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.
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).
Look at this sentence:
- He was killed with a gun.
Normally we use by to introduce the passive object. But the gun is not the active subject. The gun did not kill him. He was killed by somebody with a gun. In the active voice, it would be: Somebody killed him with a gun. The gun is the instrument. Somebody is the "agent" or "doer".
Conjugation for the Passive Voice
We can form the passive in any tense. In fact, conjugation of verbs in the passive tense is rather easy, as the main verb is always in past participle form and the auxiliary verb is always be. To form the required tense, we conjugate the auxiliary verb. So, for example:
- present simple: It is made
- present continuous: It is being made
- present perfect: It has been made
Here are some examples with most of the possible tenses:
infinitive
|
to be washed
| |
simple
|
present
|
It is washed.
|
past
|
It was washed.
| |
future
|
It will be washed.
| |
conditional
|
It would be washed.
| |
continuous
|
present
|
It is being washed.
|
past
|
It was being washed.
| |
future
|
It will be being washed.
| |
conditional
|
It would be being washed.
| |
perfect simple
|
present
|
It has been washed.
|
past
|
It had been washed.
| |
future
|
It will have been washed.
| |
conditional
|
It would have been washed.
| |
perfect continuous
|
present
|
It has been being washed.
|
past
|
It had been being washed.
| |
future
|
It will have been being washed.
| |
conditional
|
It would have been being washed.
| |
FORMING THE PASSIVE
ACTIVE : (a) Mary helped the boy
PASSIVE : (b) The boy was helpedby Mary
|
Form of the passive: be + past participle.
In the passive, the object of an active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb: “the boy” in (a) becomes the subject of the passive verb in (b). (a) and (b) have the same meaning.
|
ACTIVE : (c) An accidenthappened
PASSIVE : (d) ( none )
|
Only transitive verbs (verbs that are followed by an object) are used in the passive. It is not possible to use verbs such as happen, sleep, come, and seem(intransitive verbs) in the passive.
|
Simple present Mary helps Jhon. Jhon is helped by Mary
present progres Mary is helping Jhon. Jhon is being helped by Mary
present perfect Mary has helped Jhon. Jhon has been helped by Mary
simple past Mary helped Jhon. Jhon was helped by Mary
past progresive Mary was helping Jhon. Jhon was being helped by Mary
past perfect Mary had helped Jhon. Jhon had been helped by Mary
simple future Mary will help Jhon. Jhon will be helped by Mary
be going to Mary is going to help Jhon. Jhon is going to be helped by Mary
Future perfect Mary will have helped Jhon. Jhon will have been helped by Mary
| |
Example :
Tom opens the door. The door is opened by Tom.
Tom is opening the door. The door is being opened by Tom.
Tom has opened the door The door has been opened by Tom.
Tom opened the door The door was opened by Tom.
Tom was opening the door The door was being opened by Tom.Tom had opened the door The door had been opened by Tom.
USING THE PASSIVE
(a) Rice is grown in India.
(b) Our house was built in 1890.
(c) This olive oil was imported from Spain.
|
Usually the passive is used without a “ byphrase.” The passive is most frequently used when it is not known or not important to know exactly who performs an action.
In (a): Rice is grown in India by people, by farmers, by someone. In sentence (a), it is not known or important to know exactly who grows rice in India.
(a), (b), and (c) illustrate the most common use of the passive, i.e., without the “by phrase.”
|
(d) Life on the Mississippi was written by
Mark Twain.
|
The “by phrase” is included only if it is important to know who performs an action. In (d), by Mark Twain is important information.
|
(e) My aunt made this rug. (active)
(f) This rug was made by my aunt.
That rug was made by my mother.
|  If the speaker/writer knows who performs an action, usually the active is used, as in (e).
The passive may be used with the “byphrase” instead of the active when the speaker/writer wants to focus attention on the subject of a sentence. In (f) the focus of attention is on two rugs.
|
Example :
People grow corn in Iowa. Corn is grown in Iowa
INDIRECT OBJECTS AS PASSIVE SUBJECTS
(a) Someone gave Mrs. Lee[LO] an award
[DO].
(b) Mrs. Lee was given an award.
|
LO= indirect object. DO= direct object. Either an indirect object or a direct may become the subject of a passive sentence.
(a), (b), (c), and (d) have the same meaning.
|
(c) Someone gave an award to Mrs. Lee.
(d) An award was given to Mrs. Lee.
|
Example :
Someone handed Ann a menu at the restaurant.
(indirect object = Ann) Ann was handed a menu at the restaurant.
Passive Form Of Verbs
Many verbs may be used to make statements about the same event in two different ways.
Active Voice The boy (subject) opened the door (object).
Passive Voice The door (original object) was opened by the boy (original subject).
FORMS OF THE
PASSIVE VOICE
The passive voice is preferred when the “doer” of an action (or, the agent) is unimportant or unknown. Because of its impersonal tone, the passive voice is commonly found in textbooks, in scientific, technical or business reports, and in newspaper stories.
Example : The janitor opens the door every morning.
The door is opened by the janitor every morning.
Passive Of Verbs That Take Two Objects
With verbs that take indirect objects, either the direct or the indirect object may be the grammatical subject of the passive verb.
Active The company will give us the guarantee in writing
Passive We will be given the guarantee in writing
Or
The guarantee will be given (to) us in writing.
(To is optional in the passive)
Example : She sent her husband a telegram
Her husband was sent a telegram
Reference :
Azar, Betty Schrampfer. UNDERSTANDING AND USING ENGLISH GRAMMAR Second Edition. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs, 1989.
Frank, Marcella. Modern English : Exercises For Non-Native Speakers Part 1 of Speech. New York: Prentice Hall, Inc, 1972.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar