passive voice
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 a preposition (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.
Identifying the English passive
The passive voice is a specific grammatical construction;
not every expression that serves to take focus away from the performer of an
action is classified as an instance of passive voice. The essential components
of the English passive voice are a form of the auxiliary
verb be (or sometimes get), and the past
participle of the main verb denoting the action. For example:
... that all men are created
equal...
We have been cruelly deceived.
The captain was struck by a
missile.
I got kicked in the face
during the fight.
A distinction is made between the above type of clause, and
those of similar form in which the past participle is used as an ordinary adjective,
and the verb be or similar is simply a copula linking the subject of the sentence
to that adjective. For example:
I am excited (right now).
This would not normally be classed as a passive sentence,
since the participle excited is used adjectivally to denote a state, not
to denote an action of excitation (as it would in the passive the electron
was excited with a laser pulse). See Stative and
adjectival uses below.
Reasons for using the passive voice
The passive voice can be used without referring to the agent
of an action; it may therefore be used when the agent is unknown or
unimportant, or the speaker does not wish to mention the agent.
- A new cancer drug has been discovered. (the identity of
the agent may be unimportant in the context)
The last sentence illustrates a frequently criticized use of
the passive – the evasion of responsibility by failure to mention the agent
(which may even be the speaker himself).
- The mixture was heated to 300°C.
However the passive voice can also be used together with a
mention of the agent, using a by-phrase. In this case the reason for use
of the passive is often connected with the positioning of this phrase at the
end of the clause (unlike in the active voice, where the agent, as subject,
normally precedes the verb). Here, in contrast to the examples above, passive
constructions may in fact serve to place emphasis on the agent, since it is
natural for information being emphasized to come at the end:
- Don't you see? The patient was murdered by his own
doctor!
In more technical terms, such uses can be expected in
sentences where the agent is the focus (comment, rheme), while the
patient (the undergoer of the action) is the topic or theme (see Topic–comment).
There is a tendency for sentences to be formulated so as to place the focus at
the end, and this can motivate the choice of active or passive voice:
- My taxi hit an old lady. (the taxi is the topic, the
lady is the focus)
Similarly, the passive may be used because the noun phrase
denoting the agent is a long one (containing many modifiers), since it is convenient to place
such phrases at the end of a clause:
- The breakthrough was achieved by Burlingame and Evans,
two researchers in the university's genetic engineering lab.
Advice in favor of the passive voice
Jan Freeman, a reporter for The Boston Globe, said
that the passive voice does have its uses, and that "all good writers use
the passive voice." For example, despite Orwell's advice to avoid the
passive, his Politics and the English Language (1946) employs passive
voice for about 20 percent of its constructions. By comparison, a statistical
study found about 13 percent passive constructions in newspapers and magazines.
Passive writing is not necessarily slack and indirect. Many
famously vigorous passages use the passive voice, as in these examples:
- Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and
hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the
rough places plain. (King James Bible, Isaiah 40:4)
Merriam–Webster's
Dictionary of English Usage (1994) recommends the passive voice
when identifying the object (receiver) of the action is more important than the
subject (agent), and when the agent is unknown, unimportant, or not worth
mentioning:
- The store was robbed last night.
The principal criticism against the passive voice is its
potential for evasion of responsibility. This is because a passive clause may
omit the agent even where it is important:
- We had hoped to report on this problem, but the data
were inadvertently deleted from our files.
(See weasel words.) However, the passive can also be
used to emphasize the agent, and it may be better for that role than the active
voice, because the end of a clause is the ideal place to put something you wish
to emphasize, or a long noun phrase, as in the examples given in the previous
section:
- The breakthrough was achieved by Burlingame and Evans,
two researchers in the university's genetic engineering lab.
Geoffrey Pullum writes that "The passive is not an
undesirable feature limited to bad writing, it's a useful construction often
needed for clear expression, and every good writer uses it."
Passive constructions
Canonical passives
In the most commonly considered type of passive clause, a
form of the verb be (or sometimes get) is used as an auxiliary
together with the past participle of a transitive
verb; that verb is missing its direct object,
and the patient of the action (that which would be
denoted by the direct object of the verb in an active clause) is denoted
instead by the subject of the clause. For example, the active clause:
contains threw as a transitive verb with John
as its subject and the ball as its direct object. If we recast the verb
in the passive voice (was thrown), then the ball becomes the
subject (it is "promoted" to the subject position) and John
disappears:
The original subject (the agent)
can optionally be re-inserted using the preposition by.
- The ball was thrown by John.
The above example uses the verb be (in the past tense
form was) to make the passive. It is often possible to use the verb get
as an alternative (possibly with slightly different meaning); for example, the
active sentence "The ball hit Bob" may be recast in either of the
following forms:
- Bob was hit by the ball.
- Bob got hit by the ball.
Promotion
of indirect objects
Unlike some other languages, English
also allows passive clauses in which an indirect
object, rather than a direct object, is promoted to the subject. For
example:
- John gave Mary a book. → Mary
was given a book (by John).
In the active form, gave is
the verb; John is its subject, Mary its indirect object, and a
book its direct object. In the passive forms, the indirect object has been
promoted and the direct object has been left in place. (In this respect,
English resembles dechticaetiative languages.)
It is normally only the
first-appearing object that can be promoted; promotion of the indirect object
takes place from a construction in which it precedes the direct object (i.e.
where there is no to or for before the indirect object), whereas
promotion of the direct object in such cases takes place from a construction in
which the indirect object follows the direct (this time being accompanied by to
or for; see English grammar: Verb phrases). For example:
- John gave Mary a book. → Mary
was given a book. (and not normally: ??A book was given Mary.)
- John gave a book to
Mary. → A book was given to Mary. (and not: *Mary was given a book
to.)
