THE RULE OF PASSIVE VOICE and Quiz

Form of the passive: be (in the main tense) + past participle (of the verb).

 

Exemple:                   s             v                  o

ACTIVE :  (a) Mary    helped      the boy.

         s             v

PASSIVE : (b) The boy was helped by Mary.

 

      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.

 

NOTE:

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.

Exemple:

ACTIVE :  (c) An accident happened.

PASSIVE : (d) (none)

 

II) FORRMING THE PASSIVE :

 

	Active	Passive
Simple present	Mary helps John.	John is helped by Mary.
Present progressive	Mary is helping John.	John is being helped by Mary.
Present perfect	Mary has helped John.	John has been helped by Mary.
Simple past	Mary helped John.	John was helped by Mary.
Past progressive	Mary was helping John.	John was being helped by Mary.
Past perfect.	Mary had helped John.	John had been helped by Mary.
Simple future	Mary will help John.	John will be helped by Mary.
be going to	Mary is going to help John.	John is going to be helped by Mary.
Future perfect *	Mary will have helped John.	John will have been helped by Mary.
Present perfect progressi.	Mary has been helping John.	John has been being helped by Mary.
Past perfect progressive.	Mary had been helping John.	John had been being helped by Mary.
Future perfect	Mary will have helped John.	John will have been helped by Mary.

NOTE:

Ø  The progressive forms of the present perfect, past perfect, future, and future perfect are very rarely used in the passive

 

 

 

 

 

III) USING THE PASSIVE :

 

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.

 

Exemples :

☞   Rice is grown in India.

☞   Our house was built in 1890.

☞   This olive oil was imported from Spain.

The “by phrase” is included only if it is important to know who performs an action. The following examples , by Mark Twain is important information.

 

Exemple :

☞   Life on the Mississippi was written by Mark Twain.

 

IV) INDIRECT OBJECTS USED AS PASSIVE SUBJECTS :

 

      Either an indirect object or direct object may become the subject of a passive sentence. When the direct object becomes the subject, to is usually used in front of the indirect object*.

Exemples :

(a) Someone gave   Mrs. Lee     an award.

(b) Mrs. Lee  was given an award.

(c) Someone gave   an award   to Mrs. Lee.

(d) An award was given to Mrs. Lee.

 

NOTE: The omission of to is  more common in British English than American English:

 

Example : An award was given Mrs. Lee.

 

V) THE PASSIVE FORM OF MODALS AND SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS* :

THE PASSIVE FORM : modal + be + past participle.

 

(a) Tom                   will           be invited                        to the picnic.

(b) The window       can't           be opened.

(c) Children           should           be taught                      to respect their elders.

(d)                          May I            be excused                 from class?

(e) This book  had better            be returned                  to the library before Friday.

(f) This letter      ought to            be sent                        before July 1^st.

(g) Mary                 has to            be told                        about our change in plans.

(h) Fred     is supposed to            be told                       about the meeting

 

THE PAST PASSIVE FORM :

modal + have been + past participle

Exemples :

(i) The letter         should            have been sent                    last week.

(j) This house         must             have been built                  over 200 years ago.

(k) Jack             ought to             have been invited               to the party.

Ø  See Chapter 2 for a discussion of the form, meaning, and use of modals and similar expressions.

THE PASSIVE WITH GET :

Exemples :

(a) I’m getting hungry. Let’s eat soon.

(b) You shouldn't eat so much. You'll get fat.

(c) I stopped working because I got sleepy.

 

    

 NOTE:

Get may be followed by certain adjectives. Get may also be followed by a past participle. The Past Participle functions as an adjective; it describes the subject

      The passive with get is common in spoken English but is often not appropriate in formal writing.

Exemples :

(d) I stopped working because I got tired.

(e) They are getting married next month.

(f) I got worried because he was two hours late.

 

STATIVE PASSIVE :

 

      The passive form may be used to describe an existing situation or state, as.  No action is taking place. The action happened before. There is no “by phrase The past participle functions as an adjective.

      Examples :

 I locked the door five minutes ago.

 The door was locked by me five minutes ago.

 Now the door is locked.

 

When the passive form expresses an existing state rather than an action, it is called the “stative passive.”

 

The window was broken by Ann, (i) Now the window is broken.