Passive and Active Voices Verbs are also said to be either active either active (The executive committee approved the new passive (The new policy was approved by the executive committee) in voice. policy) or passive In the active voice, the subject and verb relationship is straightforward: the subject is a be-er or a do-er and the verb moves the sentence along. In the passive voice , the subject of the sentence is neither a do-er or a be-er, but is acted upon by some other agent or by something unnamed (The new policy was approved). Computerized grammar checkers can pick out a passive voice construction from miles away and ask you to revise it to a more active construction. There is nothing inherently wrong with the passive voice, but if you can say the same thing in the active mode, do so (see exceptions below). Your text will have more pizzazz as a result, since passive verb constructions tend to lie about in their pajamas and avoid actual work. We find an overabundance of the passive voice in sentences created by self-protective business interests, magniloquent educators, and bombastic military writers (who must get weary of this accusation), who use the passive voice to avoid responsibility for actions taken. Thus "Cigarette ads were designed to appeal especially to children" places the burden on the ads — as opposed to "We designed the cigarette ads to appeal especially to children," in which "we" accepts ac cepts responsibility. At a White House press briefing we might hear that "The President was advised that certain members of Congress were being audited" rather than "The Head of the Internal Revenue service advised the President that her agency was auditing certain members of Congress" because the passive construction avoids responsibility for advising and for auditing. One further caution about the passive voice: we should not mix active and passive constructions in the same sentence: "The executive committee approved the new policy, and the calendar for next year's meetings was revised" should be recast as "The executive committee approved the new policy and revised the calendar for next year's meeting." Take the quiz (below) as an exercise in recognizing and changing passive verbs. The passive voice does exist for a reason, however, and its presence is not always to be despised. The passive is particularly useful (even recommended) in two situations: •
•
When it is more important to draw our attention to the person or thing acted upon: The unidentified victim was apparently struck during the early morning hours. When the actor in the situation is not important: The aurora borealis can be observed in the early morning hours.
The passive voice is especially helpful (and even regarded as mandatory) in scientific or technical writing or lab reports, where the actor is not really important but the process or principle being described is of ultimate importance. Instead of writing "I poured 20 cc of acid into the beaker," we would write "Twenty cc of acid is/was poured into the beaker." The passive voice is also useful when describing, say, a mechanical process in which the
details of process are much more important than anyone's taking responsibility for the action: "The first coat of primer paint is applied immediately after the acid rinse." We use the passive voice to good effect in a paragraph in which we wish to shift emphasis from what was the object in a first sentence to what becomes the subject in subsequent sentences. The executive committee approved an entirely new policy new policy for dealing with academic suspension and withdrawal. The policy The policy had been written by a subcommittee on student behavior. If students withdraw from course work before suspension can take effect, the policy states, a mark of "IW" . . . . The paragraph is clearly about this new policy so it is appropriate that policy that policy move from being the object in the first sentence to being the subject of the second sentence. The passive voice allows for this transition.†
Passive Verb Formation The passive forms of a verb are created by combining a form of the "to be verb" with w ith the past participle of the main verb. Other helping verbs are also sometimes present: "The measure could have been have been killed in committee." The passive can be used, also, in various tenses. Let's take a look at the passive forms of "design."
Auxiliary Plural
Past Participle
The car/cars is
are
designed.
Present perfect
The car/cars has been
have been
designed.
Past
The car/cars was
were
designed.
Past perfect
The car/cars had been
had been
designed.
Future
The car/cars will be
will be
designed.
Future perfect
The car/cars will have been will have been designed.
Tense
Subject
Present
Singular
Present progressive The car/cars is being Past progressive
The car/cars was being
are being
designed.
were being
designed.
A sentence cast in the passive voice will not always include an agent of the action. For instance if a gorilla crushes a tin can, can , we could say "The tin can was crushed by crushed by the gorilla." gorilla ." But a perfectly good sentence would leave out the gorilla: "The tin can was
crushed." Also, when an active sentence with an indirect object is recast in the passive, the indirect object can take on the role of subject in the passive sentence:
Active
Professor Villa gave Jorge an A.
Passive An A was given to Jorge by Professor Villa. Passive Jorge was given an A.
Only transitive verbs (those that take objects) can be transformed into passive constructions. Furthermore, active sentences containing certain verbs canno t be transformed into passive structures. To have is the most important of these verbs. We can say "He has a new car," but we cannot say "A new car is had by him." We can say "Josefina lacked finesse," but we cannot cann ot say "Finesse was lacked." Here is a brief list of such verbs*: resemble look like equal agree with mean
contain
hold
comprise
lack
suit
fit
become
Verbals in Passive Structures Verbals or verb forms can also take on features of the passive voice. An infinitive phrase in the passive voice , for instance, can perform various functions within a sentence (just like the active forms of the infinitive). • • •
Subject: To be elected by my peers is a great honor. Object: That child really likes to be read to by her mother. Modifier: Grasso was the first woman to be elected governor in her own right.
The same is true of passive gerunds. • • •
Subject: Being elected by my peers was a great thrill. Object: I really don't like being lectured to by my boss. Object of preposition: I am so tired of being being lectured to by to by my boss.
With passive participles , part of the passive construction is often omitted, the result being a simple modifying participial phrase . •
[Having been] designed for off-road performance, the Pathseeker does not always behave well on paved highways.
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 an yone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).
Form of Passive Subject + finite form of to of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular of irregular verbs) verbs) 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 (to be + past participle) the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)
Examples of Passive Lev Level: el: lo lowe werr int interm ermed edia iate te Tense
Subject Active: Rita Simple Present Passive: A letter Active: Rita Simple Past Passive: A letter Active: Rita Present Perfect Passive: A letter Active: Rita Future I Passive: A letter Active: Rita Hilfsverben Passive: A letter
Verb
writes is written wrote was written has written has been written will write will be written can write can be written
Object a letter. by Rita. a letter. by Rita. a letter. by Rita. a letter. by Rita. a letter. by Rita.
Examples of Passive Level: upper intermediate Tense
Subject Active: Rita Present Passive Progressive A letter : Active: Rita Past Progressive Passive A letter : Active: Rita Past Perfect Passive A letter : Active: Rita Future II Passive A letter : Active: Rita Conditional I Passive A letter : Active: Rita Conditional II Passive A letter :
Verb
is writing
Object a letter.
is being written
by Rita.
was writing
a letter.
was being written
by Rita.
had written
a letter.
had been written
by Rita.
will have written
a letter.
will have been written
by Rita.
would write
a letter.
would be written
by Rita.
would have written
a letter.
would have been written
by Rita.
Passive Sentences with Two Objects Level: intermediate 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.
Active: Passive: Passive: .
Subject Rita A letter I
Verb
wrote was written was written
Object 1 a letter to me a letter
Object 2 to me. by Rita. 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 Passive is 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.
Passive Voice The passive voice is less usual than the active voice. The active voice is the "normal" voice. But sometimes we need the passive voice. In this lesson we look at how to construct the passive voice, when to use it and how to conjugate it.
Construction of the Passive Voice The structure of the passive voice is very simple: subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle) The main verb is always in its past participle form. Look at these examples:
subject
auxiliary verb (to be)
main verb (past participle)
Water
is
drunk
by everyone.
100 people
are
employed
by this company.
I
am
paid
in euro.
We
are
paid
in dollars.
Are
they
paid
in yen?
not
Use of the Passive Voice We use the passive when: • •
we want to make the active object more important we do not know the active subject subject
verb
object
give importance to active object (President Kennedy)
President Kennedy
was killed
by Lee Harvey Oswald.
active subject unknown
My wallet
has been stolen.
?
Note that we always use by to introduce the passive object (Fish are eaten by cats).
