Passive voice is a "grammatical" sound. The phrase noun or phrase that would be the object of the corresponding active phrase (such as "Our team defeating the enemy ") appears as a subject of the sentence or clause in a passive voice (" Enemy defeated by our troops ").
The subject of a sentence or clause that displays a passive voice usually indicates the recipient of the action (the patient) rather than the agent (agent). Verbs in passive form in English are formed using some parts (periphrastically): ordinary constructs using auxiliary verbs for or to get along with the past participle of the main verb.
For example, Caesar is stabbed by Brutus in passive voice. The subject, Caesar , shows the person who is being followed up. Agents are expressed here with the phrase by Brutus , but these can be omitted. The equivalent sentence in an active voice is Brutus stabbed Caesar , where the subject indicates the perpetrator, or agent, Brutus. Sentences that feature passive sounds are sometimes called passive words , and passive verb phrases are sometimes called passive verbs .
English allows a number of passive constructions that are not possible in many other languages ​​with similar passive formations. This includes the promotion of an indirect object to the subject (as in Tom given a bag ) and a supplementary preposition promotion (as in operated Sue , leaving the abandoned prepositions).
Passive use in English varies with writing style and field. It's generally less used than active sound but more common in scientific writing than in any other prose. Contemporary style guidance prevents excessive use of passive but appropriate uses generally accepted, for example where the patient (who is undergoing, targeting, or recipient of action) is a topic, the agent is unimportant (and therefore omitted), or the agent must be highlighted (and because it is placed towards the end).
Video English passive voice
Identify English passive
Passive voice is a special grammatical construction. An important component, in English, is the form of the auxiliary verb be (or sometimes get ) and the past participle of the main verb denoting the action. Agents (actors) can be determined using prepositional phrases with prepositions by, but these are optional. It can be used in a number of different grammatical contexts; for example, in declarative, interrogative, and imperative clauses, and in gerundial constructions:
- "Kennedy was murdered in 1963."
- "Error created ."
- "The window is damaged ."
- " Have you ever been kicked by an elephant?"
- "Do not get killed ."
- " Attacked by Geoffrey Howe as teased by dead sheep."
Difference between passive adjectives and participative adjectives
Differences are made between the above clauses and similar superficial constructs in which words with past participle shapes are used as predicative adjectives, and verbs be or similar are just a copula connecting the sentence subject for the adjective. As an example:
-
- I'm excited (now).
not passive voice, because excited here is not a verb form (because it will be passive excited electrons with laser pulses ), but adjectives that indicate state. See Ã, § Use of Statives and adjectives below.
Abuse of terms
Although passive can be used for the purpose of hiding agents, this is not a valid way to identify passives, and many other grammatical constructs can be used to achieve this. Not all expressions that serve to shift the focus of the actor is an example of a passive voice. For example, "There was an error." and "Error occurred." both in active voice. Sometimes, the authors disclose recommendations about unclear passive use or incorrectly apply the term "passive voice" to include sentences of this type. This example of misuse can be found in the following excerpt from an article from The New Yorker about Bernard Madoff (bold and italics added: bold text denotes a verb incorrectly identified as a passive voice):
Two sentences later, Madoff said, "When I start the Ponzi scheme, I believe it will end soon, and I will be able to free myself, and my client, from the scheme." As he reads this, he betrays no sense of how absurd it is to use a passive voice in connection with his plan, as if it were a bad weather spell that descends on him... In most of the rest of the statement, a person not only hears a passive voice, but feels the hand of a lawyer: "To the best of my memory, my deception begins at the beginning of nineteen- nineties. "
The intransitive verb will end and begin actually in the active voice. Although the speaker may use words in a way that diverts responsibility from him, this is not achieved by using a passive voice.
Maps English passive voice
Reasons to use passive voice
Passive voice may be used without reference to the agent of action; because it can be used when the agent is unknown or unimportant, or the speaker does not want to mention the agent.
- Three stores were robbed overnight (agent identity may not be known).
- New cancer drugs have been discovered (agent identity may not be important in context).
- An error has been made on this project (the speaker may not want to identify the agent).
The last sentence describes a passively criticized passive use, as the avoidance of responsibility by failure to mention the agent (which may be even the speaker himself).
Passive non-agents are common in scientific writing, where agents may be irrelevant, although at least one publisher considers this a "fading practice":
- The mixture is heated to 300 ° C.
