Topic 36. PASSIVE VOICE: FORMS AND FUNCTIONS
0. INTRODUCT INTRODUCTION ION 1. FORM FORM 2. COMPON COMPONENT ENTS S 2.1. The subject 2.2. The passive auxiliary 2.3. The agent 3. PASSIVE PASSIVE VERB VERB FORMS FORMS 3.1. Verbs used in the passive 3.2. Verbs that cannot be used in the passive 3.3 Active verbs with passive sense 3.4. Have and get something done 4. TYPES OF ENGLISH ENGLISH PASSIVE PASSIVES S 5. THE CHOICE CHOICE OF THE PASSIV PASSIVE E 6. CONCLU CONCLUSIO SION N 7. BIBLIO BIBLIOGRA GRAPHY PHY
0. IN INTR TROD ODUC UCTI TION ON
Compare the following sentences: Your son broke my window My window was broken by your son These two sentences mean exactly the same but in the first case the verb is active and in the second it is passive. This ‘duality’ of the same sentence is thanks to what is called VOICE. It is a grammatical category which makes it possible to view the action of a sentence in two ways without changing the facts reported or the meaning of the sentence. In this topic the passive voice will be studied in depth.
1. FORM
Given two sentences… a. John John open opened ed the the let lette ter r b. The letter letter was opene opened d by by John John … sentence a is said to be derived from sentence b by a process involving the following changes: - the nominal phrase which in the active functions as DO becomes the subject in the passive. - the the verb verbal al phra phrase se in the the acti active ve sent senten ence ce in repl replac aced ed in the the pass passiv ive e by the the approp appropria riate te form form of the the auxili auxiliary ary ‘be’ + past past partic participl iple e of the verb in the active active sentence. - the noun phrase which functions as the subject in the active sentence becomes the agent in the passive.
2. COMPON COMPONENT ENTS S OF THE THE PASSIV PASSIVE E SENTEN SENTENCE CE 2.1. The subject
As afore said, the subject of the passive is what in the active sentence is the object. However, many verbs such as give, show, send, lend, pass, bring, pay, promise, offer, tell, sell… can be followed by two objects: She gave her uncle a present
He paid me the money
Therefore, there are two possible passives for these sentences: Her uncle was given a present
I was paid the money
A present was given to her uncle
The money was paid to me
When the subject of the active sentence is general (people, every-, society, one…), an
anticipatory it can become the subject of the passive: People believed that witches were bad → It was believed that witches were bad → although this sentence can also be passivized Witches were believed to be bad as it will be explained later (That ( That witches were bad was believed is possible but uncommon) This This happen happens s with with factua factuall verbs verbs such such as say, say, tell, tell, think think,, feel, feel, find, find, imagin imagine, e, know, know, suppose, assume… followed by a that-clause: Everyone knows that he is unfaithful → It is known that he is unfaithful → although this sentence can also be passivized He is known to be unfaithful as it will be explained later (That he is unfaithful is known is possible but uncommon)
When the subject is a nominal person, anticipatory it can be avoided: John though that the stranger was a police officer → The stranger was thought to be
a police officer
No reflexive, reciprocal or possessive clauses are allowed to be subject of the passive: Dracula couldn’t see himself in the mirror → Himself couldn’t be seen…* We saw each other on the street → Each other were seen…* He waved his hand to us
→
His hand was waved …* …*
2.2. The passive auxiliary
The passive auxiliary is ‘to be’: He was announced man of the year However, get can also act as a passive auxiliary to express that we are talking about things that are done suddenly, unexpectedly or by accident, and when we are talking about things which we do to ourselves (the focus is on the result rather than the action or agent): My brother got hit by a ball
I got lost in London
Becom Become e is also also said said to be an auxili auxiliary ary of the the passiv passive e to expres express s chang change e from from one one condition to another, or a gradually achieved result with the passage of time: When they first became known to us…
The furniture became covered in dust
2.3. The agent
As said beforehand, the agent of the passive is the subject of the active: A car was brought by his mother Note Note that, when the agent agent is menti mentione oned d (as it is not always always so) it is preceded preceded by a certain preposition, the most common one being ‘by’: The letter was sent by Peter
The car was driven by Tom
However, ‘with’ can also be used introducing the agent when this is a material… Paint covered the wall → The wall was covered with paint Smoke filled the room
→
The room was filled with smoke