Look at this sentence: •
He was killed with a gun.
Normally we use by to introduce the passive object. But the gun is not the active subject. The gun did not kill him. He was killed by somebody with a gun. In the active voice, it would be: Somebody killed him with a gun. The gun is the instrument. Somebody is the "agent" or "doer".
Conjugation for the Passive Voice We can form the passive in any tense. In fact, conjugation of verbs in the passive tense is rather easy, as the main verb is always in past participle form and the auxiliary verb is always be. To form the required tense, we conjugate the auxiliary verb. So, for example: • • •
present simple: It is made present continuous: It is being made present perfect: It has been made
Here are some examples with most of the possible tenses: infinitive
to be washed
present
It is washed.
past
It was washed.
future
It will be washed.
conditional
It would be washed.
present
It is being washed.
past
It was being washed.
future
It will be being washed.
conditional
It would be being washed.
present
It has been washed.
past
It had been washed.
future
It will have been washed.
conditional
It would have been washed.
present
It has been being washed.
past
It had been being washed.
future
It will have been being washed.
conditional
It would have been being washed.
simple
continuous
perfect simple
perfect continuous
The passive voice is used when focusing on the person or thing affected by an action. •
The Passive is formed: Passive Subject + To Be + Past Particple The house was built in 1989.
•
It is often used in business when the object of the action is more important than those who perform the action. For Example:
We have produced over 20 different models in the past two years. Changes to: Over 20 different models have been produced in the past two years. •
If the agent is important (the person, company or thing that does the action) , use "by" For Example: Tim Wilson wrote "The Flight to Brunnswick" in 1987. Changes to:"The Flight to Brunnswick" was written in 1987 by Tim Wilson.
•
Only verbs that take an object can be used in the passive voice.
Passive Voice Structure Active They make Fords in Cologne. Susan is cooking dinner.
Passive Fords are made in Cologne. Dinner is being cooked by Susan "Dubliners" was written by James Joyce wrote "Dubliners". James Joyces. They were painting the house The house was being painted when I arrived. when I arrived. They have produced over 20 Over 20 models have been models in the past two years. produced in the past two years. A new factory is going to be built They are going to build a new in Portland. factory in Portland. I will finish it tomorrow. It will be finished tomorrow.
Time Reference Present Simple Present Continuous
Past Simple Past Continuous Present Perfect Future Intention with Going to Future Simple
English passive voice From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the passive voice in English. For the passive voice generally, including its use in other languages, see Passive voice. English grammar series English grammar
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Contraction Disputes in English grammar English compound English honorifics English personal pronouns English plural English relative clauses English verbs o English conjugation tables o English irregular verbs o English modal verb Gender in English This box: view • talk • edit
In the English language, the passive voice is a grammatical voice wherein a transitive verb acts upon the subject, emphasizing the action rather than the actor or actrix. Generally, the terms passive and passive verb denote verbs using this construction and the passive-voice passages using them;[1] a passive verb is periphrastic, composed of an auxiliary verb plus the past participle of the transitive verb; the auxiliary verb usually is a form of to be or to get . The passive voice is applicable to many tenses; transforming an active verb into a passive verb is passivization, a valence-decreasing process (“detranzitivizing process”), because it transforms transitive verbs into Intransitive verbs. [2]
Functional comparison — in this excerpt from the 18th-century United States Declaration of Independence (1776), the bold text identifies the passive verbs; italicized text identifies the active verb hold and the copulative verb are:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. In this case, the actor (“the Creator”) of a passive verb can be identified with a by phrase. When such a phrase is missing, the construction is an agentless passive; this construction is used in official writing for being less confrontational, e.g. when an employee is dismissed (fired) from his or her job. Scientific writing also uses agentless passives to achieve the objective, detached description of processes, thus: The mixture was heated to 300°C. without identifying the actor or actrix. Nonetheless, this style of passive scientific writing is not universal, US organizations such as The Council of Biology Editors, advocate
direct, active-voice scientific writing.[3] Elsewhere, an entrenched use is the double passive construction used in American court reporting.[1] The active voice is the dominant usage in written and spoken English, and writers, such as George Orwell, in the essay “Politics and the English Language” (1946), and William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White, in The Elements of Style (1919), recommend minimal usage of the passive voice; however, the passive voice is useful when the object (receiver of the action) is more important than the subject (actor).[4]
Contents [hide]
•
1 Usage and style o 1.1 Against the passive voice o 1.2 For the passive voice 2 Passive constructions o 2.1 Canonical passives o 2.2 Promotion of other objects o 2.3 Promotion of content clauses o 2.4 Stative passives o 2.5 Adjectival passives o 2.6 Passives without active counterparts o 2.7 Double passives o 2.8 Other passive constructions 2.8.1 Past participle alone 2.8.2 Ergative verbs 2.8.3 Reflexive verbs 2.8.4 Gerunds and nominalization 3 Misapplication of the term
•
4 Notes
•
•
[edit] Usage and style [edit] Against the passive voice Most language critics and language usage manuals discourage the passive voice,[4] advice usually not in older guides, but the recommendation emerged in the first half of the twentieth century.[5] In 1916, the British writer Arthur Quiller-Couch, criticized this grammatical voice: Generally, use transitive verbs, that strike their object; and use them in the active voice, eschewing the stationary passive, with its little auxiliary its’s and was’s, and its participles getting into the light of your adjectives, which sho uld be few. For, as a rough
law, by his use of the straight verb and by his economy of adjectives you can tell a man’s style, if it be masculine or neuter, writing or ‘composition’. [6] Two years later, in 1918, in The Elements of Style Cornell University Professor of English William Strunk, Jr. recommended against excessive use of the passive voice: The active voice is usually more direct and vigorous than the passive . . . This rule does not, of course, mean that the writer should entirely discard the passive voice, which is frequently convenient and sometimes necessary . . . The need to make a particular word the subject of the sentence will often . . . determine which voice is to be used. The habitual use of the active voice, however, makes for forcible writing. This is true n ot only in narrative concerned principally with action, but in writing of any kind. Many a tame sentence of description or exposition can be made lively and emphatic by substituting a transitive in the active voice for some such perfunctory expression as there is or could be heard .[7] In 1926, in the authoritative A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926), Henry W. Fowler recommended against transforming active voice forms into passive voice forms, because doing so “sometimes leads to bad grammar, false idiom, or clumsiness”.[8][9] In 1946, in the essay “Politics and the English Language” (1946), George Orwell recommended the active voice as an elementary principle of composition: “Never use the passive where you can use the active”. In 1993, the The Columbia Guide to Standard American English (1993) states that the: Active voice makes subjects do something (to something); passive voice permits subjects to have something done to them (by someone or something). Some argue that active voice is more muscular, direct, and succinct, passive voice flabbier, more indirect, and wordier. If you want your words to seem impersonal, indirect, and noncommittal, passive is the choice, but otherwise, active voice is almost invariably likely to prove more effective.[10]
[edit] For the passive voice Jan Freeman, a reporter for The Boston Globe, said that the passive voice does its uses, that “all good writers use the passive voice”.[11] “Politics and the English Language” (1946) is an example of minimal passive voice writing, because only about 20 per cent is passive;[4] passive writing is not necessarily slack and indirect: •
•
•
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. (King James Bible, Isaiah 40:4) Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer by this sun of York. ( Richard III , I.1, ll. 1–2) For of those to whom much is given, much is required. (John F. Kennedy's address to the Massachusetts legislature, 9 January 1961.)[12]
•
Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. (Winston Churchill addressing the House of Commons, 20 August 1940.)
