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TOPIC 27. THE PASSIVE VOICE. FORMS AND FUNCTIONS - Coggle Diagram
TOPIC 27. THE PASSIVE VOICE. FORMS AND FUNCTIONS
REASONS
for using the passive:
The
agent
is
unknown
, irrelevant or obvious: (
it was stolen
), or it's been mentioned before
People or
things
represent the
agent
:
words cannot be reshuffled or else they will be misunderstood
When
actions
are
more
relevant
: My 💻 was fixed
🛠.
:red_cross:
Avoiding the use of
'you'
in orders and rules
:
everything must be completed by midnight
In
factual writing
, when the
focus
is on
events
or achievements:
It was done yesterday
In
EXPRESSIONS
of the type: they/people+say/
believe
. Other verbs found in these are: assume, find, repute, understand.
It is believed that he will retire soon
.
The passive
supposed to be
is ambiguous, meaning
assuming
but also expressing an
obligation
.
You're not supposed to be here
for
stylistic considerations
. For instance, the passive is commonly used in impersonal,
formal
writing, or in
literary
works. It can also be used
to avoid an ungrammatical sentence
or to put longer and heavier expressions at the end.
with opinion verbs: recommend, suggest, insist:
It was suggested that the meeting should be postponed
FUNCTIONS
to
conceal the performer
of an action
Making an statement
impersonal
to avoid referencing someone:
This cannot be done until Monday
to avoid responsibility, prioritise the action,
and when the subject would be the indefinite pronoun
one
1
or when it's actually
difficult to identify the originator
of the action :question:
to
emphasise a modifying adverb
:
my words have been mistakenly taken too seriously.
In notices and
newspapers
headlines
FORMS
to change an active clause into a passive clause
, it's necessary to:
1.1
Replace the active verb phrase by matching the passive voice
. The passive voice of an active tense is formed by putting the verb
to be
into the same tense as the active verb, and by adding the past participle of the active verb. Nevertheless, some transitive verbs,
reflexive and reflective ones, do not form the passive transformation
. Likewise, there are also verbs that are rarely used in the passive because the affected is unimportant:
elude, escape, flee, resemble, survive
.
With
advice/order/recommend+indirect obj+inf+obj,
the passive voice can be formed in two ways: making the main verb passive or by
advice+that should+passive infinitive
:
The teacher recommended that the assignment should be completed by the students."
With
agree/determine/decide/demand+inf+obj
, the passive is usually expressed by
that...should
:
The referee decided that the match should be postponed
insist/propose/suggest+gerund+object
are also expressed in the passive by
that...should
:
He suggested that the room should be cleaned
.
Make the object of the active clause the subject of the passive clause
. With di-transitive verbs, the indirect object becomes subject of the passive clause. The direct object can also be made subject: My father gave me this watch > I was given this watch > This watch was given to me.
Make the subject of the active clause the agent of the passive clause
. The agent's not usually mentioned, and when it's referenced, it's preceded by the preposition
by
and placed at the end of the clause.
Where an object is followed in the active by an object complement, the latter becomes a subject complement
in the passive.
They elected John president ➡️ John was elected president (by them)
Passive forms
of the verb consist of a
finite
or non-finite form of
to be
followed by the past participle
of the verb. The auxiliary can take forms which it does not usually take when it appears as a lexical verb:
the car is being washed
Finite forms
are typically constructed with the verb
to be
:
He was promoted
There's also an special construction called:
for which
get
and
have
are used. Here, the
grammatical subject is also the recipient
of the action.
I had my house painted
Non Finite Forms
appear when passive follows a
modal
verb or other similar constructions that require a complement in the form of
infinitive or -ing form
.
They can form non-finite
clauses
:
Having suffered, he was able to get through his depression
infinitives
go after certain verbs: force/make/see/hear/help and in the passive they're followed by a to-infinitive: "
He was forced to clean the room
.
ing
forms go after certain verbs;
as participles, usually with the meaning of "because"; and as the subject
of a sentence:
"Reading was what was wished, as she felt relieved, knowing she had finally finished a new book."
According to Huddleston & Pullum, there's a
bare passive with no auxiliary
:
we saw the man run over by the bus
.
all sentences with a noun phrase or pronoun object can be made passive because they contain a transitive verb.
In grammar,
states that the
voice
or diathesis of a verb describes the
relationship between the action
(or state) that the verb expresses
and the participants
identified by its arguments (subject, object, etc.).
When
the
subject
is the patient or
target
of the action, the verb is said to be in the passive voice.
In English, the passive voice features the
auxiliary verb
to be
and another verb in the past participle form.
Quirk, R., & Greenbaum, S. (1990). "A Student's Grammar of the English Language"
Huddleston, R., & Pullum, G. K. (2002). The Cambridge grammar of the English language.
Quirk & Greenbaum
identified 4
TYPES
of passives: CSPN
Central passives
show a direct active-passive relationship
:
This book was written by Dickens
Semi-passive
with
verbal or adjectival
properties, coordinating the participle with an adjective, modifying the participle with an emphasiser and
replacing the verb
to be
with a lexical copular verb
: "
The door seemed completely closed and locked."
Thus, it emphasises the resulting estate of the subject
Pseudo-passives
: constructions that appear to be in the passive voice but actually function differently, often involving adjectives or participles that do not form a true passive:
get/become/grow+ed participle.
There's no active transformation nor possibility of agent addition.
Notional passives
convey a
passive meaning without using the standard passive form
. Transitive verbs change into intransitive often with compulsory adverbial:
The shirt washes well.
. It highlights how the subject responds to the action.