… or after participles such as filled, crammed, packed, crowded: The train was packed with commuters Sometimes, the difference between ‘by’ and ‘with’ may involve the presence of a person: Dave was hit by a branch (it was an accident) Dave was hit with a branch (someone hit him with a branch)
3. PASI PASIVE VE VE VERB RB FORM FORMS S
Passive verbs are made with different forms of the verb ‘to be’ + past participle of the lexical active verb. The form that the verb ‘to be’ takes will be the same as the active verb: if the active verb is present, ‘be’ will be present… John painted the car → The car was painted They speak English
→
English is spoken by them
Sara will give him that → That will be given to him They have told me the news
→
The news have been told to me
When we have a prepositional verb in the active sentence, the preposition will remain immediately after the verb in the passive: I wrote to my friend → My friend was written to (by me) me) The girl looked after the children
→
The children were looked after by the girl
3.1. Verbs used in the passive
In theory theory,, transi transitiv tive e verbs verbs are the only only ones ones that that can be passiv passivize ized d as the object object becomes the subject of the passive, but we will see later on that this is not completely true as not all transitive verbs have passive forms. The following structures can be passivized: - Verbs with 2 objects: He brought the flowers to me - Verbs with object complement: Society elected him president - Verbs with object + infinitive: I told her not to come back In verbs such as believe, know, say, think which report people’s opinion, the passive construction is followed by the to- infinitive: He thinks that Smith is in England → Smith is thought to be in England (or the afore examples Witches were believed to be bad / He is though to be unfaithful ) 3.2. Verbs that cannot be used in the passive
Intransitive verbs do not have passive form as they lack an object to become subject of the passive and in English a subject is always needed: He died However, let us look at these sentences… They have a house in the city
Sam married Susan last May
… we may think that, as having both an object, they can be passivized. However, we cannot say A say A house is had in the city * or Susan was married by Jonh*. Jonh*. This is because certain verbs take an obligatory complement (predicator complement) complement) which cannot be turned into the subject of a passive sentence. Some of the verbs that take predicator complement are: - relational verbs: have, possess, lack, suit, resemble, contain, fit, marry... i.e. His argument lacks force (Force is lacked …*) …*) - verbs verbs of measure: measure, measure, cost, take weigh… weigh… i.e. My ticket cost 20 pounds (20 pounds is cost …*). …*). Measure and weigh can be used in an extensive sense with a DO and thus be passivised as in: The official weighed her suitcase weighed ; She measured the room
→
→
He suitcase was
The room was measured
3.3. Active verbs with passive sense
Note that meaning and grammar do not always go together. together. Some transitive transitive verbs (verbs of perception most of them) can be used in a passive sense without being put into the passive voice: to describe the smell of something: These roses smell beautifully (meaning beautifully (meaning →it is beautiful when they are smelt) to describe the taste of food, drink...: This soup tastes delicious (meaning→it is delicious when it is tasted) to express sensations or feelings: Your skin feels cold (meaning cold (meaning →it is cold when it is felt)
to express general property or potentiality of the entity: Your letter reads well now now (meaning (meaning→it looks well when it is read now) This product sells quickly (meaning quickly (meaning →it is sold very quickly) Glass breaks easily ; Silver polishes better than plastic ; This box doesn’t lock properly … In all these examples, although no agent is mentioned its activity is necessarily implicit (someone smells the roses, touches your skin, reads the letter…)
3.4. Have and get something done
These These constr construct uction ions s are very very commo common n in collo colloqu quial ial Englis English h to replac replace e a passiv passive e construction. ∼
Have sth done can be used to express more neatly sentences of the type ‘I employed
someone to do something for me’… I’ve just had my car re repaired
I’m having my flat painted next week
(Note the difference in meaning: She had her hair cut / cut / She cut her hair ) …or an action done by someone else (usually sth bad) He had his car stolen
He had two of his teeth knocked out
The houses had their roofs ripped off by the gale The need to have a service done may also be expressed by need+ing: Your hair needs cutting, cutting, The flat needs painting. painting . ∼
Get something done is used when there is a feeling that something must be done: I must get my car repaired
I must get my room painted
To emphasize we can use the imperative form: Get your hair cut!
