Transcript Document

Passive Voice
I. Introduction
In grammar, the voice of a verb
describes the relationship
between the action (or state) and
the participants (subject, object,
etc.). ...
the active and the passive
II. Passive Form
 to be + past participle
 How to form a passive sentence when an
active sentence is given:
- object of the "active" sentence becomes
subject in the "passive" sentence
- subject of the "active" sentence becomes
"object" in the "passive" sentence" (or is left
out)
III . Steps in Changing Active to
Passive
 a. move the direct object to the subject of
the sentence
 b. move the subject to the end of the
sentence; add the preposition "by" before it
 c. change the verb
IV. Use of Passive Voice
 1. When the doer of the action is unknown
 2. When the object is more famous or
important than the subject
 3. When the doer of the action is obvious
from the context
 4. When the speaker/writer wants to
emphasize the receiver of the action instead
of the performer.
 Only Jane was injured in the accident;
the remainder of the passengers were
unhurt.
 5. To connect ideas in different
clauses more clearly:
 The executive committee approved
an entirely new policy for dealing
with academic suspension and
withdrawal. The policy had been
written by a subcommittee on student
behavior.
 6. When making statements,
announcements, and explanations:
 a. Something should be done about
the traffic jams in this town.
 b. Students are asked not to smoke.
 c. It's said that it's going to rain
tonight.
 7. When the subject of the sentence
is too long or complex.
 The notion is especially opposed to
by those who have invested much in
the area.
 It is generally considered impolite to
ask one’s age, salary, marriage, etc. .
 8. Sometimes a statement in passive is
more polite than active voice, as the
following example shows:
 Example: A mistake was made.
 In this case, I focus on the fact that a
mistake was made, but I do not blame
anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).
 9. Passive voice is used when the
speaker/writer wants to avoid
responsibility for actions taken.
 Thus “Cigarette ads were designed to
appeal especially to children” places the
burden on the ads — as opposed to “We
designed the cigarette ads to appeal
especially to children,” in which “we”
accepts responsibility.
 . 10. To make the statement more
objective.
 Instead of writing “I poured 20 cc of
acid into the beaker,” we would write
"Twenty cc of acid is/was poured into
the beaker."
 Engineers use the passive voice a lot,
so do scientists, business people, and
nearly all academics
v. The Get-passive
 The word get is sometimes used
instead of be to form the passive.
 A. Get indicates a change in status or
condition. For example,
 They will get married tomorrow. (They
changed from “single” to “married”)
 b. "Get" passives often mean the
action occurred suddenly or
unexpectedly and the "actor" places
blame elsewhere.
 He got killed in the accident.
(Something caused him to die.)
 C. The get-passive is fairly
informal ,usually used in spoken
English.
VI. Voice Constraints
 Not all the active sentences can
be made passive. Three kinds
of voice constraint: verb, object,
meaning
6.1 Verb constraints
 linking and intransitive verbs do not occur in
some senses in passive, here is a brief list
of such verbs:
resemble lack
own
cost
become equal
hold
wish
fit
mean
 Some “verb + noun” combination,
which have the force of an
intransitive verb, can never take
the passive:

The medicine soon take effect.

The plant will soon take root.
 Phrases formed by “Verb+particle
(prepositioanl or adverb) are normally
verbal idioms. They form a close unit and
can not be split.
 The enginneers went very carefully into
the problem. We cannot say: The problem
was carefully gone into by the engineers.
6.2 Object Constraints
 Transitive verbs with reflexive, reciprocal
and possessive objects can not be changed
into passive voice.
 ＊himself could be seen, ＊ each other
could be seen, ＊ my hand was shaken
by the man these are all wrong.
 Transitive verbs can be followed by clausal
objects. In this cases, we can not move
the object to the subject place.
 John thought that she was attractive. We
dont say: That she was attractive was
thought by John.
 When the object is an infinitive or gerund,
the sentence can not be changed into
passive.
 John hoped to meet her. We don’t say: To
meet her was hoped by John.
 John enjoyed seeing her. We don’t
say:Seeing her was enjoyed by John.
6.3 Meaning constraints
 The meaning may differ in active and
passive:
 John cannot do it. where “it” expresses
ability, and
 It cannot be done by John, where “it”
expresses possibility.
 Every schoolboy knows one joke
at least, which means “Every
schoolboy knows at least some
joke or other.” and “One joke at
least is known by every
schoolboy,” which means that
there is one particular joke that is
known to every schoolboy.
vii. Exercises
 Nobody can answer this question.
 Wrong：The question can be answered
by nobody.
 Correct：The question can not be
answered by anybody.
Who wrote the story?
 Wrong：Who was the story
written?
 Correct：By whom was the
story written?
 They haven't done anything
to make the river clean.
 Wrong：Anything hasn't been
done to make the river clean.
 Correct：Nothing has been
done to make the river clean.