Merriam–Webster's Dictionary of English Usage (1994) recommends the passive voice when identifying the object (receiver) of the action is more important than the subject (actor, actrix), and when the actor is unknown, unimportant, or not worth mentioning: • • • •
The child was struck by the car. The store was robbed last night. Plows should not be kept in the garage. Kennedy was elected president.[4]
The passive voice also changes the emphasis of a sentence, such as modifying an adverb or the actor: “The breakthrough was achieved by Burlingame and Evans, two researchers in the university’s genetic engineering lab.”[13] The passive voice is anonymous: “We had hoped to report on this problem, but the data were inadvertently deleted from our files”; hence the principal criticism against the passive voice is its evasion of responsibility; see weasel words.[13][4][13]
[edit] Passive constructions This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009)
In general, the passive voice is used to place focus on the grammatical patient, rather than the agent. This often occurs when the patient is the topic of the sentence. However, the passive voice can also be used when the focus is on the agent.
[edit] Canonical passives Passive constructions have a range of meanings and uses. The canonical use is to map a clause with a direct object to a corresponding clause where the direct object has become the subject. For example: •
John threw the ball.
Here threw is a transitive verb with John as its subject and the ball as its direct object. If we recast the verb in the passive voice (was thrown), then the ball becomes the subject (it is "promoted" to the subject position) and John disappears: •
The ball was thrown.
The original "demoted" subject can typically be re-inserted using the preposition by. •
The ball was thrown by John.
[edit] Promotion of other objects One non-canonical use of English's passive is to promote an object other than a direct object. It is usually possible in English to promote indirect objects as well. For example: • •
John gave Mary a book. → Mary was given a book. John gave Mary a book. → Mary was given a book by John.
In the active form, gave is the verb; John is its subject, Mary its indirect object, and a book its direct object. In the passive forms, the indirect object has been promoted and the direct object has been left in place. (In "A book was given to Mary", the direct object is promoted and the indirect object left in place. In this respect, English resembles dechticaetiative languages.) It is also possible, in some cases, to promote the object of a preposition: •
They talked about the problem. → The problem was talked about.
In the passive form here, the preposition is "stranded"; that is, it is not followed by an object. (See Preposition stranding.)
[edit] Promotion of content clauses It is possible to promote a content clause that serves as a direct object. In this case, however, it typically does not change its position in the sentence, and an expletive it takes the normal subject position: •
They say that he left. → It is said that he left.
[edit] Stative passives The passives described above are all eventive (or dynamic) passives. Stative (or static, or resultative) passives also exist in English; rather than describing an ac tion, they describe the result of an action. English does not usually distinguish between the two. For example: •
The window was broken.
This sentence has two different meanings, roughly the following: • •
[Someone] broke the window. The window was not intact.
The former meaning represents the canonical, eventive passive; the latter, the stative passive. (The terms eventive and stative/resultative refer to the tendencies of these forms to describe events and resultant states, respectively. The terms can be misleading,
however, as the canonical passive of a stative verb is not a stative passive, even though it describes a state.) Some verbs do not form stative passives. In some cases, this is because distinct adjectives exist for this purpose, such as with the verb open: • •
The door was opened. → [Someone] opened the door. The door was open. → The door was in the open state.
[edit] Adjectival passives Adjectival passives are not true passives; they occur when a participial adjective (an adjective derived from a participle) is used predicatively ( see Adjective). For example: •
She was relieved to find her car undamaged.
Here, relieved is an ordinary adjective, though it derives from the past participle of relieve,[14] and that past participle may be used in canonical passives: •
He was relieved of duty.
In some cases, the line between an adjectival passive and a stative passive may be unclear.
[edit] Passives without active counterparts In a few cases, passive constructions retain all the sense of the passive voice, but do not have immediate active counterparts. For example: •
He was rumored to be a war veteran. ← *[Someone] rumored him to be a war veteran.
(The asterisk here denotes an ungrammatical construction.) Similarly: •
It was rumored that he was a war veteran. ← *[Someone] rumored that he was a war veteran.
In both of these examples, the active counterpart was once possible, but has fallen out of use.
[edit] Double passives It is possible for a verb in the passive voice—especially an object-raising verb —to take an infinitive complement that is also in the passive voice: •
The project is expected to be completed in the next year.
Commonly, either or both verbs may be moved into the active voice: • • •
[Someone] expects the project to be completed in the next year. [Someone] is expected to complete the project in the next year. [Someone] expects [someone] to complete the p roject in the next year.
In some cases, a similar construction may occur with a verb that is not object-raising in the active voice: •
?The project will be attempted to be completed in the next year. ← *[Someone] will attempt the project to be completed in the next year. ← [Someone] will attempt to complete the project in the next year.
(The question mark here denotes a questionably-grammatical construction.) In this example, the object of the infinitive has been promoted to the subject of the main verb, and both the infinitive and the main verb have been moved to the passive voice. The American Heritage Book of English Usage declares this unacceptable,[15] but it is nonetheless attested in a variety of contexts.[16]
[edit] Other passive constructions
[edit] Past participle alone Although the passive voice, when used in the predicate verb of a complete sentence, requires the past participle to be accompanied by a form of be or another auxiliary verb, the past participle alone usually carries passive force; the auxiliary verb can therefore be omitted in certain circumstances: • • •
Couple found slain; Murder-suicide suspected.[17] The problem, unless dealt with, will only get worse. A person struck by lightning has a high chance of survival.
[edit] Ergative verbs Main article: Ergative verb An ergative verb is a verb that may be either transitive or intransitive, and whose subject when it is intransitive plays the same semantic role as its direct object when it is transitive. For example, fly is an ergative verb, such that the following sentences are roughly synonymous: • • •
The airplane flew. The airplane was flown. [Someone] flew the airplane.
One major difference is that the intransitive construction does not permit an agent to be mentioned, and indeed can imply that no agent is present, that the subject is performing
the action on itself. For this reason, the intransitive construction of an ergative verb is often said to be in a middle voice, between active and passive, or in a mediopassive voice, between active and passive but closer to passive.
[edit] Reflexive verbs A reflexive verb is a transitive verb one of whose object is a reflexive pronoun (myself , yourself , etc.) referring back to its subject. In some languages, reflexive verbs are a special class of verbs with special semantics and syntax, bu t in English, they typically represent ordinary uses of transitive verbs. For example, with the verb see: • •
He sees her as a writer. She sees herself as a writer.
Nonetheless, sometimes English reflexive verbs have a p assive sense, expressing an agentless action. Consider the verb solve, as in the following sentences: • •
He solved the problem. The problem solved itself.
One could not say that the problem truly solved anything; rather, what is meant is that the problem was solved without anyone's solving it. Similarly, certain transitive verbs can take a subject referring to a person and an object referring to the same person or to one of his body parts, again with a passive sense.[18] Consider the verb break : • •
Her leg was broken in a car accident. She broke her leg in a car accident.
The two sentences are almost synonymous, but the explicit passive construction is less idiomatic.
[edit] Gerunds and nominalization Gerunds and nominalized verbs (nouns derived from verbs and referring to the actions or states expressed by them), unlike finite verbs, do not require explicit subjects. This allows an object to be expressed while omitting a subject. For example: • •
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Generating electricity typically requires a magnet and a solenoid.
The same applies to infinitive constructions: • •
The easiest way to make more space would be to install more shelving. The first step is to read the manual.