But passive voice can also be used in conjunction with the mention of agents, using by -phrase. In this case the reason for passive use is often associated with placing this phrase at the end of the clause (unlike in active voice, where the agent, as the subject, usually precedes the verb). Here, in contrast to the above example, passive construction may actually serve to emphasize the agent, since it is natural for the information emphasized to come at the end:
- Did you not see? The patient was killed by his own doctor !
In more technical terms, such use can be expected in sentences where the agent is the focus ( comment , rheme ), while the patient (underwent action) is the topic or themes (see Topics). There is a tendency for sentences to be formulated that put the focus in the end, which can motivate active or passive voice choice:
- My taxi crashed into an elderly woman (the taxi is the topic, and the woman is focused).
- My mom was hit by a taxi (mom was the subject, and the taxi was the focus).
Similarly, passives can be used because the noun phrases that indicate the agent are long (contain multiple modifiers) because it is easier to place the phrase at the end of the clause:
- This breakthrough was achieved by Burlingame and Evans, two researchers at the university's genetic engineering laboratory.
In some situations, passives can be used so that the most dramatic word or funny part appears at the end of a sentence.
Style suggestions
Suggestions against passive voice
Many language critics and language usage manuals prohibit the use of passive voice. This advice is not usually found in older guides, only appearing in the first half of the twentieth century. In 1916, British writer Arthur Quiller-Couch criticized this grammatical voice:
Generally, use transitive verbs, which attack the object; and use it in an active voice, avoiding passive stationary, with its small helpers hers and is , and its participation goes into your adjectives light, which should be a bit. Because, as a harsh law, with the use of a direct verb and with its adjective economy, you can tell a person's style, if it's masculine or neutral, write or 'composition'.
Two years later, in the original 1918 edition of The Elements of Style, English Cornell Professor William Strunk, Jr. warns of excessive use of passive voice:
The active voice is usually more direct and strong than passive... This rule does not, of course, mean that the author must completely discard the passive voice, which is often easy and sometimes necessary... The need to make a particular word subject sentence will be frequent... specify which sound to use. The use of the habit of active voice, however, makes for forced writing. This is true not only in the narrative concerned primarily with action, but in any form. Many benign descriptions or expositions can be made alive and resolute by replacing transitive in active voice for some arbitrary expressions such as exist or audible .
In 1926, in the Dictionary of Modern English Use Henry Watson Fowler recommended not to change the form of active voice into passive forms, for doing so "... sometimes leads to poor grammar, false idioms , or anomalies. "
In 1946, in the essay of Politics and English George Orwell recommended an active voice as the basic principle of composition: "Do not use passive where you can use the active."
The Columbia Guides for Standard American English state that:
Active voice makes the subject do something (something); passive voice allows the subject to do something to them (by someone or something). Some people think that active voice is more muscular, straightforward, and concise, flabbier's passive voice, more indirectly, and wordier. If you want your words impersonal, indirect, and not committed, passive is the choice, but conversely, active voice is almost always likely to prove to be more effective.
Passive use is more prevalent in scientific writing, but publishers from several scientific publications, such as Nature, now explicitly encourage authors to use active voice.
The main criticism of passive voice is its potential for avoidance of responsibility. This is because passive clauses can be used to remove agents even where it matters:
- We look forward to reporting this issue, but the data was accidentally deleted from our files.
Krista Ratcliffe, a professor at Marquette University, notes the passive use as an example of the role of grammar as "... the relationship between magical words and magic [...]: passive voice confuses accountability by removing who or what performs an action [...]. "
Suggestions by style and grammar guides on proper use of passive voice
Jan Freeman, a columnist for The Boston Globe, said that passive voice has its uses, and that "all good writers use passive voice."
Passive writing does not have to be slack and indirect. Many well-known passages use passive sounds, as in these examples with passive verbs in italics:
- We hold this truth to be real, that all men are created equally, that they are blessed by their Creator with inalienable Rights, which among them are Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness. (United States Declaration of Independence)
- Every valley will be raised , and every mountain and hill will be made low; and the crooked should be straight , and the rough places become plain. (King James Bible, Isaiah 40: 4)
- Now is the winter of our displeasure/ Made this glorious summer by the sun of York. ( Shakespeare Richard III , I.1, ll. 1-2)
- For those many given , many required . (John F. Kennedy quote about Luke 12:48 in his speech to the Massachusetts legislature, 9 January 1961.)
- Never in the area of ​​human conflict so many owe by so much to very little. (Winston Churchill speaks of the House of Commons, August 20, 1940.)
