THE PASSIVE

Example

The butler murdered the detective. The detective was murdered by the butler

Passivization

A: The butler murdered the detective P: The detective was murdered by the butler The active subject becomes the passive

agent The active object becomes the passive

subject The preposition by is introduced before the

agent

PASSIVE FORMATION

BE + PAST PARTICIPLE OF THE MAIN VERB

Passive tenses

Present: The bill is passed Past: The bill was passed Perfective: The bill has been passed Progressive: The bill is being passed

Modal auxiliaries

Modal + be + Past Participle The bill may be passed Modal + perfective The bill may have been passed

Exercise

1. The constable arrested the driver of the stolen car

Passive: The driver of the stolen car was arrested by the constable

2. The judge asked the witness to write the name on a piece of paper.

Passive: The witness was asked by the judge to write the name on a piece of paper.

Exercise

3. The company is going to issue a writ to prevent the trade union from going on strike.

Passive: A writ is going to be issued by the company to prevent the trade union from going on strike.

4. He wrote his will in 1990. Passive: His will was written in 1990.

Exercise

5. My grandmother left $5.000 to me in her will.

Passive: I was left $5.000 by my grandmother in her will.

6. The court granted the company a two-week stay of execution.

Passive: The company was granted a two-week stay of exection by the court.

Exercise

7. They should call in detectives to help in the murder hunt.

Passive: Detectives should be called in to help in the murder hunt.

8. They left the wounded man lying on the road.

Passive: The wounded man was left lying on the road.

Exercise

We consider crime as an offence against community, punishable by the state

We may classify crimes in various ways. We may divide them into two main groups:

i… offences and s…. offences. Before Criminal Law Act 1967 they divided

indictable offences into three categories:

Exercise

The Act abolished the distinction. A judge may sentence a person to

imprisonment. Anybody may make an arrest without warrant The prosecution must prove beyond

reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty. (It…)

They presume the accused to be innocent until proved to be guilty (The accused…)

They may exempt a person from criminal liability It might reduce the charge of murder to one of

manslaughter. They may punish incitement, assisting offenders,

concealing offences, or giving false information according to special rules of law.

The change provoked plenty of hostility. They would consider her now to be suffering from

diminished responsibility. They have taught us to recognize the shades of

grey, rather than to see things in black and white. A doctor has killed an incurably ill patient by an

overdose of drugs They kept him alive on a respirator.

We must punish a man who has committed a murder.

They should conduct research into criminal personality and the causes of crime.

We hand only the sanest criminals. We should take measures to reduce the murder rate. They will admit that its only merit is that of

vengeance.

We may define marriage as the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

English law recognizes judicial divorce Law regards marriage as binding for life. The Family Reform Act has lowered the age

of majority to eighteen.

If they perform the ceremony, it is not valid. They need not give consent in any particular

form. If we comply with the rules relating to affinity

and age, the marriage will not be void. Mental incapacity negates consent. The Mental Health Act swept away all

classification of the mentally ill.

Contracting parties do not determine the rules governing marriage

They would only grant the divorce to the “innocent” party

Many regard marriage as an attempt at finding a life-partner

They have granted probate of the Will to Mr. A. R.Brown

The Will entitles you to a legacy Pecuniary legatees will share the estate They will sell the remainder of the assets

Every state commits acts of selfishness Foreign offices treat questions of

international law as legal questions They have violated no rule. They perceive the Court to have pursued a

vigorous policy of integration We should avoid any simple theory or

explanation of its role.

They may call the Court to adjudicate matters of constitutional significance

Agreement may confer upon it other kinds of jurisdiction

We define a contract as “a legally binding agreement”

The state does not punish torts One person ownes such a business Partners share profits and losses Only a government grant can create a

corporation.

We can obtain a remedy in two ways