[edit] Misapplication of the term Occasionally, the passive voice term is misapplied to sentences that do not identify the actor.[19] For example, this extract from The New Yorker magazine refers to the American embezzler Bernard Madoff ; bold text identifies the mis-identified passive voice verbs: Two sentences later, Madoff said, “When I began the Ponzi scheme, I believed it would end shortly, and I would be able to extricate myself, and my clients, from the scheme.” As he read this, he betrayed no sense of how absurd it was to use the passive voice in regard to his scheme, as if it were a spell of bad weather that had descended on him . . . In most of the rest of the statement, one not only heard the aggrieved passive voice, but felt the hand of a lawyer: “To the best of my recollection, my fraud began in the early nineteen-nineties.”[20] The intransitive verbs would end and began are in the active voice; however, how the speaker utters the words subtly diverts responsibility from him.[21] In The Elements of Style, Strunk and White mis-apply the passive voice term to several active voice constructions; Prof. Geoffrey Pullum writes: Of the four pairs of examples offered to show readers what to avoid and how to correct it, a staggering three out of the four are mistaken diagnoses. “At dawn the crowing of a rooster could be heard” is correctly identified as a passive clause, but the other three are all errors: •
•
•
“There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground” has no sign of the passive in it anywhere. “It was not long before she was very sorry that she had said what she had”, also contains nothing that is even reminiscent of the passive construction. “The reason that he left college was that his health became impaired”, is presumably fingered as passive because of impaired , but that’s a mistake. It’s an adjective here.[22]
Passive Voice
What this handout is about This handout will help you understand what the passive voice is, why many professors and writing instructors frown upon it, and how you can revise your paper to achieve greater clarity. Some things here may surprise you. We hope this handout will help you to understand the passive voice and allow you to make more informed choices as you write.
Myths
So what is the passive voice? First, let's be clear on what the passive voice isn't. Below, we'll list some common myths about the passive voice:
1. Use of the passive voice constitutes a grammatical error. Use of the passive voice is not a grammatical error. It's a stylistic issue that pertains to clarity—that is, there are times when using the passive voice can prevent a reader from understanding what you mean.
2. Any use of "to be" (in any form) constitutes the passive voice. The passive voice entails more than just using a being verb. Using "to be" can weaken the impact of your writing, but it is occasionally necessary and does not by itself constitute the passive voice.
3. The passive voice always avoids the first person; if something is in first person ("I" or "we") it's also in the active voice. On the contrary, you can very easily use the passive voice in the first person. Here's an example: "I was hit by the dodgeball."
4. You should never use the passive voice. While the passive voice can weaken the clarity of your writing, there are times when the passive voice is OK and even preferable.
5. I can rely on my grammar checker to catch the passive voice. See Myth #1. Since the passive voice isn't a grammar error, it's not always caught. Typically, grammar checkers catch only a fraction of passive voice usage. Do any of these misunderstandings sound familiar? If so, you're not alone. That's why we wrote this handout. It discusses how to recognize the passive voice, when you should avoid it, and when it's OK. top
Defining the passive voice A passive construction occurs when you make the object of an action into the subject of a sentence. That is, whoever or whatever is performing the action is not the grammatical subject of the sentence. Take a look at this passive rephrasing of a familiar joke: Why was the road crossed by the chicken?
Who is doing the action in this sentence? The chicken is the one doing the action in this sentence, but the chicken is not in the spot where you would expect the grammatical subject to be. Instead, the road is the grammatical subject. The more familiar phrasing (why did the chicken cross the road?) puts the actor in the subject position, the position of doing something—the chicken (the actor/doer) crosses the road (the object). We use active verbs to represent that "doing," whether it be crossing roads, proposing ideas, making arguments, or invading houses (more on that shortly). Once you know what to look for, passive constructions are easy to spot. Loo k for a form of "to be" (is, are, am , was, were, has been, have been, had been, will be, will have been, being ) followed by a past participle. (The past participle is a form of the verb that typically, but not always, ends in "-ed." Some ex ceptions to the "-ed" rule are words like "paid" (not "payed") and "driven." (not "drived"). Here's a sure-fire formula for identifying the passive voice: form of "to be" + past participle = passive voice
For example: The metropolis has been scorched by the dragon's fiery breath. When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage. NOTE: forms of the word "have" can do several different things in English. For example, in the sentence "John has to study all afternoon," "had" is not part of a past-tense verb. It's a modal verb, like "must," "can," or "may"—these verbs tell how necessary it is to do something (compare "I have to study" versus "I may study"). And forms of "be" are not always passive, either—"be" can be the main verb of a sentence that describes a state of being, rather than an action. For example, the sentence "John is a good student" is not passive; "is" is simply describing John's state of being. The moral o f the story: don't assume that any time you see a form of "have" and a form of "to be" together, you are looking at a passive sentence. "I have to be on time for the concert," for example, is not passive. Ask yourself whether there is an action going on in the sentence and, if so, whether whoever or whatever is doing that action is the subject of the sentence. In a passive sentence, the object of the action (e.g., the road) will be in the subject position at the front of the sentence. There will be a form of be and a past participle. If the subject appears at all, it will usually be at the end of the sentence, often in a phrase that starts with "by" (e.g., "by the chicken"). Let's briefly look at how to change passive constructions into active ones. You can usually just switch the word order, making the actor and subject one by putting the actor up front: The metropolis has been scorched by the dragon's fiery breath. becomes
The dragon scorched the metropolis with his fiery breath. When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage. becomes After suitors invaded her house, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage. To repeat, the key to identifying the passive voice is to look for both a form of "to be" and a past participle, which usually, but not always, ends in "-ed." top
Clarity and meaning The primary reason why your instructors frown on the passive voice is that they often have to guess what you mean. Sometimes, the confusion is minor. Let's look again at that sentence from a student's paper on Homer's The Odyssey: When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage. Like many passive constructions, this sentence lacks exp licit reference to the actor—it doesn't tell the reader who or what invaded Penelope's house. The active voice clarifies things: After suitors invaded Penelope's house, she had to think of ways to fend them off. Thus many instructors—the readers making sense of your writing—prefer that you use the active voice. They want you to specify who or what is doing the action. Compare the following two examples from an anthropology pap er on a Laotian village to see if you agree. (passive) A new system of drug control laws was set up. (By whom?) (active) The Lao People's Revolutionary Party set up a new system of drug control laws. Here's another example, from the same paper, that illustrates the lack of precision that can accompany the passive voice: Gender training was conducted in six villages, thus affecting social relationships. And a few pages later: Plus, marketing links were being established. In both paragraphs, the writer never specifies the actors for those two actions (Who did the gender training? Who established marketing links?). Thus the reader has trouble
appreciating the dynamics of these social interactions, which depend upon the actors conducting and establishing these things. The following example, once again from that paper on The Odyssey, typifies another instance where an instructor might desire more precision and clarity: Although Penelope shares heroic characteristics with her husband, Odysseus, she is not considered a hero. Who does not consider Penelope a hero? It's difficult to tell, but the rest of that paragraph suggests that the student does not consider Penelope a hero (the topic of the paper). The reader might also conceivably think that the student is referring to critics, scholars, or modern readers of The Odyssey. One might argue that the meaning comes through here— the problem is merely stylistic. Yet style affects how your reader understands your argument and content. Awkward or unclear style prevents your reader from appreciating the ideas that are so clear to you when you write. Thus knowing how your reader might react enables you to make more effective choices when you revise. So after you identify instances of the passive, you should consider whether your use of the passive inhibits clear understanding of what you mean. top
Summarizing history or literary plots with the passive voice: don't be a lazy thinker or writer! With the previous section in mind, you should also know that some instructors proclaim that the passive voice signals sloppy, lazy thinking. These instructors argue that writers who overuse the passive voice have not fully thought through what they are discussing and that this makes for imprecise arguments. Consider these sentences from papers on American history: The working class was marginalized. African Americans were discriminated against. Women were not treated as equals. Such sentences lack the precision and connection to context and causes that mark rigorous thinking. The reader learns little about the systems, conditions, human decisions, and contradictions that produced these groups' experiences of oppression. And so the reader—the instructor—questions the writer's understanding of these things. It is especially important to be sure that your thesis statement is clear and precise, so think twice before using the passive voice in your thesis.