While Strunk and White, in The Elements of Style, encourages the use of active voice, they also state that passivity is often useful and sometimes preferable, even necessary, passive active choice is dependent, for example, on topics sentence.
Another adviser, Joseph M. Williams, who has written several books on style, states more clearly that passivity is often a better choice. According to Williams, the choice between active and passive relies on answers to three questions:
- "Should the reader know who is responsible for his actions?"
- "Does an active or passive verb help your readers move more smoothly from one sentence to the next?
- "Will active or passive readers provide a more consistent and appropriate point of view?"
Bryan A. Garner, in Garner Modern English Usage , emphasizes the advantages of active voice, but gives the following example where passivity is preferred:
- "When the actor is not important."
- "When the actor is unknown."
- "When you want to hide the actor's identity."
- "When you need to enter a punch at the end of a sentence."
- "When the focus of the sentence is on what's being acted upon."
- "When passivity just sounds better."
Merriam-Webster English Dictionary recommends passive voice when identifying object (recipient) action is more important than subject (agent), and when agent is unknown, unimportant, or not worth mentioning:
- The boy was hit by a car.
- The store was robbed last night.
- The plow should not be stored in the garage.
- Kennedy was elected president.
Geoffrey Pullum writes that "passive rather than unwanted features are limited to bad writing, it is a useful construction that is often required for clear expressions, and every good writer uses it."
Despite the criticism that passives can be used to hide responsibility by eliminating agents, passives can also be used to emphasize agents. The author prefers to place the agent at the end of the clause or sentence to give greater emphasis, as in the example given in the previous section:
- Did you not see? The patient was killed by his own doctor!
- This breakthrough was achieved by Burlingame and Evans, two researchers at the university's genetic engineering laboratory.
Actual usage of passive voice
Passive voice is used more often in scientific writing than in other prose, where it is relatively rare.
A statistical study of various magazines found a maximum incidence of 13 percent of passive construction. Despite Orwell's suggestion to avoid passivity, he Politics and English uses passive voice about 20 percent of its construction.
Passive construction
Canonical Passive
In the most commonly considered passive clause type, the verb form be (or sometimes get ) is used as a helper along with the past participle of the transitive verb; the verb loses its direct object, and the patient's action (which will be represented by the direct object of the verb in the active clause) is denoted by the subject clause. For example, the active clause:
- John throws the ball.
contains throw as a transitive verb with John as the subject and ball as its direct object. If we rearrange verbs in passive voices ( cast ), then the ball becomes subject (it is "promoted" to the subject position) and John :
- The ball is thrown.
The original subject (agent) may optionally be re-entered using the by keyword.
- The ball is thrown by by John .
The above example uses the verb be (in the past form is ) to make it passive. It is often possible to use the verb get as an alternative (perhaps with slightly different meaning); for example, the active "Bob on Bob" phrase can be rearranged in one of the following forms:
- Bob hit the ball.
- Bob hit the ball.
Additional verbs of the passive voice ( be or get ) can appear in a combination of tension, aspect and mood, and can also appear in infinitive, participle or gerund). See the article on the English verb form for more information. Note that this includes the use of the verb be in the progressive aspect, which usually does not occur when becomes is used as a simple copula. Some examples:
- Food is being served . (now passive progressive)
- Stadium will be built before next January. (perfect passive period)
- I will get wound if I stay where I am. (Conditional passive perfect with get )
- Not good insulted . (passive infinitive)
- After being humiliated , he left the stage. (participle present passive, perfect aspect)
Indirect object promotion
Unlike some other languages, English also allows passive clauses where indirect objects, rather than direct objects, are promoted to the subject. As an example:
- John gave Mary a book. -> Mary was given a book (by John).
In active form, give is a verb; John is the subject, Mary the indirect object, and the book the direct object. In passive form, the indirect object has been promoted and the direct object has been left in place. (In this case, English resembles a dechticaetiative language.)
Usually only the first-appearing objects can be promoted; the promotion of an indirect object goes from a construction where it precedes the direct object (ie where there is no to or to before the indirect object), whereas direct object promotion in such cases it happens from a construction where the object does not directly follow the direct object (this time accompanied by to or for ; see English grammar Ã,§Ã, Verb phrase). As an example:
- John gave Mary a book. -> Mary was given the book. (and not usually: Ã, ?? a book given Mary.)
