The Passive Voice

ЛІТЕРАТУРА

1. Барабаш Т.А. English. A guide to better grammar. M., 2000.

2. Верба Г.В., Верба Л.Г. Довідник з граматики англійської мови. К., 1993.

3. Истомина Е.А., Саакян А.С. English Grammar. Theory and practice for beginners. M., 2003.

4. Каушанская В.Л. A Grammar of the English Language. K., 1997.

5. Качалова К.Н., Израилевич Е.Е. Грамматика английского языка. М., 1997.

6. Саакян А.С. Exercises in Modern English Grammar. M., 2001.

7. Хведченя Л.В., Хорень Р.В., Крюковская И.В. Практическая грамматика современного английского языка. Мн., 2002.

8. Murphy R. English Grammar in Use. Cambridge University Press, 1998.

9. Thomson A.J., Martinet A.V. Practical English Grammar. Exercises 1-2. Oxford University Press, 1996.

ЛЕКЦІЯ 1

ТЕМА: ПАСИВНИЙ СТАН

МЕТА:

§ ознайомити студентів з поняттям „стан” в англійській мові,

§ навчити утворювати форми дієслів пасивного стану,

§ ознайомити з основними випадками вживання пасивного стану в англійській мові,

§ розвивати уміння вживати пасивний стан в мовленні,

§ виховувати культуру спілкування.

ЗАВДАННЯ:

ü навчити перетворювати загальну формулу пасивного стану у форму певного часу,

ü визначити дієслова, які вживаються у пасивному стані,

ü ознайомити із способами перекладу пасивного стану українською мовою.

.

Студенти повинні знати:

Ÿ утворення та вживання пасивного стану,

Ÿ способи його перекладу українською мовою.

Студенти повинні вміти:

Ÿ розрізняти активний і пасивний стан,

Ÿ вживати пасивний стан в мовленні,

Ÿ перекладати речення в пасиві українською мовою.

THE PASSIVE VOICE

1. Introduction.

Voice is a grammatical category of the verb which indicates the relation between an action and its agent. It shows whether the subject is the doer of the action or whether it is acted upon.

English verb has two voices: the Active Voice and the Passive Voice.

The Active Voice shows that the person or thing denoted by the subject is the doer of the action expressed by the predicate, i.e. the action is performed by its subject (the subject of the action).

The Passive Voice shows that the person or thing denoted by the subject is acted upon, i.e. the subject is the recipient of the action (the object of the action).

Most of the active tenses in English have passive equivalents.

The object of an active verb corresponds to the subject of a passive verb.

Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.

Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.

2. The formation of the Passive Voice.

The Passive Voice is formed by means of the auxiliary verb to be in the required form and Past Participle (Participle II) of the notional verb.

The passive = to be + Participle II

The interrogative form is formed by placing the (first) auxiliary verb before the subject of the sentence.

Will the work be done tomorrow?

The negative form is formed by placing the particle “not” after the first auxiliary verb.

The work will not be done tomorrow.

Interrogative verbs in active questions about the object become affirmative verbs in passive questions:

What did they steal? – What was stolen?

Conversely, affirmative verbs in active questions become interrogative verbs in passive questions:

Who painted it? – Who was it painted by?

Other types of questions require interrogative verbs in both active and passive questions:

When / Where / Why did he paint it? – When / Where / Why was it painted?

Tense	Indefinite (Simple)	Continuous	Perfect
Present	am / is / are + written	am/ is/ are + being written	have / has + written
Past	was /were + written	was / were + being written	had been written
Future	will be written	_______	will have been written

6!!!The Future Continuous and all Perfect-Continuous tenses are not used in the passive.

The rules for tense usage in the passive are the same as in the active.

3. The use of the Passive Voice.

The Passive Voice tends to be used in preference to the active voice in the following situations:

when the doer of the action is unknown or indefinite

The minister was murdered.

when the main interest of the speaker is on the action itself and not particularly on the doer of the action

The house next door has been bought.

when the doer of the action is obvious and for that reason does not need to be named

The streets are swept every day.

when the speaker wishes to make a statement less direct for reasons of tact, diplomacy, discretion, etc. as the passive makes it less clear who the actual doer is

All school outing have been cancelled.

in official notices, instructions, prohibitions, to make them sound impersonal and thus more polite

Breakfast is served from 6.00 to 10.30.