In papers where you discuss the work of an author—e.g., a historian or writer of literature —you can also strengthen your writing by not relying on the passive as a crutch when summarizing plots or arguments. Instead of writing It is argued that… or Tom and Huck are portrayed as… or And then the link between X and Y is made, showing that… you can heighten the level of your analysis by explicitly connecting an author with these statements: Anderson argues that… Twain portrays Tom and Huck as… Ishiguro draws a link between X and Y to show that… By avoiding passive constructions in these situations, you can demonstrate a more thorough understanding of the material you discuss. You show that you're not a lazy, sloppy thinker. top
Scientific writing All this advice works for papers in the humanities, you might note—but what about technical or scientific papers, including lab reports? Many instructors recommend or even require the passive voice in such writing. The rationale for using the passive voice in scientific writing is that it achieves "an objective tone"—for example, by avoiding the first person. To consider scientific writing, let's break it up into two main types: lab reports and writing about a scientific topic or literature. Lab reports
Although more and more scientific journals accept or even prefer first-person active voice (e.g., "then we sequenced the human genome"), some of your instructors may want you to remove yourself from your lab report by using the passive voice (e.g., "then the human genome was sequenced" rather than "then we sequenced the human genome"). Such advice particularly applies to the section o n Materials and Methods, where a procedure "is followed." (For a fuller discussion on writing lab reports, see our handout on writing lab reports.) While you might employ the passive voice to retain objectivity, you can still use active constructions in some instances and retain your objective stance. Thus it's useful to keep in mind the sort of active verbs you might use in lab reports. Examples include: support, indicate, suggest, correspond, challenge, yield, show.
Thus instead of writing A number of things are indicated by these results. you could write These results indicate a number of things. or Further analysis showed/suggested/yielded… Ultimately, you should find out your instructor's preference regarding your use of the passive in lab reports. Writing about scientific topics
In some assignments, rather than reporting the results of your own scientific work, you will be writing about the work of other scientists. Such assignments might include literature reviews and research reports on scientific topics. You hav e two main possible tasks in these assignments: reporting what other people hav e done (their research or experiments) or indicating general scientific knowledge (the body of knowledge coming out of others' research). Often the two go together. In both instances, you can easily use active constructions even though you might be tempted by the passive—especially if you're used to writing your own lab reports in the passive. You decide: Which of these two examples is clearer? Heart disease is considered the leading cause of death in the United States. (passive) or Research points to heart disease as the leading cause of death in the United States. (active) Alternatively, you could write this sentence with human actors: Researchers have concluded that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. The last two sentences illustrate a relationship that the first one lacks. The first example does not tell who or what leads us to accept this conclusion about heart disease. Here's one last example from a report that describes angioplasty. Which sounds better to you? The balloon is positioned in an area of blockage and is inflated. or The surgeon positions the balloon in an area of blockage and inflates it. You can improve your scientific writing by relying less on the passive. The advice we've given for papers on history or literature equally applies to papers in more "scientific" courses. No matter what field you're writing in, when you use the passive voice, you risk conveying to your reader a sense of uncertainty and imprecision regarding your writing
and thinking. The key is to know when your instructor wants you to use the passive voice. For a more general discussion of writing in the sciences, see our handout. top
"Swindles and perversions" Before we discuss a few instances when the passive might be preferable, we should mention one of the more political uses of the passive: to hide blame or obscure responsibility. You wouldn't do this, but you can learn how to become a critic of those who exhibit what George Orwell included among the "swindles and perversions" of writing. For example: Mistakes were made. The Exxon Company accepts that a few gallons might have been spilled. By becoming critically aware of how others use language to shape clarity and meaning, you can learn how better to revise your own work. Keep Orwell's swindles and perversions in mind as you read other writers. Because it's easy to leave the actor out of passive sentences, some people use the passive voice to avoid mentioning who is responsible for certain actions. top
So when is it OK to use the passive? Sometimes the passive voice is the best choice. Here are a few instances when the passive voice is quite useful: 1. To emphasize an object. Take a look at this example:
100 votes are required to pass the bill. This passive sentence emphasizes the number of votes required. An active version of the sentence ("The bill requires 100 votes to pass") would put the emphasis on the bill, which may be less dramatic. 2. To de-emphasize an unknown subject/actor. Consider this example:
Over 120 different contaminants have been dumped into the river. If you don't know who the actor is—in this case, if you don't actually know who dumped all of those contaminants in the river—then you may need to write in the passive. But remember, if you do know the actor, and if the clarity and meaning of your writing would
benefit from indicating him/her/it/them, then use an active co nstruction. Yet consider the third case. 3. If your readers don't need to know who's responsible for the action.
Here's where your choice can be difficult; some instances are less clear than others. Try to put yourself in your reader's position to anticipate how he/she will react to the way you have phrased your thoughts. Here are two examples: Baby Sophia was delivered at 3:30 a.m. yesterday.(passive) and Dr. Susan Jones delivered baby Sophia at 3:30 a.m. yesterday.(active) The first sentence might be more appropriate in a birth announcement sent to family and friends—they are not likely to know Dr. Jones and are much more interested in the "object"(the baby) than in the actor (the doctor). A hospital report of yesterday's events might be more likely to focus on Dr. Jones' role. top
Summary of strategies Identify •
• •
•
Look for the passive voice: "to be" + a past participle (usually, but not always, ending in "-ed") If you don't see both components, move on. Does the sentence describe an action? If so, where is the actor? Is he/she/it in the grammatical subject position (at the front of the sentence) or in the object position (at the end of the sentence, or missing entirely)? Does the sentence end with "by..."? Many passive sentences include the actor at the end of the sentence in a "by" phrase, like "The ball was hit by the player " or "The shoe was chewed up by the dog." "By" by itself isn't a conclusive sign of the passive voice, but it can prompt you to take a closer look.
Evaluate • • •
• •
Is the doer/actor indicated? Should you indicate him/her/it? Does it really matter who's responsible for the action? Would your reader ask you to clarify a sentence because of an issue related to your use of the passive? Do you use a passive construction in your thesis statement? Do you use the passive as a crutch in summarizing a plot or history, or in describing something?
•
Do you want to emphasize the object?
Revise •
If you decide that your sentence would be clearer in the active voice, switch the sentence around to make the subject and actor one. Put the actor (the one doing the action of the sentence) in front of the verb.
