The Passive

THE PASSIVE

•          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.

•          USING THE PASSIVE

·         Rice is grown in India.

·         Our House was built in 1890.

·         This olive oil was imported from spain.

Usually the passive is used without a “by pharse.” 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 without the “by phrase.”

·         Life on the mississippi was written by Mark Twain.

The “by phrase” isincluded only if it is omportant to who know who performs an action. In (d), by Mark Twain is important information.

·         My aunt made this rug. (active)

·         This rug was made by my aunt.

If the speaker/writer knows who perfomrs an action, ussualy 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.

•          INDIRECT OBJECTS AS PASSIVE SUBJECTS

·         Someone gave Mrs. Lee an award.    ─►    Mrs. Lee ( in direct). An award (direct object)

·         Mrs. Lee  was given an award.

·         someone gave an award to Mrs. Lee.

·         An award was given to Mrs. Lee.

Either an indirect object or a direct object may become the subject of a passive sentence. (a), (b), (c), and (d) have the same meaning. Note in (d): When the direct object becomes the subject, to is ussualy used in front of the indirect object (The omission of to is more common in British English than American English: An award was given Mrs. Lee).

•          THE PASSIVE FORM OF MODALS AND SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS

THE PASSIVE FORM: modal + be + past participle

·         Tom will be invited to the picnic.

·         The window can’t be opened.

·         Childern should be taught to respect their elders.

·         May I be excused from class?

·         This book had better be returned to the library before Friday.

·         This letter ought to be sent before June 1st.

·         Mary has to be told about our change in plans.

·         Fred is supposed to be told about the meeting.

THE PAST-PASSIVE FORM: modal + have been +  past participle

·         The letter should have been sent last week.

·         This house must have been built over 200 years ago.

·         Jack ought to have been invited to the party.

•          STATIVE PASSIVE

         (a) The door is old. (b) The door is green. (c) The door is locked.

In (a) and (b): old and green are adjective. They discribe the door. In (c): locked is a past participle. It is used as an adjective. It discribe the door.

·         I locked the door five minutes ago.

·         The door was locked by me five minutes ago.

·         Now the door is locked.

The passive form may be used to describe an existing situation or state, as in (f). No action is taking place. The action happened before. There is no “by phrase.” The past participle functions as an adjective. When the passsive form expresses an existing state rather than an action, it is called the “stative passive.”

·         I am intrested in Chinese art.

·         He is statisfied with his job.

·         Ann is married to Alex.

Often stative passive verbs are followed by a preposition other than by.

·         I don’t know where I am. I am lost.

·         I can’t find my purse. It is gone.

·         I am finished with my work.

·         I am done with my work.

(j) through (m) are exemples of idiomatic usage of the passive form. These sentences have no equivalent active sentences.

•          THE PASSIVE WITH GET

·         I’m getting hungry. Let’s eat soon.

·         You shouldn’t eat so much. You’ll get fat.

·         I stopped working because I got sleepy.

Get may be followed by certain adjectives (some of the common adjectives that follow get are: angry, anxious, bald, better, big, busy, chilly, cold, dark, dizzy, empty, fat, full, good, heavy, hot, hungry, late, light, mad, nervous, old, rich, sick, sleepy, tall, thirsty, warm, well, wet, worse.)

·         I stopped working because i got tired.

·         They are getting married next month.

·         I got worried because he was two hours late.

Get may also be followed by a past participle. The past participle function as an adjective; it describe the subject. The passive with get is common in spoken English but is often not appropriate in formal writing.

•          PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVES

·         The problem confuses the students.

·         It is a confusing problem.

·         The students are confused by the problem.

·         They are confused students.

The present participle conveys an active meaning. The noun it modifies does something. In (a) The noun “problem” does something; it “confuses.” Thus, it is discribed as a “confucing problem.” The past participle conveys a passive meaning. In (b); The students are confused by something. Thus, they are discribed as “confused student.”

·         The story amuses the children.

·         It is an amusing story.

·         The children are amused  by the story.

·         They are amused children.

In (c): The noun “story” performs the action. In (d): The noun “children” receives the action.

             ACTIVE           ─►           PASSIVE

·         Mary helps John.      ─►     John is helped by Mary.

·         Mary is helping John.     ─►    John is being helped by Mary.

·         Mary has helped John.     ─►     John has been helped by Mary.

·         Mary helped John.     ─►     John was helped by Mary.

·         Mary was helping John.     ─►     John was being helped by Mary.

·         Mary had helped John.     ─►     John had been helped by Mary.

·         Mary will help John.     ─►     John will be helped by Mary.

·         Mary is going to help John.     ─►    John is going to be helped by Mary.

·         Mary will have helped John.     ─►    John will have been helped by Mary.

·         Shakespeare wrote that play.      ─►     That play was written by Shakespeare.

               PASSIVE            ─►          ACTIVE

·         The floor is always cleaned by my mother every morning.  ─►   My mother always cleans the floor every morning.

·          The movie was watched by Fadhila in the theatre last night.    ─►     Fadhila watched the movie in the theatre last night.

·          A rainbow cake is being made by them now.    ─►   They are making a rainbow cake now.

·          Some candidates have been interviewed by the manager.  ─►   the manager has interview some candidates.

·          Some books were being bought by her last night.    ─►    She was buying some books last night.

·          A good decision had been made by carroll to leave liverpool.      ─►      Carroll had made a good decision to leave liverpool.

·          Before I got an injury, Mount Rinjani could be climbed by me.   ─►     Before I got an injury, I could climb Mount Rinjani.

·         Her phone should be brough by her to call her mom.    ─►   She should bring her phone to call her mom.

·          The rules must be obeyed by them in this camp.     ─►    They must obey the rules in this camp.

·         I asked the call to be answer by my secretary.     ─►     I asked my secretary to answer the call.

Daftar pustaka:

Azhar, Betty Schrampfer. 1989. Understanding and Using English Grammar, second edition.

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