Passive constructions are more widely used in English than in Ukrainian. A much greater number of verbs can be used in the Passive Voice in English. These cases are the following:

Transitive verbs taking two objects, direct and indirect, form two kinds of passive constructions.

A very good job was offered to him.

He was offered a very good job.

Note: There is a certain group of transitive verbs which are not used in the Passive Voice (to seem, to become, to suit, etc.), as they don’t denote actions or processes, but states.

He seems to know all.

Intransitive verbs taking a prepositional object can be used passively too. In this case the prepositional object of an active construction becomes the subject of a passive construction, the preposition being put after the passive verb.

The film was much talked about.

Some other intransitive verbs such as live, sleep, etc. may be used in passive constructions the subject of which corresponds to the adverbial modifier of an active construction.

The bed had not been slept in.

A number of phraseological verb + noun groups can also be used in the Passive Voice.

His remark was taken no notice of.

The agent, when mentioned, is preceded by the preposition by.

Two hundred people are employed by this company.

4. The use of Simple tenses in the passive.

Present Simple Passive is used to express habitual or repeated actions.

It is formed by means of the auxiliary verb to be in the Present Simple and Past Participle (Participle II) of the notional verb.

I	am	Past Participle (V3)
he, she, it	is
we, you, they	are

e.g. My car is serviced regularly.

Past Simple Passive is used to express a finished action in the past.

It is formed by means of the auxiliary verb to be in the Past Simple and Past Participle (Participle II) of the notional verb.

I, he, she, it	was	Past Participle (V3)
we, you, they	were

e.g. America was discovered by Christopher Columbus.

Future Simple Passive is used to express a future action.

It is formed by means of the auxiliary verb to be in the Future Simple and Past Participle (Participle II) of the notional verb.

will be + Past Participle (V₃)

e.g. She will be invited to the party.

5. The use of Continuous tenses in the passive.

Present Continuous Passive is used to express actions in progress at the present moment or in the present period.

It is formed by means of the auxiliary verb to be in the Present Continuous and Past Participle (Participle II) of the notional verb.

I	am	being + Past Participle (V3)
he, she, it	is
we, you, they	are

e.g. The question is being discussed now.

Past Continuous Passive is used to express an action in progress at a definite moment in the past.

It is formed by means of the auxiliary verb to be in the Past Continuous and Past Participle (Participle II) of the notional verb.

I, he, she, it	was	being + Past Participle (V3)
we, you, they	were

e.g. The bike was being repaired when I came in.

6. The use of Perfect tenses in the passive.

Present Perfect Passive is used to express an action which began in the past and continues to the present and to show that the action which took place some time prior to the present situation is connected with the present situation through its consequences.

It is formed by means of the auxiliary verb to be in the Present Perfect and Past Participle (Participle II) of the notional verb.

I, we, you, they	have	been + Past Participle (V3)
he, she, it	has

e.g. The documents have been signed.

.

Past Perfect Passive is used to express an action which took place before another past action or before a definite moment in the past.

It is formed by means of the auxiliary verb to be in the Past Perfect and Past Participle (Participle II) of the notional verb.

had been + Past Participle (V₃)

e.g. The tickets had been sold by that time.

Future Perfect Passive is used to express an action completed before a definite moment in the future.

It is formed by means of the auxiliary verb to be in the Future Perfect and Past Participle (Participle II) of the notional verb.

will have been + Past Participle (V₃)

e.g. The story will have been read by the time you come back.

7. Ways of translating the Passive Voice into Ukrainian.

The passive verb-forms can be translated into Ukrainian:

· by verbs with the particle –ся (сь)

e.g. His voice was heard at the door.

Біля дверей почувся його голос.

· by combinations of the verb бути with Past Participle Passive or predicative verbal forms ending in –но, -то

e.g. That house was built last year.

Той будинок було збудовано/був збудований торік.

· by verbs in the Active Voice in indefinite-personal sentences

e.g. She had not been seen.

Її не бачили.

· by the verb in the Active Voice in a definite-personal sentence only if the subject of the action of a passive construction is mentioned

e.g. They were invited by my friend.

Їх запросив мій друг.

APPENDIX

Prepositional verbs in the Passive Voice

account for – to give an explanation or reason for

His foolish behaviour could not be accounted for.

arrive at – (a decision, conclusion, agreement) – to reach, to come to

After many hours’ talk the decision was arrived at.

ask for – to make a request for

Have I been asked for at the hotel?

approve of – to consider good, right, wise (disapprove of – to consider bad, wrong, unwise)

His request was disapproved of.