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Towards active thinking and writing We encourage you to keep these tips in mind as you revise. While you may be able to employ this advice as you write your first draft, that's not necessarily always possible. In writing, clarity often comes when you revise, not on your first try. Don't worry about the passive if that stress inhibits you in getting your ideas down on paper. But do look for it when you revise. Actively make choices about its proper place in your writing. There is nothing grammatically or otherwise "wrong" about using the passive voice. The key is to recognize when you should, when you shouldn't, and when your instructor just doesn't want you to. These choices are yours. We hope this handout helps you to make them. Dalam bahasa Indonesia, ada bentuk kalimat aktif dan kalimat pasif. Kalimat aktif lebih berfokus pada subjek kalimat, sedangkan kalimat pasif lebih berfokus pada objek kalimat. Kalimat pasif mempunyai beberapa bentuk. 1. Kalimat pasif dengan afiks di2. Kalimat pasif dengan persona. 3. Kalimat pasif dengan afiks ter4. Kalimat pasif dengan afiks ke-an. Pada edisi ini kita akan belajar bentuk kalimat pasif 1 dan 2. 1. Kalimat Pasif dengan Afiks di-
Dalam kalimat pasif, me(N)- berubah menjadi di-. Sufiks -kan atau -i tidak hilang. Hanya kalimat transitif yang bisa menjadi kalimat pasif. (In passive sentences me(N)- is replaced by di-. Suffix -kan or -i do not drop. Only transitive verbs may be used in passive sentences) Contoh: - membeli –> dibeli - mengirimkan –> dikirimkan - memasuki –> dimasuki
Subjek (agent) dalam kalimat aktif adalah nama orang, nama negara, lembaga atau kata ganti orang ketiga (dia, mereka). (The subject (agent) in active sentence are the third person or name of person, state, office, etc). “oleh dia” bisa digantikan dengan -nya di akhir kata kerja pasif. ( “oleh dia” (by him/her) is allowed when replaced by -nya at the end of the verb). Kalimat Aktif : Subjek (actor) + me (N) – verb + Objek (patient) Kalimat Pasif Subjek (patient) + di – verb + Agent (actor) Contoh: Aktif : Gilles akan menyewa sepeda motor ini. Pasif : Sepeda motor ini akan disewa (oleh) Gilles. Aktif : Saminah mengirimi anaknya uang Pasif : Anaknya dikirimi uang oleh Saminah. Aktif ; Dia harus membersihkan rumah itu Pasif : Rumah itu harus dibersihkannya. (oleh -nya) 2. Kalimat Pasif dengan Persona
- Subjek (agent) dalam kalimat aktif adalah bentuk persona : Anda, kamu, kalian, saya, aku, kami, kita, mereka, dan dia. (The subject (agent) in active sentence are the personal pronoun: you, I, we, they, he and she) Kalimat aktif Subjek (actor) + (Adverb) + me (N) – verb + Objek (patient) Kalimat Pasif Subjek (patient) + (Adverb) + [Actor +verb tanpa me(N)+(kan/i)] Contoh: Aktif : Dia akan mendatangi tempat-tempat wisata di Jawa Barat. Pasif : Tempat-tempat wisata di Jawa Barat akan dia datangi. Aktif : Kita belum membicarakan masalah ini. Pasif : Masalah ini belum kita bicarakan. Aktif : Saya memasukkan buku itu ke dalam tas. Pasif : Buku itu saya masukkan ke dalam tas. Aktif : Saya sudah mengirimkan obat kepada Saminah. Pasif : Obat sudah saya kirimkan kepada Saminah.
Purposive sampling
Techniques > Research > Sampling > Purposive sampling Use | Method | Example | Discussion | See also
Use Use when you want to access a particular subset of people.
Method When taking the sample, reject people who do not fit a particular profile.
Example A researcher wants to get opinions from non-working mothers. They go around an area knocking on doors during the day when children are likely to be at school. They ask to speak to the 'woman of the house. Their first questions are then about whether there are children and whether the woman has a day job.
Discussion Purposive sampling starts with a purpose in mind and the sample is thus selected to include people of interest and exclude those who do not suit the purpose. This method is popular with newspapers and magazines which want to make a particular point. This is also true for marketing researchers who are seeking support for their product. They typically start with people in the street, first approaching on ly 'likely suspects' and then starting with questions that reject people who do not suit. Purposive sampling is non-probability and hence can be subject to bias and error.
Sampling is the use of a subset of the population to represent the whole population. Probability sampling, or random sampling, is a sampling technique in which the
probability of getting any particular sample may be calculated. ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purposive_sampling This process is the selection of a particular sample on purpose. Popular with qualitative research, the variables to which the sample is drawn up are analytically and theoretically linked to the research questions. www.marketresearchterms.com/p.php researcher uses special knowledge or expertise abou t specific group to select subjects who represent this population. (Berg, 2004) ori.dhhs.gov/education/products/n_illinois_u/datamanagement/dmglossary.html Form of nonprobability sampling; depends on the judgment of the researcher who hand-picks the cases to be included in the sample; used when researcher wants to select cases that are typical of the population of interest and when sensitive topics are of research interest or when very specialized ... highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073049506/student_view0/glossary.html means purposefully selecting your sample group to allow for a focused review to identify patterns or trends. www.douglasgpratt.com/charts/glossary.htm
Pengertian non probability sampling dan probability Perbedaana dari non probability dan probability sampling adalah bahwa non probability sampling adalah tidak memilih unit sample secara acak (random) Dalam purposive sampling dilakukan pengambilan sample dengan sudah ada tujuannya dan sudah tersedia rencana sebelumnya, biasanya sudah ada predefinisi terhadap kelompok kelompok dan kekhususan khas yang dicari. Nonprobability Sampling Strategies Purposive Sampling
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Purposive sampling targets a particular group of people. When the desired population for the study is rare or very difficult to locate and recruit for a study, purposive sampling may be the only option. For example, you are interested in studying cognitive processing speed of young adults who have suffered closed head brain injuries in automobile accidents. This would be a difficult population to find. Your city has a well-established rehabilitation hospital and you contact the director to ask permission to recruit from this population. The major problem with purposive sampling is that the type of people who are available for study may be different from those in the population who can't be located and this might introduce a source of bias. For example, those available for study through the rehabilitation hospital may ha ve more serious injuries requiring longer rehabilitation, and their families may have greater educa tion and financial resources (which resulted in their choosing this hospital for care). PASSIVE WIKIPEDIA The passive voice is a grammatical construction (a "voice") in which the subject of a sentence or clause denotes the entity undergoing an action or having its state changed. In
the English language, the English passive voice is formed with an auxiliary verb (usually be or get ) plus a participle (usually the past participle) of a transitive verb. For example, "Caesar was stabbed by Brutus" uses the passive voice. The subject denotes the individual (Caesar) affected by the action of the verb. The active counterpart to this sentence is, "Brutus stabbed Caesar," in which the subject denotes the doer, or agent, Brutus. A sentence featuring the passive voice is sometimes called a passive sentence, and a verb phrase in passive voice is sometimes called a passive verb.[1] English differs with languages in which voice is indicated through a simple inflection, since the English passive is periphrastic, composed of an auxiliary verb plus the past participle of the transitive verb. Use of the English passive varies with writing style and field. Some style sheets discourage use of passive voice,[2] while others encourage it.[3] Although some purveyors of usage advice, including George Orwell (see Politics and the English Language, 1946) and William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White (see The Elements of Style, 1919) deplore the English passive, its usefulness is recognized in cases where the theme (receiver of the action) is more important than the agent.[4]
Contents [hide]
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1 Identifying the English passive 2 Usage and style o 2.1 Against the passive voice o 2.2 For the passive voice 3 Passive constructions o 3.1 Canonical passives o 3.2 Promotion of other objects o 3.3 Promotion of content clauses o 3.4 Stative passives o 3.5 Adjectival passives o 3.6 Passives without active counterparts o 3.7 Double passives 4 Misapplication of the term 5 See also
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6 Notes
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[edit] Identifying the English passive
In the following excerpt from the 18th-century United States Declaration of Independence (1776), the bold text identifies the passive verbs; italicized text identifies the one active verb (hold ) and the copulative verb are: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. In this case, the agent ("the Creator") of the passive construction can be identified with a by phrase. When such a phrase is missing, the construction is an agentless passive. For example, "Caesar was stabbed" is a perfectly grammatical full sentence, in a way that "stabbed Caesar" and "Brutus stabbed" are not. Agentless passives are common in scientific writing, where the agent may be irrelevant (e.g. "The mixture was heated to 300°C"). It is not the case, however, that any sentence in which the agent is unmentioned or marginalised is an example of the passive voice. Sentences like "There was a stabbing" or "A stabbing occurred" are not passive. See "Misapplication of the term," below for more discussion of this misconception.
