp)Perfect progressive passive (has been being + pp)

TWO-WORD VERBS:- She likes being looked at- I need to be taken care of.

1. Passive forms

1.3. Verbs not used in the passive

- Intransitive verbs: die or arrive.- Transitive verbs: “stative verbs”: have, fit, lack, resemble,

suit.

They have a nice house. (BUT NOT A nice house is had by them).My shoes don’t fit me (BUT NOT I’m not fitted by my shoes)

- Prepositional verbs: agree with, walk into

Everybody agreed with me (BUT NOT I was agreed with by everybody)

1. Passive forms

1.4 Passive agent

• By• Aprox. 20%• Examples:

All the trouble was caused by your mother. I was shocked by your attitude.

• Worried, frigthened, etc…• We were worried about/by her silence.

• With:He was killed by a heavy stone.He was killed with a heavy stone.

1. Passive forms

1.5 Verbs with two objects: GIVE, SEND, SHOW, etc.

ACTIVE:1. Verb + indirect object + direct objectShe gave her sister the car

2. Verb + direct object + preposition + indirect objectShe gave the car to her sister

PASSIVE:

1. Indirect object becomes subject of passive verbHer sister was given the car

2. Direct object becomes subject of passive verb.The car was given to her sister

Explain,suggest and describe can’t be used in structure 1:The problem was explained to the children (BUT NOT The children were explained the problem)A meeting place was suggested to us (BUT NOT We were suggested a meeting place)

1. Passive forms

1.6 Sentences using a clause as the object

They all thought that she was a spy (BUT NOT That she was a spy was thought by them all)

The newspapers say that his company is in trouble (BUT NOT That his company is in trouble is said….)

- IT: preparatory subject for a clauseIt was thought that she was a spy.It is said that his company is in trouble.

1. Passive forms

1.7 Sentences using an infinitive as the object

Active:They thought her TO be a spyThey told us not TO come back

Passive:She was thought TO be a spyWe were told not TO come back

SAYHis company is said to be in trouble (BUT NOT They say his company to be in trouble)

1. Passive forms

1.7 Sentences using an infinitive as the object

HEAR, SEE, MAKE and HELP

Active: without TOI saw him come out of the officeThey made him tell them everything

Passive: with TOHe was seen to come out of the officeHe was made to tell them everything.

1. Passive forms

1.7 Sentences using an infinitive as the object

Perfect, progressive and passive infinitivesHe is believed to have crossed the frontier last night.I was told to be waiting outside the station at 6 o’clock.Their budget was expected to be reduced. (DOUBLE

PASSIVE)

Exceptions: wanting and likingEverybody wanted Doris to be the manager. (BUT NOT Doris was wanted to be the manager)

1. Passive forms

1.8 Object complements

REGARD, CONSIDER, SEE, etc.

ACTIVE:Queen Victoria considered him a genius.Most people saw him as a sort of clown.

PASSIVE:

He was considered a genius by Queen Victoria.

He was seen as a sort of clown.

1. Passive forms

1.9 GET

Get + past participle = be + past participle

My watch got broken while I was playing with the childrenI never get invited to parties

Structure less often used to talk about longer, more deliberate, planned actions:

Our house was built in 1827 (BUT NOT Our house got built…)

Parliament was opened on Tuesday (BUT NOT Parliament got opened….)

2. Uses of the passive voice

Change of focus :

The water in the nearby pool reflected her figure>Her figure was reflected in the nearby pool.

The employee finished the report in two hours>The report was finished in two hours.

Obvious or self-evident agent:

The streets are swept everyday (by the sweepers)

The suspect was arrested (by the police)

Unknown agent:

Helen’s car has been stolen.I was advised to get a visa in

advance.

Generalized or indefinite agent:

The Mona Lisa can be seen in Paris<People can see the Mona Lisa in Paris.

The effects of the climate change can be seen everywhere<One can see the effects of the climate change everywhere.

Making the action impersonal :

Your application for the job has been rejected.

A great effort is to be made to reach the cup semi-finals.

For grammatical reasons: Avoid changing the subject

When Lee arrived at the office, she gave him a present>When Lee arrived at the office, he was given a present.

End-focus and end-weight principles:

I am annoyed by Stephen wanting to tell everyone what to do.

This film was presented by animation master Murasaki and the Film department of the Museum of Modern Art.

Causative have/get in colloquial contexts:

I got a haircut done.

The politicians had their pictures taken.

Uses of the passive voiceacross registers

Child benefit workers kept out of loop on data security.

‘Fatal gaps’ in rescue services training blamed for drowning.

Meaning and semantic features

We may find different kinds of passives according to semantic features.

Some of them will express the passive voice literally while others will not. Meaning and grammar do not always go together.

This mainly depends on the lexical verb: not all active verbs have ‘active’ meanings, as suffer or receive

She received a letterSuddenly the door opened (ergative

verbs) Some verbs have similar meanings

in active and in passive voice, worry/to be worried and drown/to be drowned

The different types of passive voice can be classified as follows: Agentive passiveHer sister is called AnneCouple found dead (by passerby) Non-agentive passive/middle voice

with ergative verbsThe ice-cream meltedGlass breaks easily

Reflexive passive or pseudo passive (get+participle)

I got dressed in a minute

Durative passive (become+participle)Soon, the news became known.

Quasi-passive (adjective as participle)He is (really) worried about the

environment

Exercices

Domino. Match each active sentence with its corresponding passive one: Rita writes a letter > A letter is writen by Rita Rita will write a letter > A letter will be written

by Rita Build passive sentences. Each group is

given a list of active sentences. The corresponding passive sentence will be given word per word written in different pieces of paper. They have to find all parts of the sentence and build it.

Bibliography

Quirk, Greenbaum.1076. A University Grammar of English. Ed Longman

Biber, Conrad, Leech.2003. Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Ed Longman

Thomson, Martinet. 1986. A Practical English Grammar. OUP

Michael, Swan. 1997. Practical English Usage. Oxford.