PASSIVE VOICE

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.

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 helped by 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 accident happened 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 “ by phrase.” 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 “by phrase” 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.

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-voice_passive.htm

NAMA       : MUHAMMAD FIRMANSYAH

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