[edit] Usage and style [edit] Against the passive voice Many language critics and language usage manuals discourage the passive voice.[4] Although this advice not usually found in older guides, the recommendation emerged in the first half of the twentieth century.[5] In 1916, the British writer Arthur Quiller-Couch, criticized this grammatical voice: Generally, use transitive verbs, that strike their object; and use them in the active voice, eschewing the stationary passive, with its little auxiliary its’s and was’s, and its participles getting into the light of your adjectives, which sho uld be few. For, as a rough law, by his use of the straight verb and by his economy of adjectives you can tell a man’s style, if it be masculine or neuter, writing or ‘composition’. [6] Two years later, in 1918, in The Elements of Style Cornell University Professor of English William Strunk, Jr. recommended against excessive use of the passive voice: The active voice is usually more direct and vigorous than the passive . . . This rule does not, of course, mean that the writer should entirely discard the passive voice, which is frequently convenient and sometimes necessary . . . The need to make a particular word the subject of the sentence will often . . . determine which voice is to be used. The habitual use of the active voice, however, makes for forcible writing. This is true n ot only in narrative concerned principally with action, but in writing of any kind. Many a tame sentence of description or exposition can be made lively and emphatic by substituting a
transitive in the active voice for some such perfunctory expression as there is or could be heard .[7] In 1926, in the authoritative A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926), Henry W. Fowler recommended against transforming active voice forms into passive voice forms, because doing so “sometimes leads to bad grammar, false idiom, or clumsiness”.[8][9] In 1946, in the essay "Politics and the English Language" (1946), George Orwell recommended the active voice as an elementary principle of composition: "Never use the passive where you can use the active." In 1993, the The Columbia Guide to Standard American English (1993) states that the: Active voice makes subjects do something (to something); passive voice permits subjects to have something done to them (by someone or something). Some argue that active voice is more muscular, direct, and succinct, passive voice flabbier, more indirect, and wordier. If you want your words to seem impersonal, indirect, and noncommittal, passive is the choice, but otherwise, active voice is almost invariably likely to prove more effective.[10]
[edit] For the passive voice Jan Freeman, a reporter for The Boston Globe, said that the passive voice does its uses, and that "all good writers use the passive voice".[11] "Politics and the English Language" (1946) is an example of minimal passive voice writing, because only about 20 per cent is passive;[4] passive writing is not necessarily slack and indirect: •
•
•
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Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. (King James Bible, Isaiah 40:4) Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer by this sun of York. ( Richard III , I.1, ll. 1–2) For of those to whom much is given, much is required. (John F. Kennedy's address to the Massachusetts legislature, 9 January 1961.)[12] Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. (Winston Churchill addressing the House of Commons, 20 August 1940.)
Merriam–Webster's Dictionary of English Usage (1994) recommends the passive voice when identifying the object (receiver) of the action is more important than the subject (actor, actrix), and when the actor is unknown, unimportant, or not worth mentioning: • • • •
The child was struck by the car. The store was robbed last night. Plows should not be kept in the garage. Kennedy was elected president.[4]
The passive voice also changes the emphasis of a sentence, such as modifying an adverb or the actor: “The breakthrough was achieved by Burlingame and Evans, two researchers in the university’s genetic engineering lab.”[13] The passive voice is anonymous: “We had hoped to report on this problem, but the data were inadvertently deleted from our files”; hence the principal criticism against the passive voice is its evasion of responsibility; see weasel words.[13][4][13]
[edit] Passive constructions This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009)
In general, the passive voice is used to place focus on the grammatical patient, rather than the agent. This often occurs when the patient is the topic of the sentence. However, the passive voice can also be used when the focus is on the agent.
[edit] Canonical passives Passive constructions have a range of meanings and uses. The canonical use is to map a clause with a direct object to a corresponding clause where the direct object has become the subject. For example: •
John threw the ball.
Here threw is a transitive verb with John as its subject and the ball as its direct object. If we recast the verb in the passive voice (was thrown), then the ball becomes the subject (it is "promoted" to the subject position) and John disappears: •
The ball was thrown.
The original "demoted" subject can typically be re-inserted using the preposition by. •
The ball was thrown by John.
[edit] Promotion of other objects One non-canonical use of English's passive is to promote an object other than a direct object. It is usually possible in English to promote indirect objects as well. For example: • •
John gave Mary a book. → Mary was given a book. John gave Mary a book. → Mary was given a book by John.
In the active form, gave is the verb; John is its subject, Mary its indirect object, and a book its direct object. In the passive forms, the indirect object has been promoted and the direct object has been left in place. (In "A book was given to Mary", the direct object is
promoted and the indirect object left in place. In this respect, English resembles dechticaetiative languages.) It is also possible, in some cases, to promote the object of a preposition: •
They talked about the problem. → The problem was talked about.
In the passive form here, the preposition is "stranded"; that is, it is not followed by an object. (See Preposition stranding.)
[edit] Promotion of content clauses It is possible to promote a content clause that serves as a direct object. In this case, however, it typically does not change its position in the sentence, and an expletive it takes the normal subject position: •
They say that he left. → It is said that he left.
[edit] Stative passives The passives described above are all eventive (or dynamic) passives. Stative (or static, or resultative) passives also exist in English; rather than describing an ac tion, they describe the result of an action. English does not usually distinguish between the two. For example: •
The window was broken.
This sentence has two different meanings, roughly the following: • •
[Someone] broke the window. The window was not intact.
The former meaning represents the canonical, eventive passive; the latter, the stative passive. (The terms eventive and stative/resultative refer to the tendencies of these forms to describe events and resultant states, respectively. The terms can be misleading, however, as the canonical passive of a stative verb is not a stative passive, even though it describes a state.) Some verbs do not form stative passives. In some cases, this is because distinct adjectives exist for this purpose, such as with the verb open: • •
The door was opened. → [Someone] opened the door. The door was open. → The door was in the open state.
[edit] Adjectival passives Adjectival passives are not true passives; they occur when a participial adjective (an adjective derived from a participle) is used predicatively ( see Adjective). For example: •
She was relieved to find her car undamaged.
Here, relieved is an ordinary adjective, though it derives from the past participle of relieve,[14] and that past participle may be used in canonical passives: •
He was relieved of duty.
In some cases, the line between an adjectival passive and a stative passive may be unclear.
[edit] Passives without active counterparts In a few cases, passive constructions retain all the sense of the passive voice, but do not have immediate active counterparts. For example: •
He was rumored to be a war veteran. ← *[Someone] rumored him to be a war veteran.
(The asterisk here denotes an ungrammatical construction.) Similarly: •
It was rumored that he was a war veteran. ← *[Someone] rumored that he was a war veteran.
In both of these examples, the active counterpart was once possible, but has fallen out of use.
[edit] Double passives It is possible for a verb in the passive voice—especially an object-raising verb —to take an infinitive complement that is also in the passive voice: •
The project is expected to be completed in the next year.
Commonly, either or both verbs may be moved into the active voice: • • •
[Someone] expects the project to be completed in the next year. [Someone] is expected to complete the project in the next year. [Someone] expects [someone] to complete the p roject in the next year.
In some cases, a similar construction may occur with a verb that is not object-raising in the active voice:
•
?The project will be attempted to be completed in the next year. ← *[Someone] will attempt the project to be completed in the next year. ← [Someone] will attempt to complete the project in the next year.