Similar restrictions apply to the
prepositional passive, as noted in the following section.
Prepositional passive
It is also possible, in some cases, to promote the object of
a preposition. This may be called the prepositional passive, or
sometimes the pseudo-passive (although the latter term can also have
other meanings, particularly in descriptions of other languages).
- They talked about the problem.
→ The problem was talked about.
In the passive form here, the preposition is "stranded"; that is, it is not
followed by an object.
The prepositional passive is common especially in informal
English. However some potential uses appear grammatically unacceptable; compare
the following examples given by Pullum:
- Someone has slept in this bunk. → This bunk has been
slept in. (fully acceptable)
- Someone has slept above this bunk. → ??This bunk
has been slept above. (barely acceptable)
Stative and adjectival uses
A type of clause that is similar or identical in form to the
passive clauses described above has the past participle used to denote not an
action, but a state being the result of an action. For example, the sentence The
window was broken may have two different meanings:
- The window was broken, i.e
Someone or something broke the window. (action, event)
- The window was broken, i.e.
The window was not intact. (resultant state)
The first sentence is an example of the canonical English
passive as described above. However the second case is distinct; such sentences
are not always considered to be true passives, since the participle is being
used adjectivally;[13]
they are sometimes called false passives. If they are considered to be
passives, they may be called stative (or static, or resultative)
passives, since they represent a state or result. By contrast the canonical
passives, representing an action or event, may then be called dynamic or
eventive passives.
Past participles of transitive verbs can also be used as adjectives
(as in a broken doll), and the participles used in the
above-mentioned "stative" constructions are often considered to be
adjectival (in predicative use). Such constructions may then
also be called adjectival passives (although they are not normally
considered true passives). For example:
- She was relieved to find her
car.
Here, relieved is an ordinary adjective, though it
derives from the past participle of relieve. In other sentences that
same participle may be used to form the true (dynamic) passive: He was relieved
of duty.
Passive constructions without an
exactly corresponding active
Some passive constructions are not derived exactly from a
corresponding active construction in the ways described above. This is
particularly the case with sentences containing content
clauses (usually that-clauses). Given a sentence in which the
role of direct object is played by such a clause, for example
- They say (that) he cheats.
it is possible to convert this to a passive by promoting the
content clause to subject; in this case, however, the clause typically does not
change its position in the sentence, and an expletive it takes the normal subject
position:
- It is said that he cheats.
Another way of forming passives in such cases involves
promoting the subject of the content clause to the subject of the main clause,
and converting the content clause into a non-finite
clause with the to-infinitive. This infinitive is marked for
grammatical aspect to correspond to the aspect
(or past tense) expressed in the content clause. For example:
- They say that he cheats. → He is said to cheat.
- They think that I am dying. → I am thought to be dying.
- They report that she came back / has come back. → She
is reported to have come back.
- They say that she will resign. → e.g. She is
said to be going to resign.
Some verbs are used almost exclusively in the passive voice.
This is the case with rumor, for example. The following passive
sentences are possible:
- He was rumored to be a war
veteran. / It was rumored that he was a war veteran.
but it is not possible to use the active counterpart *They
rumored that he was a war veteran. (This was once possible, but has fallen
out of use.)
Double passives
The construction called double passive can arise when
one verb appears in the to-infinitive as the complement of another verb.
If the first verb takes a direct object ahead of the
infinitive complement (this applies to raising-to-object
verbs, where the expected subject of the second verb is raised to
the position of object of the first verb), then the passive voice may be used
independently for either or both of the verbs:
- We expect the project to be completed. (passive
voice used for complete; now the project is raised to
object)
- The project is expected to be completed.
(double passive)
Other verbs which can behave similarly to expect in
such constructions include order, tell, persuade, etc.,
leading to such double passives as The man was ordered to be shot and I
was persuaded to be ordained.
Similar constructions sometimes occur, however, when the
first verb is raising-to-subject rather than raising-to-object – that is, when
there is no object before the infinitive complement. For example, with attempt,
the active voice construction is simply We attempted to complete the project.
A double passive formed from that sentence would be:
- The project was attempted to be
completed.
with both verbs changed simultaneously to the passive voice,
even though the first verb takes no object – it is not possible to say *We
attempted the project to be completed, which is the sentence from which the
double passive would appear to derive.
Additional passive constructions
Certain other constructions are sometimes classed as
passives. The following types are mentioned by Pullum.
A bare passive clause is similar to a typical passive
clause, but without the passive auxiliary verb (so it is a non-finite
clause consisting of a subject together with a verb phrase based on
a past participle with the passive construction). These can be used in such
contexts as newspaper headlines:
- City hall damaged by hail
- Our work done,
we made our way back home.
- That said,
there are also other considerations.
Other constructions are mentioned in which a passive past
participial clause is used, even though it is not introduced by the auxiliary be
or get (or is introduced by get with a direct object):
- I had my car cleaned by a professional.
- Jane had her car stolen last week.
- You ought to get that lump looked at.
- This software comes pre-installed by the manufacturer.
Middle voice and passival
The term middle voice
is sometimes used to refer to verbs used without a passive construction, but in
a meaning where the grammatical subject is understood as undergoing the action.
The meaning may be reflexive:
- Fred shaved, i.e. Fred
shaved himself
but is not always:
- These cakes sell well, i.e.
[we] sell these cakes [successfully]
- The clothes are soaking, i.e.
[the water] is soaking the clothes
Only certain verbs can be used with
such meanings. However a more general construction, formerly used in English,
was the passival, where the progressive aspect of a verb was used in the
active voice, but with passive meaning. Examples of this would be:
- The house is building (modern
English: The house is being built)
- The meal is eating (modern
English: The meal is being eaten)
refrensi :
jhon estwood, oxford learner's
pocket grammar
