UNIT 7

JK ROWLING


Passive Voice

What is the passive voice?

In general we tend to use the active voice. That is when a subject does an action to an object.
  1. Somebody stole my laptop. (subject = Somebody / action(verb) = stole / object = my laptop)
The passive voice is used when we want to emphasize the action (the verb) and the object of a sentence rather than subject. This means that the subject is either less important than the action itself or that we don’t know who or what the subject is.
  1. My laptop was stolen. (The object – now the subject = My laptop / action= was stolen)
  1. Passive: Napa Valley is known for its excellent wines.
  2. Active: [Many people] know Napa Valley for its excellent wines.
  1. Passive: Twenty civilians were killed in the bomb explosion.
  2. Active: Someone killed twenty civilians in the bomb explosion.

The passive agent

When we know who the subject is, we put it at the end with by. We call this an agent.
  1. Passive: The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. (agent =Leonardo Da Vinci )
  2. Active: Leonaro Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa.
Most writing instructors and editors recommend against using the passive voice, when possible. The reason for this is that when you use the active voice, your writing is clearer and less complicated.
  1. Active: While Mr. Taylor was driving down Highway 101, a police officer pulled him over and gave him a speeding ticket.
  2. Passive: While Mr. Taylor was driving down Highway 101, he was pulled over and given a ticket by a police officer.
If it’s a long sentence and you know who the subject is, it’s best to use the active voice.
The passive is often used to report something or to state a fact.
  1. Highway 15 was closed yesterday due to a serious road accident.
  2. A lot of corn is grown in Iowa.

Forming the passive voice

The passive voice is not a tense in English. Each tense has its own passive voice which is created by using a form of the auxiliary verb to be + V3 (past participle)
The passive voice in each tense:
TenseAuxiliary verb + sample V3 (past participle)Examples
Present simpleam, is, are + madeWine is made from grapes.
Many cars are made in Japan.
Present progressiveam, is, are + being + sentThe document is being sent right now.
I am being sent to work in the London office.
Past simplewas, were + invitedJohn was invited to speak at the conference.
We were invited to Daniel and Mary’s wedding.
Past progressivewas, were + being + washedThe dog was being washed when I got home.
Their cars were being washed while they were in the mall shopping.
Future (will)will be + signedThe contract will be signed tomorrow.
The documents will all be signed by next week.
Future (going to)am, is, are + going to be + builtA bridge is going to be built within the next two years.
New houses are going to be built in our neighborhood.
Present perfecthas, have + been + soldThat start-up has been sold for $5 million.
The rights to his book have been sold for $250,000.
Past perfecthad + been + hiredThe new manager had been hired before John left the company.
All the employees had hired before the store opened.
Future perfectwill + have been + finishedThe car will have been loaded by the time he gets home.
The crates will have been loaded by then.
Modals: can/couldcan, could + be + issuedA passport can only be issued at the embassy.
He said the documents could be issued within the week.
Modal: have tohave to, has to, had to + be+ arrangedA babysitter has to be arranged for this evening.
Joan’s travel plans have to be arranged by December.
Modal: mustmust + be + stoppedCriminals must be stopped before they commit crimes.
All of the rules for passive negatives and questions are the same as for the active voice.
Note: Verbs that have no object (no one to “receive” the action) cannot be put into the passive, such as, arrive, come, die, exist, go, happen, have, live, occur sleep, etc.

Passive Sentences with Two Objects Level 3

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.
SubjectVerbObject 1Object 2
Active:Ritawrotea letterto me.
Passive:A letterwas writtento meby Rita.
Passive:Iwas writtena letterby Rita.
.
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.
The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).
Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.

Exercises 

FOOTBALL

"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very
disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more
 important than that." 
"If you are first you are first. If you are second, you are nothing." by Bill Shankly


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