Passive constructions

All of the example sentences that we have considered up to this point have been in what is
known as the active voice. However, this ignores a major type of sentence construction that is
sometimes used in speaking, but is more frequently met in the written language - this
construction is called the passive.
Contrasting the difference between 'active' and 'passive' voices:
Active sentence
George Bush started the war.
The people grow rice in Asia.
I heated the chemicals to 200 Celsius.
Passive sentence
The war was started by George Bush.
Rice is grown in Asia.
The chemicals were heated to 200 Celsius.
The first sentence uses an active verb because we are saying what somebody (or in other
cases, something) DID: we want to say what Bush did. In the second sentence, we are
interested in what HAPPENED, so a passive verb is used. In the first sentence, Bush is the
object; in the second, he is the subject.
In the second active sentence, the focus is on who grows the rice; in the second passive
sentence it is on the rice. Who grows it is unimportant.
In the third passive sentence, it is not important to mention who the person who heated the
chemicals is and, following the convention of reporting of a scientific experiment, is not
stated.
Form
We make the passive with the verb be in the tense that we require, followed by the past
participle. Sometimes, in place of the verb be, we use get often with very little change in
meaning, but get is usually preferred when the action is unexpected, unwelcome, or happens
in the face of adversity. Get also tends to be informal than be. Here are some short examples
of passive sentences.
Rice is grown in China.
My computer is being repaired at the moment.
The thief was arrested.
All mistakes have been rectified.
Harry might have been involved in an accident.
Applications must be received before the end of the year.
The main verb usually ends in -ed but, as we saw earlier, some verbs have irregular past
participles as in the first sentence. In active sentences the order of the elements of a sentence
usually follows the pattern subject - verb - object, like this:
That man stole my wallet.
I painted this picture.
In these examples the subject or 'doer' of the verb is that man and I respectively, while my
wallet and this picture are the objects. The main purpose of the passive is to change the focus
of attention of the sentence, so it is often used when the more important information is:
what happened to the subject - I've been robbed!
who or what carried out the action - Guernica was painted by Picasso.
how the action was carried out - the concerto was played beautifully.
when the doer is unknown - this house was built in 1845.
If we want to include the identity of the doer, then it has to move to the end of the sentence
preceded by the word by. So, in the second sentence above we obviously need to know the
identity of the artist that painted Guernica otherwise the sentence makes no sense. (The active
form of this sentence is Picasso painted Guernica.)
If you look back to the first set of numbered sentences above you will notice that the doer is
missing in every case and yet the sentences are still logical and complete. The doers are either
unknown, unnecessary or can be guessed from the context, so, for example, in sentence
number 3 we can automatically add by the police