4.
TYPES OF ENGLISH PASSIVES
According to Quirk, English passives can be classified into three different classes: a) Agentive Agentive passives: passives: direct direct active-pas active-passive sive relation. relation. The agent agent is always always possible possible but not always expressed: The police arrested the criminal → The criminal was arrested (by the police) b) Quasi-passives: they look like passives but they really consist of the verb to be + a past participle functioning as an adjective. It is also possible to insert an intensifier: He was (very) interested in Linguistics; Linguistics; The modern world is highly industrialised c) Non-agentive passives: they have no active transformation or possibility of agent addition, since no performer of the action is conceived of: We are supposed to get home early ; I am used to go to the gym, gym , She gets dressed really quickly … d) Pseduo-passives: they have no explicit agent but its activity is necessary (all in 3.3.)
5. TH THE E CHIO CHIOCE CE OF OF THE THE PASS PASSIV IVE E
The choice between active and passive constructions often depends on what has already been been said said or on what what the the list listen ener er alre alread ady y know knows. s. As Engl Englis ish h is endend-fo focu cus, s, the the new new information is usually at the end. So in the sentence Your son broke the window , the listener does not know about the window, so the speaker makes it the object of the sentence. But in the sentence The window was broken by your son, son, what is known is the window and the agent of the action is left at the end as the new information.
As we can see, the passive construction is not merely a variant of the active voice. Therefore, English almost always has a reason to justify the use of one or another of the voices. Thus, the choice of the passive is often determined by one of the following reasons: > When the construction facilitates the connection of one sentence with another: He stood up to speak and was listened by the great crowd present When he arrived home he was arrested > When the active subject is unknown or cannot be stated: Her father was killed The road has been closed > When it is obvious who the agent is or when the subject is general: He was elected Member of Parliament Bicycles are widely used in Amsterdam > Passives Passives are very common in scientif scientific ic writing writing and in descripti descriptions ons of processes processes where the focus is on the actions performed rather than on the person who does them: The solution has finally been discovered Then the bricks are packed into boxes of 24 > Acco Accordin rding g to the principl principle e of end-weigh end-weigh (shortest (shortest first, longest longest last), last), we often prefer to put longer and heavier expressions at the end of a sentence, so that is why we choose the passive: I was annoyed by Mary wanting to tell everyone what I did last night in the party (If party (If this sentence was in active the subject would be really long: Mary wanting to … annoyed me and it wouldn’t sound natural) > To chang change e the focus focus of attent attention ion (pass (passive ives s can change change the emphasi emphasis s of a sentence): Jack won the prize (focus on Jack) The prize was won by Jack (focus Jack (focus on the prize) > Either out of politeness, to avoid blaming someone else or even the self, the speaker wishes to mask the origin of the action: I’m afraid the fax hasn’t been sent
In general, passives are probably more common in written language where there tends to be less use of personal reference, in some contexts, since the audience may be unknown. So what we can conclude is that active forms are more common when we want to mention the people who make things happen; whereas passives are more objective rather than personal.
6. CONCLUSION
Although the passive in English is similar to the passive in Spanish, and therefore the concept is not or should not be difficult to our students, the main problems that we have to face when presenting this topic to the class is the difference in use that both languages make of this structure. For instance, English used more passives than Spanish; in turn, Spanish uses the ‘reflexive passive’ where the agent is not stated (English lacks this form as a subject is always needed). Moreover, in English both objects (DO and IO) can become subject of the passive, whereas in Spanish only the first one can be. So these little but important differences should be left clear to our students and make them be familiar to them if we want to achieve a certain level of communicative competence in the students.
7. BIBL BIBLIO IOGR GRAP APHY HY
QUIRK. A QUIRK. A University Grammar of English LEECH, et al. A al. A Communicative Grammar of English VINCE, M. Advanced M. Advanced Language Practice DOWNING et al. A al. A University Course in English Grammar THOMPSON et al. A al. A Practical English Grammar
