PASSIVE VOICE
Disusun oleh :
RIFQI RAMADHAN
17213684
1EA22
UNIVERSITAS GUNADARMA
2014
Use
of Passive
Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It
is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.
Example: My bike was stolen.
In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike
was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.
Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active
voice, as the following example shows:
Example: A mistake was made.
In
this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame
anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).
Form of Passive
Example:
A letter was written.
When
rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:
§
the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the
passive sentence
§
the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past
participle)
§
the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the
passive sentence (or is dropped)
Examples of Passive 
Tense
|
Subject
|
Verb
|
Object
|
|
Simple Present
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
writes
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
is written
|
by Rita.
|
|
Simple Past
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
wrote
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
was written
|
by Rita.
|
|
Present Perfect
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
has written
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
has been written
|
by Rita.
|
|
Future I
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
will write
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
will be written
|
by Rita.
|
|
Hilfsverben
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
can write
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
can be written
|
by Rita.
|
|
Examples of Passive 
Tense
|
Subject
|
Verb
|
Object
|
|
Present Progressive
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
is writing
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
is being written
|
by Rita.
|
|
Past Progressive
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
was writing
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
was being written
|
by Rita.
|
|
Past Perfect
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
had written
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
had been written
|
by Rita.
|
|
Future II
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
will have written
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
will have been written
|
by Rita.
|
|
Conditional I
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
would write
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
would be written
|
by Rita.
|
|
Conditional II
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
would have written
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
would have been written
|
by Rita.
|
|
Passive Sentences with Two Objects 
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.
Subject
|
Verb
|
Object 1
|
Object 2
|
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
wrote
|
a letter
|
to me.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
was written
|
to me
|
by Rita.
|
Passive:
|
I
|
was written
|
a letter
|
by 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
Passiveis 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.
How to construct the
passive.
1. Check to see if the active sentence contains an object.
John ate an apple. (S V O) Passive is possible.
John ate yesterday. (S V) Passive is not possible.
2. Move the object to the front of the sentence. Put the original
subject in a "by" phrase.
An apple (V) by John.
3. Put the verb in the form "be" +3 (of main verb)*
An apple "be" eaten by John.
4. Put the "be" in the same tense as the original active
sentence.
An apple was/were eaten by John. ( past tense)
5. Make the first verb agree with the new subject.
An apple was eaten by John.
(Put other elements of the sentence in grammatical and logical
order.)
Yesterday the large green apple was quickly eaten by John, who
didn’t realize that it belonged to his sister.
When other (auxiliary) verbs and modals are used in combination
with the passive, remember:
1) be + 3* (Passive)
2) be + V ing (Progressive)
3) have + 3 (Perfect)
4) modal + 1 (Modal)
The apple should have been being eaten by John.
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE TENSES CHART
|
SIMPLE PRESENT, SIMPLE
PAST and SIMPLE FUTURE
The active object
becomes the passive subject.
am/is/are + past
participle
was/were + past
participle
will + be + past
participle
is/are going to be +
past participle
|
|
Simple Present Active:
The movie fascinates me.
The movie bores Jack.
The movie surprises them.
|
Simple Present Passive:
I am fascinated by the
movie.
Jack is bored by the movie.
They are surprised by the
movie.
|
Simple Past Active:
The movie bored me.
The movie fascinated Jack.
The movie surprised them.
|
Simple Past Passive:
I was bored by the movie.
Jack was fascinated by the
movie.
They were surprised by the
movie.
|
Future with WILL Active:
I will mail the gift.
Jack will mail the gifts. |
Future with WILL Passive:
The gift will be mailed
by me.
The gifts will be mailed by Jack. |
Future with GOING TO Active:
I am going to make the cake.
Sue is going to make two cakes. |
Future with GOING TO Passive:
The cake is going to be made
by me.
Two cakes are going to be made by Sue. |
Combination of auxiliary
verbs with the passive
1.
The apple is eaten by John. (Present tense)
2.
The apple was eaten by John. (Past tense)
3.
The apple is being eaten by John. (Present Progressive)
4.
The apple was being eaten by John. (Past Progressive)
5.
The apple has been eaten by John. (Present Perfect)
6.
The apple had been eaten by John. (Past Perfect)
7.
The apple has been being eaten by John. (Pres. Perfect
Progressive)
8.
The apple had been being eaten by John. (Past Perfect Progressive)
9.
The apple will be eaten by John. ( Future/Modal)
10. The apple is going to be
eaten by John. (Future/Modal)
11. The apple must be eaten
by John. (Modal)
12. The apple must have been
eaten by John. (Past Modal)
13. The apple must have been
being eaten by John. (Combination)
*Note, to simplify things, we refer to the forms of the verbs with numbers, as follows:
1)
Base form (be, go, do)
2)
Past form (was/were, went, did)
3)
Past participle (been, gone, done)
4)
Be + 3 (Passive)
5)
Be + V ing (Progressive)
6)
Have + 3 (Perfect)
7)
Modal +1 (Modal)
R
E F E R E N C E S
