Passive
Voice
The passive voice is less usual than the active voice. The active
voice is the "normal" voice. But sometimes we need the passive voice.
In this lesson we look at how to construct the passive voice, when to use it
and how to conjugate it.
The subject of a sentence or clause featuring the passive voice
typically denotes the recipient of the action (the patient) rather than the performer (the agent).
The passive voice in English is formed periphrastically:
the usual form uses the auxiliary verb be (or get) together with the past
participle of the main verb.
English allows a number of passive constructions which are not
possible in many of the other languages with similar passive formation. These
include promotion of an indirect object to subject (as in Tom was given a
bag) and promotion of the complement of a preposition
(as in Sue was operated on, leaving a stranded preposition).
Use
of the English passive varies with writing style and field. Some publications'
style sheets discourage use of the passive voice, while others encourage it.
Although some purveyors of usage advice, including George
Orwell (see Politics and the English Language,
1946) and William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White
(see The Elements of Style, 1919), discourage use
of the passive in English, its usefulness is generally recognized, particularly
in cases where the patient is more important than the agent, but also in some
cases where it is desired to emphasize the agent.
The
passive voice is a specific grammatical construction; not every expression that
serves to take focus away from the performer of an action is classified as an
instance of passive voice. The essential components of the English passive
voice are a form of the auxiliary verb be (or sometimes get), and the past
participle of the main verb denoting the action. For example:
... that all men are created equal..
We have been cruelly deceived.
The captain was struck by a missile.
I got kicked in the face during the fight.
Form of Passive
Subject
+ finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)
Example:
A letter was written.
When
rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:
- the object of the active sentence becomes
the subject of the passive sentence
- the finite form of the verb is changed (to
be + past participle)
- the subject of the active sentence becomes
the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)
Examples of
Passive
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 I
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
will write
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
will be written
|
by Rita.
|
Hilfsverben
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
can write
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
can be written
|
by Rita.
|
Examples of
Passive
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 II
|
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.
|
Passive
Sentences with Two Objects
Rewriting an active sentence with
two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the
subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a
subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.
|
Subject
|
Verb
|
Object 1
|
Object 2
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
wrote
|
a letter
|
to me.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
was written
|
to me
|
by Rita.
|
Passive:
|
I
|
was written
|
a letter
|
by Rita.
|
. As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not
sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.
When do I use passive voice?
In some sentences, passive voice can be
perfectly acceptable. You might use it in the following cases:
1.
The actor is unknown:
The cave paintings of Lascaux were made in the
Upper Old Stone Age. [We don't know who made them.]
2.
The actor is irrelevant:
An experimental solar power plant will be built
in the Australian desert. [We are not interested in who is building it.]
3.
You want to be vague about who is responsible:
Mistakes were made. [Common in bureaucratic
writing!]
4.
You are talking about a general truth:
Rules are made to be broken. [By whomever,
whenever.]
5.
You want to emphasize the person or thing acted
on. For example, it may be your main topic:
Insulin was
first discovered in 1921 by researchers at the University of Toronto. It is
still the only treatment available for diabetes.
6.
You are writing in a scientific genre that
traditionally relies on passive voice. Passive voice is often preferred in lab
reports and scientific research papers, most notably in the Materials and
Methods section:
Construction of the Passive
Voice
The structure of the passive voice is
very simple:
subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past
participle)
The main verb is always in its past
participle form.
Look at these examples:
subject
|
auxiliary
verb (to be)
|
|
main
verb (past participle)
|
|
Water
|
is
|
|
drunk
|
by
everyone.
|
100
people
|
are
|
|
employed
|
by
this company.
|
I
|
am
|
|
paid
|
in
euro.
|
We
|
are
|
not
|
paid
|
in
dollars.
|
Are
|
they
|
|
paid
|
in
yen?
|
Use of the Passive Voice
We use the passive when:
·
we
want to make the active object more important
·
we
do not know the active subject
|
subject
|
verb
|
object
|
give
importance to active object (President Kennedy)
|
President
Kennedy
|
was
killed
|
by
Lee Harvey Oswald.
|
active
subject unknown
|
My
wallet
|
has
been stolen.
|
?
|
Note that we always use by to introduce
the passive object (Fish are eaten by cats).
Refference:
A.R,
Nina. 2010. Hafalan Luar Kepala 16 Tenses. Yogyakarta: Pestaka Widyatama
Horis
Ho, H.F. A COMPREHENSIVE ENGLISH GRAMMAR. Jakarta: DAP, 2014.
NAMA : RIANA ISMIANI
NPM : 15210875
KELAS : 4EA19