(The question mark here denotes a questionably-grammatical construction.) In this example, the object of the infinitive has been promoted to the subject of the main verb, and both the infinitive and the main verb have been moved to the passive voice. The American Heritage Book of English Usage declares this unacceptable,[15] but it is nonetheless attested in a variety of contexts.[16]
[edit] Misapplication of the term Occasionally, the passive voice term is misapplied to sentences that do not identify the actor.[17] For example, this extract from The New Yorker magazine refers to the American embezzler Bernard Madoff ; bold text identifies the mis-identified passive voice verbs: Two sentences later, Madoff said, “When I began the Ponzi scheme, I believed it would end shortly, and I would be able to extricate myself, and my clients, from the scheme.” As he read this, he betrayed no sense of how absurd it was to use the passive voice in regard to his scheme, as if it were a spell of bad weather that had descended on him . . . In most of the rest of the statement, one not only heard the aggrieved passive voice, but felt the hand of a lawyer: “To the best of my recollection, my fraud began in the early nineteen-nineties.”[18] The intransitive verbs would end and began are in the active voice; however, how the speaker utters the words subtly diverts responsibility from him.[19] In The Elements of Style, Strunk and White mis-apply the passive voice term to several active voice constructions; Prof. Geoffrey Pullum writes: Of the four pairs of examples offered to show readers what to avoid and how to correct it, a staggering three out of the four are mistaken diagnoses. “At dawn the crowing of a rooster could be heard” is correctly identified as a passive clause, but the other three are all errors: •
•
•
“There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground” has no sign of the passive in it anywhere. “It was not long before she was very sorry that she had said what she had”, also contains nothing that is even reminiscent of the passive construction. “The reason that he left college was that his health became impaired”, is presumably fingered as passive because of impaired , but that’s a mistake. It’s an adjective here.[20]
Active and Passive Verbs Active verbs form more efficient and more powerful sentences than passive verbs. This document will teach you why and how to prefer active verbs . •
•
The subject of an active sentence performs the action of the verb: "I throw the ball." The subject of a passive sentence is still the main character of the sentence, but something else performs the action: "The ball is thrown by me."
Troy Sterling and the Active & Passive Verbs
Contents
How to Recognize Active and Passive Sentences 2. Basic Examples 3. Difference between Passive Voice and Past Tense 4. Imperatives: Active Commands 5. Sloppy Passive Construction 6. Linking Verbs: Neither Active nor Passive 7. Passive Voice is not Wrong 8. Tricky Examples 9. Links to Active & Passive Verb Resources 10. Works Cited 1.
1. How to Recognize Active and Passive Sentences ^ 1. Find the subject (the main character of the sentence). 2. Find the main verb (the action that the sentence identifies). 3. Examine the relationship between the subject and main verb. o Does the subject perform the action of the main verb? (If so, the sentence is active.) o Does the subject sit there while something else -- named or unnamed -performs an action on it? (If so, the sentence is passive.) o Can't tell? If the main verb is a linking verb ("is," "was," "are," "seems (to be)," "becomes" etc.), then the verb functions like an equals sign; there is no action involved -- it merely describes a state of being.
2. Basic Examples ^ I love you.
1. subject : "I" 2. action : "loving" 3. relationship : The subject ("I") is the one performing the action ("loving"). The sentence is active. You are loved by me.
1. subject : "you" 2. action : "loving" 3. relationship : The subject ("You") sits passively while the action ("loving") is performed by somebody else ("me"). This sentence is passive.
3. Difference between Passive Voice and Past Tense ^ Many people confuse the passive voice with the past tense. The most common passive constructions also happen to be past tense (e.g. "I've been framed"), but "voice" has to do with who, while "tense" has to do with when. Active Voice
Passive Voice
I was (have been) taught [by someone]; Past Tense
I taught; I learned. It was (has been) learned [by someone].
Present Tense I teach; I learn. Future Tense
I will teach; I will learn.
I am [being] taught [by someone]; It is [being] learned [by someone]. I will be taught [by someone]; It will be learned [by someone].
4. Imperatives: Active Commands ^ A command (or "imperative") is a kind of active sentence, in which "you" (the one being addressed) are being ordered to perform the action. (If you refuse to obey, the sentence is still active.) • • • •
Get to work on time. Insert tab A into slot B. Take me to your leader. Ladies and gentlement, let us consider, for a moment, the effect of the rafting sequences on our understanding of the rest of the novel.
5. Sloppy Passive Constructions ^ Because passive sentences do not need to identify the performer of an action, they can lead to sloppy or misleading statements (especially in technical writing). Compare how clear and direct these passive sentences become, when they are rephrased as imperative sentences To drain the tank, the grill should be removed, or the storage compartment can be flooded.
Because they do not specify the actors, the passive verbs ("should be removed" and "can be flooded") contribute to the confusing structure of this sentence. Does the sentence 1) offer two different ways to drain the tank ("you may either remove the grill or flood the compartment")? ...or does it 2) warn of an undesirable causal result ("if you drain the tank without removing the grill, the result will be that the storage compartment is flooded")? Revision 1: Drain the tank in one of the following ways: •
remove the grill
•
flood the storage compartment
Revision 2: 1) Remove the grill. 2) Drain the tank. Warning : If you fail to remove the grill first, you may flood the storage compartment (which is where you are standing right now).
6. Linking Verbs: Neither Active nor Passive ^ When the verb performs the function of an equals sign, the verb is said to be a linking verb. Linking verbs describe no action -- they merely state an existing condition or relationship; hence, they are neither passive nor active.
Subject
=
Description
The door
is
blue.
The door
was
This
could be
closed. the first day of the rest of my life.
She might have been very nice.
7. The Passive Voice Is not Wrong ^ Passive verbs are not automatically wrong. When used rarely and deliberately, the passive voice serves an important purpose. •
When you wish to downplay the action:
Mistakes will be made, and lives will be lost; the sad truth is learned anew by each generation. •
When you wish to downplay the actor:
Three grams of reagent 'A' were added to a beaker of 10% saline solution. (In the scientific world, the actions of a researcher are ideally not supposed to affect the outcome of an experiment; the experiment is supposed to be the same no matter who carries it out. I will leave it to you and your chemistry professor to figure out whether that's actually true, but in the meantime, don't use excessive passive verbs simply to avoid using "I" in a science paper .) •
When the actor is unknown :
The victim was approached from behind and hit over the head with a salami.
8. Tricky Examples ^ Punctuality seems important.
1. subject : the phrase "punctuality" 2. action : "being" ("seems" is short for "seems to be") 3. relationship : The subject does nothing at all; the verb "is" functions as an equals sign: "punctuality = important". This sentence describes a state of being (neither active nor passive).
(If you replace the single word "punctuality" with the phrase "Getting to work on time" or "The sum total of the knowledge of tribes of prehistoric America collected by amateur archeologists during the latter half of the nineteenth century," the grammar of the sentence does not change.) Remember to brush your teeth.
1. subject : (You) This is an order; the subject is the person being ordered. 2. action : "remember" (not "brushing") 3. relationship : The subject is supposed to do the remembering. Whether the subject actually obeys the command is irrelevant to the grammar of the sentence. This sentence gives an order. Active.
(It may be grammatically possible to give an order with a passive verb, such as a Shakespearean curse like "Be damned!" But most commands you encounter will be active.)
9. Links to Active & Passive Verb Resources ^ Looking for more help? • •
An online quiz: Revising Passive Constructions. The graphics on Purdue's Active and Passive Verbs page aren't good HTML (visually impaired readers would be left out), but the co ntent is good.
10. Works Cited ^ Orwell, George. "Politics and the English Language." A Collection of Essays. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1954. 167-177. Strunk, William. Elements of Style. Ithaca, N.Y.: Priv print, 1918.
03 Jul 2004.
United States. Securities and Exchange Commission. A Plain English Handbook. Draft. Washington D.C. 1977. . 12 Apr 1999.
Tense Present Present perfect Past Past perfect Future
Subject The car/cars The car/cars The car/cars The car/cars The car/cars
Auxiliary Singular Plural Is Has been was Had been Will be
Are Have been were Had been Will be
Past Participle designed. designed. designed. designed. designed.
