Passive Voice Theory

THE PASSIVE VOICE
There are two voices in English: Active Voice and Passive Voice. There is no
Reflexive Voice, as in Romanian, although there are Reflexive Pronouns (with the
same form as the Emphatic Pronouns).
He paid the bill in time. (Active Voice)
The bill was paid in time. (Passive Voice)
In the passive, the action is achieved by an agent in the accusative, with the
preposition BY (in Romanian: COMPLEMENT DE AGENT). The subject is in fact
the object, from a logical point of view.
The Passive Voice is built with one of the auxiliaries TO BE and TO GET
and the Past Participle of the verb.
Aux. TO BE
TO GET
VERB (Past Participle)
The auxiliary may occur in different moods and tenses:

He was called away at 5.
The highway will be built in 3 years time.
You could be punished if you do that.
The cake is being baked in the new oven.
He is believed to have been killed last year.
The auxiliary TO GET can also be used:
I got stung by a swarm of bees.
He got fired because of his mistakes.
They got married in 1998.
Youll get soaked in this rain!
Use of the agent
The agent is rarely used. It occurs only in specific situations:
1. When the action is not done by its usual performer:
The car was mended by a friend of mine.
He got arrested by a crazy policeman.
2. When the action is done by a performer that is stressed as being in
opposition to another one:
The cake must be eaten by somebody.
It was written by me. (not by him)
3. When the sentence is too short:
The building was erected by a German team.
Absence of the agent

The agent is not used in the following cases:
1. When the action is done by the usual/ customary performer/ agent.
He got arrested. [by the police]
The table was made/ carved in a special wood. [by the carpenter]
The dinner will be prepared in time. [by the cook]
2. When the action is general (has a generic value), being achieved by
anybody:
The bills must be paid in time. [by everybody/ us]
You wont be respected if you behave like that. [by people]
3. When the agent is an indefinite or personal pronoun:
Somebody stole my car. My car was stolen.
They think he is mad. He is thought to be mad.
Causative HAVE and GET
The causative verbs TO HAVE and TO GET can be used in some special
passive constructions, where the subject initiates the action, by asking/ ordering/
paying for it and somebody else actually performs it.
TO HAVE smth. DONE (by smb. else)

TO GET
I had my hair cut and styled. [by the hairdresser]
My friend got his car stolen. [by a thief]
She had breakfast brought to her room. [by room service]
TO HAVE smb. DONE (by smb. else)

TO GET
They had the king beheaded. [by others]
She got the two boys expelled from school. [by the school board]
Transitive Verbs with Direct and Indirect Objects
There are some transitive verbs in English, which can be followed by a
Direct Object and an Indirect Object (with two word orders) and which can be used
in two different passive constructions: both the Direct Object and the Indirect
Object can become subjects.
Verbs of this type: to give, to send, to show, to offer, to grant, to award, to
pay, to buy, to sell, to lend, to find, to write, to tell, to promise, to teach, to order, to
command, to recommend, etc.
The two structures are:
Verb + D.O. + Prep.I.O.

I gave a book to him.
I bought a dress for her.
Verb + I.O. + D.O.
I gave him a book.
I bought her a dress.
Example:
Active: They told her the news/ the news to her.
Passive: The news was told to her.
She was told the news.
Active: Several guides showed the exhibition to the visitors/ the
visitors the exhibition.
Passive: The exhibition was shown to the visitors by several guides.
The visitors were shown the exhibition by several guides.
The English speakers prefer to use the structure in which the Indirect Object
has become subject.
Passives in Nominative + Infinitive constructions
When we have a Nominative + Infinitive construction, there are several cases
in which we must use the passive:
a) With verbs of request in the passive:
He was told to leave.
They were requested to bring more evidence.
b) With reporting verbs in the passive:
She was said to have married a billionaire.
The earthquake is reported to have destroyed the buildings./ The
buildings are reported to have been destroyed by the earthquake.
c) With verbs of knowledge in the passive:
They are believed to be living in the jungle.
She was supposed to have been kidnapped.

Passive Voice Theory

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THE PASSIVE VOICE

VERB (Past Participle)

The auxiliary may occur in different moods and tenses:

Absence of the agent

TO HAVE smth. DONE (by smb. else)

TO HAVE smb. DONE (by smb. else)

Verb + D.O. + Prep.I.O.

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