His behaviour can’t be approved of.

break into – to enter by force: to break into a house

Their house was broken into last night but nothing was stolen.

bring up – to educate and care for the family until grown up, to bring up children

It was clear that the child had been brought up.

call for – to demand, to call for the waiter, to call for the bill

At the end of the meal the bill was called for.

comment on – to make a remark, give an opinion

The election results were widely commented on in the newspapers.

deal with – to do business

This store has been dealt with for twenty years.

depend on – to trust (usually someone)

You’ll be depended on to do it.

hear from – to receive news from (someone) usually by letter

He hasn’t been heard of since he telephoned.

hear of – to know of (a fact, existence of something or somebody), to hear about

This young tennis player has been heard of quite a lot lately.

insist on (upon) – to declare firmly (when opposed)

His going away was insisted on.

interfere with – to get in the way of another, to prevent from happening

He doesn’t like to be interfered with while he is working.

laugh at – to treat as foolish, worthless or an object of fun

Don’t say such foolish things! You’ll be laughed at.

listen to – to give attention in seeing

He was listened to attentively.

look at – to give attention in seeing

She was looked at with surprise.

look after – to take care of someone or something

Are you being well looked after?

look for – to try to find

The boy who disappeared from home last week is still being looked for.

look into – to examine the meaning or causes of something

The matter will be looked into in the near future.

mock at – to laugh at (someone or something) when it is wrong to do so

His strange way of expressing himself is always mocked at.

object to – to be against something or someone

His proposal was strongly objected to.

pick on – to choose something or someone

Any student can be picked on to answer the examiners’ questions.

provide for – support, supply with necessary things

She was well provided for in her husband’s will.

read to – tosay printed or written words especially to give pleasure to others

Little children like to be read to.

refer to – mention, speak about

Later the Minister’s report was referred to.

rely on – to trust someone to do something

He can be relied on to help you.

send for – to give a command, request

When they found her lying on the floor the doctor was sent for.

shout at – to give a loud cry, speak or say very loudly

I hate to be shouted at. I like people to be nice to me.

- to think highly (well, little, poorly) of someone or somebody – to have a good (bad, etc) opinion of someone or something

He was highly thought of in his town.

wait for – to stay somewhere without doing anything until somebody or something comes or something happens

Hurry up. You are being waited for downstairs.

write to – to produce and send (a letter)

Will Rill be written to and introduced about the changes?

Phrasal verbs in the Passive Voice

blow down – to fall by blowing

Several trees were blown down by the storm last night.

call up – to order (someone) to join the armed forces

He was called up in 1996.

give up – to stop believing that someone can be saved especially from death

The boy was given up for lost.

hold up – delay

The building of the new road has been held up by bad weather.

knock down – to destroy a building (bridge) by means of blows

Our house is being knocked down to give way for a new road.

let down – to cause (someone0 to be disappointed in one’s loyalty, fail to keep a promise to someone

It was difficult to believe that he had been let down by his friend.

point out – to draw attention to something or someone

Not all the mistakes in Bob’s written test were pointed out.

pull down – to break to pieces and destroy something

Half the houses in the street are being pulled down to make room for the new post-office.

put off – to move to a later date, delay

Their wedding has been put off.

run over (of a vehicle or its driver) – to knock down and pass over the top of

They had a dog but it got run over.

see off – to go to the airport, station, etc.

When he was going away he was seen off by all friends at the airport.

Phraseological units in the Passive Voice

do away with – cause to end, abolish

All these silly restrictions should be done away with.

find fault with – to complain, perhaps too much or too often

The poor child is always found fault with.

lose sight of – to cease to see, to forget

At last the ship was lost sight of.

make use of – to use well, to take advantage of

These are good examples. They should be made use of in the report.

make fun of – to laugh or cause others to laugh rather unkindly

She is often made fun of because she wears such strange hats.

pay attention to – to take notice of

All his remarks were paid little attention to.

put an end to – to stop from happening any more

This state of affairs will be put an end to.

put up with – to accept an unpleasant situation or person without complaining

Her attitude to her duties can be put up with.

set fire to – to light (something) not really meant to burn, set something on fire

The house was set fire to in the middle of the night.

take (good) care of – to be responsible for someone or something

I hope the child will be taken good care of.

take notice of – to pay attention to

She said something but her words were taken no notice of.

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