Transcript Passive Voice

THE PASSIVE VOICE
What is it?
When do I need to use it in
my writing?
Look at these two sentences:
(1) Some people built the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883.
(2) The Brooklyn Bridge was built in 1883.
Is there any difference in meaning between
the two sentences?
Let’s see what’s going on
with these sentences:
(1)Some people built the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883.
What is the grammatical ‘subject’ of sentence (1)?
What is the ‘object’?
What is the grammatical ‘subject’ of
sentence (2)? What is the ‘object’?
(2) The Brooklyn Bridge was built in 1883.
Why didn’t we say ‘by some people’ in #2?
The Brooklyn Bridge was built
by some people in 1883.
. . . Because it’s OBVIOUS! Only PEOPLE
build bridges like the Brooklyn Bridge!
What happens to the sentence structure when
we go from #1 to #2?
(1) Some people built the Brooklyn Bridge in
1883.
(2) The Brooklyn Bridge was built in 1883.
Going from Active to Passive:
subject
object
Some people built the Brooklyn Bridge in 1988.
subject
‘by-phrase’
The Brooklyn Bridge was built in 1988 by some people
What are the necessary parts of the
passive voice?
In other words, how do we know a
sentence is passive? How do we
recognize passive verbs?
The Brooklyn Bridge was built in 1983.
BE
PAST PARTICIPLE
Without both parts, you don’t have a passive!
Look at these different examples:
The floors are washed every Friday.
The newspaper is always delivered at 7:00.
My notebook has been stolen!
Handouts will be distributed tomorrow.
What are the verb TENSES in the above passive verbs?
Why is there no “by-phrase”?
Remember: The passive is only
used
ONLY. . .
. . . when the recipient of the action is more
important than the agent.
For example:
That incredibly complex cake with all the fancy
decorations, the one in the center of the table,
was baked by my mother.
. . . when the agent is not important at
all. . .
For example,
That floor is always cleaned perfectly,
isn’t it?
. . . when the agent is obvious
(as in ‘someone’ or ‘some people’)
For example,
Good essays are usually well planned.
. . . when you wish to conceal the agent
For Example:
(Whispered by Charlie): Don’t
(Whispered by Julia):
(shouted to Mom):
tell Mom that I broke
her vase!
Okay.
Look, Mom! The
vase has been broken! We
don’t know how!
By the way,
Why do we use the “by-phrase” in the following:
The report was prepared by our excellent
secretary, Karen.
Why, in “by our excellent secretary”, is the name
“Karen”necessary?
Also, why might we choose the active voice and say,
instead, “Karen, our excellent secretary, prepared the
report.”