- John gave Mary a to book. -> A book is given to Mary. (and not: * Mary was given the book.)
Such restrictions apply to prepositional passives, as noted in the following sections.
Passive preposition
It may also, in some cases, promote the object of the preposition. This may be called prepositional passive , or sometimes pseudopassive (although the latter can also have other meanings, such as the equivalent of impersonal passive sounds, especially in descriptions of other languages).
- They talk about problems. -> The problem is talked about.
In passive form here, the front word is "stranded"; that is, it is not followed by the object.
The prepositional passive is common, especially in informal English. But some potential uses are much more acceptable than others; compare the following example:
- Someone has slept in this bottom bunk. -> This bottom bed has slept. (Acceptable)
- Someone has slept on this bottom bunk. -> Ã,? This bottom bunk has slept on top. (let alone accepted)
The second sentence seems less acceptable because sleeping on the bed does not change the situation; the verb phrase has slept on does not express the "relevant important property" of the bed.
It is usually not possible to promote a preposition object if a verb also has a direct object; any passive rendering of a sentence should instead promote a direct object. As an example:
- Someone has placed a child in this bed. -> * This bed has put a child in (unacceptable)
- Someone has placed a child in this bed. -> A child has been placed in this bed. (acceptable)
Exceptions occur with certain idiomatic combinations of preposition object verbs, such as taking advantage of :
- I feel people have taken advantage of me. -> I feel I have been taken advantage of. (acceptable)
Use of stative and adjective
A similar or identical clause type in the form with the passive clause described above has a past participle used to denote not an action, but a state which is the result of an action. For example, the Defined window sentence may have two different meanings:
- The window is broken, yes. Someone or something is destroying windows. (action, event)
- The window is broken, yes. The window is not intact. (generated country)
The first sentence is a passive example of canonical English as described above. But the second case is different; such a sentence is not a passive voice, because the participle is used adjectivally; Such constructs are sometimes called "false passives" or passive stative (rarely called static , static , or passive resultative ), because they represent a country or outcome. In contrast, a canonical passive, representing action or event, may be referred to as passive dynamic or passive .
The ambiguity in such sentences arises because verbs be are used in English both as passive helpers and as regular copular verbs to connect to adjective adjectives. When get is used to form passive, there is no ambiguity: The broken window can not have stative meaning. (For the ways in which some other languages ​​make this difference, see Passive sounds Stative and passive dynamic.) If different adjectives exist for the purpose of expressing a state, then the past participle tends to be less used for that purpose. ; this is the case with the verb open , where there is an adjective open , so that the Door is opened is more likely to refer to the action than the state, because in the usual case people can just say The door is open .
Past participles of transitive verbs can also be used as adjectives (as in broken puppets ), and the participants used in the above mentioned "stative" construction are often considered to be words properties (in predictive usage). Such constructs can also be referred to as adjectival passives (although they are not usually considered passive). As an example:
Here, relief is an ordinary adjective, even though it comes from the past participle relieve . In other sentences the same participle can be used to form the correct (dynamic) passive: He is freed from the task.
When a verb inserted into a passive voice is a stative verb, the distinction between the use of past participle becomes less clear, because passive canonical already has a stative meaning. (For example: People know their identity -> Identity known . ) But sometimes it is possible to provide dynamic meaning using get in addition, as in known with the meaning of "being known".
Inactive passive construction exactly matching
Some passive constructions are not derived precisely from the active construction according to the manner described above. This is especially true with a sentence that contains a content clause (usually that -clauses). Given a sentence in which the role of the object is directly played by such clauses, for example
- They say (that) he is deceiving.
It is possible to turn it into a passive by promoting content clauses for the subject; in this case, however, the clause usually does not change its position in the sentence, and the cursing is takes the normal subject position:
- It is said that he is deceiving.
Another way to form passive in such cases involves promoting the subject clause of the content to the subject of the main clause, and changing the content clause into a non-up to to -infinitive clause. This infinitive is characterized for the grammatical aspect to fit the aspect (or past tense) expressed in the content clause. As an example:
- They say he is cheating. -> He's cheated.
- They think I'm dying. -> I am considered dying.
- They report that he/she has returned/has returned. -> He is reported to have returned.
- They say he will resign. -> for example. He is said to be resigning.
Some verbs are used almost exclusively in passive voice. This is a case with rumors , for example. The following passive sentences may be:
- He is rumored to be a war veteran./It is rumored that he is a war veteran.
but it is impossible to use an active partner * They say that he is a war veteran. (This was once possible, but not used).
