The Passive Voice in English (part one)



The Passive Voice in English (part one)

Essentially, the passive voice is used for three different reasons

1. Because we don’t know who did the action

2. Because we don’t want to say who did the action

3. Because it is not necessary or not possible to name the person or people individually

Look at these three examples in the active voice

1. Somebody uses a test tube to heat the solution in.

2. We have taken the decision to drop you from the team.

3. Three hundred and sixty men built the new bridge over the river in 1980.

In each of these cases, an English speaker might use the passive voice instead.

How do we turn an active sentence into a passive sentence?

Our passive sentence begins with what was the direct object of the active sentence.

In the first sentence the object is the ‘test tube’

In the second it is the ‘decision’.

In the third it is the ‘new bridge’.

Then we need to put the verb ‘to be’ in the correct tense. We simply use the same tense as was used for the verb in the active form.

In the first sentence the verb is in the present simple (‘uses’) so the verb ‘to be’ in the passive voice has to be in the present simple ‘is’.

In the second sentence the verb is in the present perfect (‘have taken’) so the verb ‘to be’ in the passive voice has to be in the present perfect ‘has been’.

In the third sentence the verb is in the past simple tense (‘built’) so the verb ‘to be’ in the passive voice has to be in the past simple ‘was’.

Then we add the past participle of the verb. So our three examples would look like this in the passive voice:

1. A test tube is used to heat the solution in.

2. The decision has been taken to drop you from the team.

3. The new bridge was built over the river in 1980.

In the first case, we don’t know who did the action, or who did the action is not really important. In the second, we know who took the decision but do not want to say. In the third, it would be difficult to name all the different people involved, and might actually prove impossible to find out who they all were.

The Passive Voice in English (part two)

Try to transform all of these active sentences into passive sentences. The answers and explanations are at the bottom of the page, but try not to look at them until you have done all the sentences yourself. Use the underlined word(s) as the subject of your passive sentence.

1. They make cars in many European countries.

2. Somebody is stealing my bicycle!

3. They have constructed a new tunnel under the English Channel.

4. Somebody broke a window at the school last night.

5. When I arrived, policemen were examining the crash site.

6. By the time the ambulance came, somebody had taken the victims away.

7. They will ask questions about the events for years to come.

8. Would it interest you if somebody offered you a trip to the Arctic?

9. Stop playing with that hammer, you might hurt somebody!

10. Another student may have written this essay.

DON’T LOOK DOWN, THAT’S CHEATING!

Here are the answers to the sentences above.

Cars are made in many European countries.

My bicycle is being stolen!

A new tunnel has been constructed under the English Channel.

A window was broken at the school last night.

When I arrived, the crash site was being examined (by the policemen).

By the time the ambulance came, the victims had been taken away.

Questions will be asked about the events for years to come.

Would you be interested if somebody offered you a trip to the Arctic?

Stop playing with that hammer, somebody might get hurt!

This essay may have been written by another student.

You’ll notice that all of the different sentences use a difference tense. There are a number of traps that we have to avoid when doing this sort of exercise.

We have to respect the tense of the verb, and in particular the continuous forms. For example sentence number two above: ‘My bicycle is being stolen’ means somebody is doing it as we speak.

Notice how we have to be careful with regard to the conjugation of the verb.

‘Lions eat meat’ becomes ‘meat is eaten by lions’ - the verb is plural in the first case and singular in the second because the subject has changed.

Be careful with irregular verbs, where the past participle is different to the past simple:

‘Somebody breaks a window every week’ becomes ‘a window is broken’

The Passive Voice in English (part three)

How do we translate the passive voice into French?

French also has a passive voice which functions in exactly the same way as in English.

ENGLISH Cars are made in many European countries.

FRENCH Les voitures sont fabriquées partout en Europe.

But French also has other options in order to do the same job. Take the second sentence as an example. French would probably use impersonal form such as ‘on’ to translate the sentence rather than a passive.

ENGLISH My bicycle is being stolen!

FRENCH On me vole mon vélo!

This impersonal active form is much more typical of French than a clumsy grammatical translation such as ‘mon vélo est en train d’être volé’.

French also uses the reflexive form to do the same job.

ENGLISH Stop playing with that hammer, somebody might get hurt!

FRENCH Arrêtes de jouer avec ce marteau, quelqu’un peut se faire mal !

This means that while at times the French can be very similar to the English at others it can be very different indeed :

ENGLISH Questions will be asked about the events for years to come.

FRENCH L’on se posera des questions sur ce qui s’est passé pendant des années à venir.

Try translating the last five sentences into French, answers below.

A new tunnel has been constructed under the English Channel.

A window was broken at the school last night.

By the time the ambulance came, the victims had been taken away.

Would you be interested if somebody offered you a trip to the Arctic?

This essay may have been written by another student.

Here are the answers for you to check.

Un nouveau tunnel a été construit sous la Manche.

Une fenêtre a été cassée à l’école hier soir.

Le temps que l’ambulance arrive, toutes les victimes avaient été emmenées.

Si quelqu’un t’offrait un voyage en Arctique, est-ce que tu serais intéressé?

Il est possible que cet essai ait été écrit par un autre étudiant.

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