The Passive Voice

FormFunction

The Passive: Form

form of "to be" + past participle = passive voice

The form (tense and aspect) of the auxiliary “to be” ina passive sentence is always in the same tense andaspect as the verb in the equivalent ACTIVE sentence.

The volcano destroyed the village. Tense?The village was destroyed by the volcano. Tense?

The village was destroyed by the volcano.

The Passive: Form

Other auxiliary: form of “to get" + past participle = passive voice

GET is • more informal (raken)• not used when followed by a ‘by – phrase’ referring to a person

or an animal

Grammatical: She got hit by a car while cycling to school.

Ungrammatical: They got married by the visiting South American priest

When in doubt…use be, which is always grammatical!

The Passive: Form

Note: you can generally include the original subject, or not. If the original subject is included, It is usually in a by – phrase:

The classroom is cleaned every day by somebody.

The Passive: Function

• indicates that the subject of the sentence UNDERGOES the verb’s action

Julie was bitten by a pitbull.

Topanga Canyon was set on fire (by Cándido).

We use the passive when:• we want to make the active object more important • we do not know the active subject• we want to avoid saying who the active subject is• we want the sentence to have the feeling of more

distance or to be less personal

Danger Zone: this looks like the passive voice

This street is closed.

...but it’s not!The form be + past participle: be ( = copula) + subject attribute

• Indicates that the subject is in a certain STATE as a result of the verb

My laptop has been broken for weeks.Other examples: I refused to accept the package because it was damaged.I’m sorry, that grammar book is sold out.He was injured and we took him to the hospital.The pub is located across the street from Alcoholics Anonymous!

The Passive: rules An active sentence can be made passive in two ways:

1. Direct object becomes subject

My little brother won the championship.The championship was won by my little brother.

when a passive sentence contains an indirect object, the indirect object must begin with ‘to’:

They gave the winner a trophy.A trophy was given to the winner.

‘to’ can sometimes be left out before a personal pronoun but often this is clumsy!

2. Indirect object becomes subject

They ordered us to leave the building immediately.We were ordered to leave the building immediately.

Active to passive: 7 steps

1. Identify the Subject, Verb, Direct Object and Indirect Object of the active sentence

2. Make the D.O. (or the I.O.) the subject of the passive sentence

3. Determine the verb tense of the lexical verb in the active sentence.

4. Put the verb “to be” in this tense. This is your passive auxiliary.

5. Put the lexical verb in the past participle form.6. Add the I.O. (if the D.O. has become your new subject)

or the D.O. (if the I.O. has become your new subject)7. Add “by + the original subject” (if relevant)

Passive to Active? Work backwards.

Active to Passive: 7 steps

The children are giving the puppy a squeaky toy for Christmas.

1. Subject____ Verb ___ Direct Object ___ Indirect Object ___2. D.O.: a squeaky toy becomes the subject (or I.O. the puppy)3. verb tense of the lexical verb __________4. “to be” in this tense_____________5. Past participle of the lexical verb_____________6. Add the I.O. (or the D.O. if you used a squeaky toy as your

subject), plus any other adverbials in the sentence7. Add by + the original subject (if relevant)

_____ ______ ________ ______ _______ ________ D.O. form of to be past participle I.O. adverbials by + original subject

The Passive: Task 1Make the following active sentences passive. If there is both a direct and an indirect object, make two different passive sentences.

1. The burglar broke into the safe.

2. His accomplice held the flashlight.

3. The burglars then handed me a note.

4. They demanded all of the unmarked bills.

5. They had covered their faces with ski masks.

6. They had smashed the security cameras.

7. They stole over a million dollars in cash and jewelry.

8. They offered half of the money to a beautiful woman they were holding hostage. (2x)

9. She accepted their offer.

10. Unfortunately, one of the burglars left a passport and driver’s license in the bank!

The Passive: rules

Sentences with verb + noun + preposition phrase

the pupils, as ususual, paid no attention to the teacher

The noun in this phrase (attention) in the active sentence can only become the subject of a passive sentence if the phrase is separable(a premodifier can be inserted between the verb and the noun, for

instance: She pays a great deal of attention to other people’s hair.)