Another situation in which passives use constructs that differ from active ones involves the verb make , which means "force". When this verb is used in an active voice, it takes a naked infinitive (no particle to ), but on the required passive voice to -infinitive. As an example:
- They made Jane attend the class.
- Jane is made to attend classes.
Passive double
A construct called double passive can appear when a verb appears in to -initives as a complement to another verb.
If the first verb takes the object directly in front of the infinitive complement (this applies to the increase-to-verb object, where the expected subject of the second verb is raised to the position of the object of the first verb), then a passive voice may be used independently for one or both verbs:
- We hope you complete this project. ( you are resurrected from the subject complete to the expect object
- you expected to complete the project. (Passive voice is used to expect )
- We hope the project is resolved . (Passive voice is used for finished ; now project is upgraded to object)
- The project is expected for resolved . (double passive)
Other verbs that can behave similarly to expect in such constructions include ordering , telling , coax , etc. , Leads for a double passive such as The man was ordered to be shot and I was persuaded to be ordained .
However, a similar construction occurs occasionally, when the first verb raises-to-subject rather than-to-object - that is, when there is no object before the infinitive complement. For example, with effort , the active voice construction is just We are trying to complete the project . The dual passive form of the sentence is:
- This project is trying to complete.
with both verbs changing simultaneously into a passive voice, even though the first verb has no object - it is impossible to say * We are trying a project to be completed , which is a sentence from which a double passive will appear to degrade.
This last dual passive construction is criticized for being questioned both grammatically and stylistically. Fowler calls it "clumsy and incorrect", suggesting that it stems from a false analogy with passive (acceptable) passive, although it recognizes its usefulness in some legal and quasi-legal languages. Other mentioned verbs (other than attempts ) found construction include start , wishes , wishes , suggest , search and threaten . Similarly, the English Heritage Book states that this construction is unacceptable. However, the practice occurs in various contexts.
Additional passive construction
Certain other constructions are sometimes classified as passive. The following types are mentioned by Pullum.
A passive passive clause is similar to a typical passive clause, but without a passive auxiliary word (so it is a non-limited clause consisting of a subject together with a verb phrase based on past participle with passive construction). This can be used in contexts like newspaper headlines:
- The town hall is damaged by hail
and as a modifier (adverbial phrase), namely absolute nominative:
- Our work is done , we're back home.
- That said , there are other considerations as well.
Other constructions are mentioned where passive participle clauses are used, although not introduced by auxiliary be or get (or introduced by get with a direct object) :
- My car was cleaned by a professional.
- Jane's car was stolen last week.
- You should see the bump.
- This software has been pre-installed by the manufacturer.
In passive hidden , the current participle or gerund form (form -ing ) appears rather than past participle. This can appear after requires , and for some speakers after want (with a similar meaning). As an example:
- Your car needs to be washed. (meaning "need to be washed")
- Needs a rash by a specialist.
- Her hair wants to cut.
(An idiomatic expression with the same construction is ... can not stand thinking .) The verbs need and want also have the same usability as an object :
- I need/want my room painting.
See also English clause syntax § Non-limited clauses.
Middle voice and passivals
The term middle voice is sometimes used to refer to a verb that is used without passive construction, but in the sense in which the grammatical subject is understood as undergoing action. Its meaning may be reflexive:
- Fred is shaved, yes. Fred shaves himself
but not always:
- These cookies are selling well, . [we] sell this cake [successfully]
- The clothes are wet, . [water] soaking clothes
Such verbs can also be called passival .
Other constructs sometimes referred to as passivation involve a wider class of verbs, and are used in English until the nineteenth century. Sentences that have this construction display progressive aspects and resemble active sound, but with passive meaning. The example is:
- House under construction (modern English: House under construction)
- The food is eating, (modern English: The food is being eaten)
A rare example of the form of passival used in modern English is with the following sentence:
- Drum beats, ie drums being beaten
This passival construction was moved in the late 18th and early 19th centuries by progressive passive (form being built as given above). The progressive passive grammativity, called by some "passive imperfect," was controversial among the grammars of the nineteenth century, but was received without question today. It has been suggested that a passive progressive appears just east of Bristol and popularized by the Romantic poet.
See also
- Ergative verb
- An existential clause
- List of common English misconceptions
- Mediopassive voices
- Reflexive verbs
References
External links
- Confusion avoids passivity
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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