uczeń zdolny - 02.06

02.06.2020

Lesson

Topic: Passive voice - usage, examples.

źródło English Grammar Today

Passive: active and passive

We use the terms active voice and passive voice to talk about ways of organising the content of a clause:

Cambridge University Press published this book. (active)

This book was published by Cambridge University Press. (passive)

The active voice is the typical word order. We put the subject (the topic or the theme) first. The subject is the ‘doer’ or agent of the verb:

Edward Barnes designed these houses in the 1880s. (active)

In the passive, the person or thing that the action was done to becomes the topic or theme. We can leave out the ‘doer’ or agent, or we can place the ‘doer’ in a prepositional phrase (by + ‘doer’):

These houses were designed in the 1880s. (passive without agent)

These houses were designed in the 1880s by Edward Barnes. (passive + by + agent)

We use the passive when we want to change the focus of a clause, or if the doer of the verb is not important or not known or if we do not want to say who the doer is.

e form the standard passive with be + -ed form. We form the get passive with get + -ed form:

The trees in the garden were damaged in the wind. (standard passive)

The trees in the garden got damaged in the wind. (get passive)

We use the get passive especially in informal speaking. When we use the get passive, we also place a little more emphasis on the nature of the action itself or on the person involved in the action:

There were blizzards over night and the whole town got snowed in. (‘Get snowed in’ here means to be unable to leave the town because of heavy falls of snow.)

I’ve got good news for you. Jim finally got promoted.

They had only known each other for six months when they got married in Las Vegas.

The get passive is commonly used in speaking of events that are negative or not desired:

They’ve worked there for three years but they still got sacked (lost their jobs).

He feels his paintings are always getting criticised.

Our car got stolen last night.

We sometimes use a reflexive pronoun with the get passive. This suggests the subject was at least partly responsible for the event or made it happen:

I got myself locked out the other day. I stupidly left my keys in the bedroom. (or I got locked out …)

Be + -ed

The most common passive structure is be + -ed form:

Five million people watch the show every week. (active present simple of watch)

The show is watched by five million people every week. (passive present simple of be + -ed form of watch)

The table gives examples of the most common forms in the passive.

tense	be form			examples
present simple	am are is		+ -ed form	Am I invited too? One or two new types of insect are found in Britain each year. It’s not made in China.
present continuous	am are is	being		Am I being recorded? We’re already being served, thanks. That computer isn’t being used any more.
past simple	was were			The story was reported in yesterday’s paper. We didn’t know what was in the boxes. They weren’t labelled.
past continuous	was were	being		Was he being examined? They were being watched carefully.
present perfect simple	have has	been		Haven’t they been asked to the wedding? He’s been hurt.
past perfect simple	had	been		An important discovery had been made. Had he been injured in the war?
modal simple	can will might	be		Reservations can be accepted up to 24 hours before arrival. I don’t think I’ll ever be paid. Might we not be allowed to go in?
modal continuous	could may must	be being		She couldn’t still be being interviewed. The photocopier may be being repaired. It must be being done now.
modal perfect simple	could must	have been		Do you think we could have been heard? The document must have been written when they sold the house.

Tenses and the passive

We use passive forms of tenses in the same way as we use their active equivalents. For example, we use the present simple in the passive to talk about general or permanent states, or general facts we think are true at the present time:

Mr Lloyd and Mrs James teach Geography. (present simple active)

Geography is taught by Mr Lloyd and Mrs James. (present simple passive)

We don’t often use perfect continuous forms (have/has been being + -ed form) in a passive structure. We usually find a way to reword sentences like this.

Verbs and the passive

We can form passive structures with verbs that are followed by an object (transitive verbs) and some clauses where the verb is followed by a preposition:

My favourite mug was broken. (Someone broke my favourite mug.)

Their car was broken into and the radio was taken. (Someone broke into their car and took their radio.)

The holiday hasn’t been paid for yet. (No one has paid for the holiday yet.)

We can’t make passive forms from verbs which do not have objects (intransitive verbs):

The parcel arrived in the post this morning.

Not: The parcel was arrived …

We don’t usually use the passive with some verbs that describe a state or situation (state verbs):

They were having lunch.

Not: Lunch was being had.

Some verbs are more common in the passive than the active voice. These include be born, be populated, be stranded, be taken aback:

Where were you born?

Thousands of passengers have been stranded at airports all over Europe after heavy snowfalls.

Verbs with two objects

When verbs have two objects, either object can be the theme or subject of the passive structure, depending on what we want to focus on:

Her mother gave each child a present. (active)

A present was given to each child (by her mother). (passive)

Each child was given a present (by her mother). (passive)

We don’t form passive structures with verbs like be, become, seem where the complement of the verb refers back to the subject (linking verbs):

After six years of training she has finally become a doctor.

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