No attention was paid to the teacher.

BUT: the boys soon lost sight of the girls in the crowded mall

Here the verb + noun + preposition phrase is inseparable, so the noun “sight” can’t become the subject of the passive sentence.

Watch out: in this construction (verb+noun+preposition) the noun is part of the preposition phrase and not a direct object! Example: to take offense at

The Passive: rules

Indirect object with ‘to’

After certain verbs (Reader p.30), the indirect object always begins with ‘to’

Such an indirect object CANNOT become the subject of a passive sentence.

The man confessed his sins to the priest.His sins were confessed to the priest. (by the man)NOT: The priest was confessed his sins (by the man)

The Passive: Rules

Indirect object with ‘for’

If an indirect object without for can be replaced by an indirectobject with for, it can’t become the subject of a passive sentence. (or very rarely!)

I cut her a piece of birthday cake.I cut a piece of birthday cake for her.NOT: She was cut a piece of birthday cake.

Exceptions: bring, buy and findThey found her a date at the last minute.

The Passive: Rules Comparative grammar: the Passive Voice in English and Dutch

a. MENDutch often uses men when English has a passive construction

Men zag de overvallers de bank binnenkomen.The robbers were seen entering the bank.

Men verwacht dat er dit jaar nog een keer kan worden geschaatst.It is expected that it will be possible to skate again this year.

b. ERDutch has passive sentences beginning with er, whereas in English a passive construction hardly ever begins with there

Er werd besloten de wedstrijd te staken.It was decided to call off the match.

c. Verbs that are active in Dutch but passive in English

De Britse soldaten sneuvelden in Ieper. The British soldiers were killed in Ypres.De schepen vergingen in de tsunami. The ships were wrecked in the tsunami.

The Passive: Task 2 Translate these sentences and

indicate which of them are in the passive voice:

1. Er zal morgen een geheime bijeenkomst gehouden worden.

2. Zodra het losgeld geregeld is, zullen wij u dit laten weten.

3. Men zag hem vaak urenlang in de metro zitten.

4. Wij wisten niet dat de Bob Dylan kaartjes uitverkocht waren.

5. Er zijn vorig jaar veel minder ringtones verkocht.

6. Vorige week is ons kasteeltje in de Bourgogne afgebrand.

7. Toen Bush vertrok, werd er gedanst.

8. Men schonk al maanden geen aandacht aan zijn emotionele uitbarstingen.

9. Een frambozentruffeltaart wordt voor haar achttiende verjaardag besteld.

10.Wanneer waren deze grammaticaboeken voor het laatst gebruikt?

The Passive: Jokes

Extra practice:www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-voice_passive.htmwww.grammar-quizzes.com/passive1c.html

The composer Robert Schumann wrote at the beginning of one of his compositions: "To be played as fast as possible." A few measures later he wrote: "Faster."

When asked for her occupation, a woman who was being charged with a traffic violation said she was a schoolteacher. The judge rose from the bench. "Madam, I have waited years for a schoolteacher to appear before this court," he smiled with delight. "Now sit down at that table and don’t get up until “I will not drive through a red light” has been written five hundred times."

A juggler, speeding to his next performance, is stopped by the police. "What are these matches and lighter fluid doing in your car?" asks the cop. "I'm a juggler and I juggle flaming torches in my act." "Oh yeah?" says the doubtful cop. "Lets see you do it." The juggler gets out and starts juggling the blazing torches masterfully. A couple driving by slows down to watch. "Wow," says the driver to his wife. "I'm glad I didn’t drink any alcohol tonight. Look at the test that guy is being given!"

The end has been reached.

By February 3rd all of your tests and resits will have been taken. Good luck!