The passive voice is a grammatical construction (specifically, a "voice"). The noun or noun phrase that would be the object of an active
sentence (such as Our troops
defeated the enemy) appears as the subject of a sentence
with passive voice (e.g. The enemy was defeated by our troops).
The subject of a sentence or
clause featuring the passive voice denotes the recipient of the action (the patient) rather than the performer (the agent). The passive voice in English is formed periphrastically: the usual form uses the auxiliary verb be (or get)
together with the past participle of the main verb.
For example, Caesar was stabbed by Brutus uses the passive voice. The subject denotes
the person (Caesar) affected by the action of the verb. The agent is expressed
here with the phrase by Brutus, but this can be omitted. The equivalent
sentence in active voice is Brutus stabbed Caesar, in which
the subject denotes the doer, or agent, Brutus. A sentence featuring the
passive voice is sometimes called a passive sentence, and a verb phrase in passive voice is
sometimes called a passive verb.
English allows a number of
passive constructions which are not possible in many of the other languages
with similar passive formation. These include promotion of an indirect object to subject (as in Tom was given a bag) and
promotion of the complement of apreposition (as in Sue was operated on, leaving a stranded
preposition).
Use of the English passive
varies with writing style and field. Some publications' style sheets discourage
use of the passive voice, while others
encourage it. Although some
purveyors of usage advice, including George Orwell (see Politics
and the English Language,
1946) and William
Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White (see The
Elements of Style, 1919),
discourage the English passive, its usefulness is generally recognized,
particularly in cases where the patient is more important than the agent, but also in some
cases where it is desired to emphasize the agent.
Use of
Passive
Passive voice is used when the focus is on
the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is
performing the action.
Example: My bike was stolen.
In the example above, the focus is on the
fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.
Sometimes a statement in passive is more
polite than active voice, as the following example shows:
Example: A mistake was made.
In this case, I focus on the fact that a
mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).
Form of
Passive
Example: A letter was written.
When rewriting active sentences in passive
voice, note the following:
·
the object of the
active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
·
the finite form
of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
·
the subject of
the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)
Examples Of Passive
Passive Sentences with Two Objects
Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice
means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an
object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to
put the focus on.
As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.
Personal and
Impersonal Passive
Personal Passive simply means that
the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal
passive.
Example: They build houses. – Houses are
built.
Verbs without an object (intransitive verb)
normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that
can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an
intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction –
therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.
Example: he says – it is said
Impersonal Passive is not as common
in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think,
know).
Example: They say that women live longer than
men. – It is said that women live longer than men.
Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.
Example: They say that women live longer than
men. – Women are said to live longer than men.
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