TOPIC: Studying The Passive Voice in English

NGUYỄN THỊ THỦY GD24.03

I. INTRODUCTION:
English is a widely spoken language throughout the world, particularly in
Vietnam. It serves as a cultural link between countries. Language learning has
become popular from school to work due to the importance and benefits of this
language. However, each language has its own difficulties and English is no
exception especially, grammar in English. Grammar plays a very important role in
a language.
Grammar is the structural foundation of our ability to express ourselves. The
more we are aware of how it works, the more we can monitor the meaning and
effectiveness of the way we and others use language. It can help foster precision,
detect ambiguity, and exploit the richness of expression available in English.
Grammar can take many forms. However, I'm confident that there is a pattern
that we must observe if we are to succeed in this subject. That is an example of a
passive sentence. English majors at HUBT are no longer unfamiliar with passive
sentences. It acts as a seasoning for each essay, and it also helps to improve and
professionalize sentences.
II. DEVELOPMENT:
1. Theoretical background
1.1 The definition of the passive voice
Passive voice is when the subject of a sentence receives the action of the verb
rather than performing the action.

In grammar, voice indicates the rela

tionship between the subject of the sentence and its verb. English has two voices.
In active voice, the subject performs the verb, as in Toni bake cakes. In this
example Toni is doing the action of the verb (baking cakes).
In passive voice, a subject the verb’s action performed on it. It receives the action,
as in: Cakes are baked by Toni. Here, Toni is still doing the action, but cakes is the
subject. They are receiving Toni’s action.

A sentence written in the passive voice often uses the verb be. Also the performer
of the action is also in a preposition phrase, as in I was hit by snowballs.

The simplest way to determine if a sentence is in the passive voice is to read the

sentence and think about who is doing what. If the performer of the action comes
after the verb, the sentence is most likely in the passive voice and not active.

1.2 How to use passive voice in a sentence

In an active sentence, the person or thing responsible for the action in the sentence
comes first. In a passive sentence, the person or thing acted on comes first, and the
actor is added at the end, introduced with the preposition “by.” The passive form of
the verb is signaled by a form of “to be”: in the sentence above, “was formulated”
is in passive voice while “formulated” is in active.
In a passive sentence, we often omit the actor completely: The uncertainty
principle was formulated in 1927.
Eg: active: Werner Heisenberg formulated the uncertainty principle in 1927.
passive: The uncertainty principle was formulated by Werner Heisenberg in
1927.
1.3 Why is passive voice important?

The phrase passive voice has been used as a grammar since at least 1634. The
word passive is used to indicate that the subject is having an action done to it rather
than being the one doing an action.

Writers, speakers, and students are often advised not to use too much passive
voice. Sentences written in the passive voice are usually harder to understand, and
some sound awkward even if they are grammatically correct, as in The world was
traveled all around by us.

However, there are times where passive voice is appropriate. The main reason you
would use the passive voice is to emphasize something besides the performer of an
action, as when the receiver of the action is more important, as in For five
thousand years the magic lamp had not been touched by anyone.

1.4 Passive Voice in Vietnamese and English

 1.4.1 Passive voice in Vietnamese
In contrast with English, Vietnamese is an austral and Asiatic language, its basic
grammar is the word order. Vietnamese words do not change form, even the verbs.
So we cannot base on the form of the verb or grammar to determine whether a
sentence is active or passive. We also cannot base on grammar structure because
there are some cases in which the structure of an active sentence cannot be
recognized.
According to Palmer (1994), passive constructions do not exist, and passive
meanings are expressed through verbs of experiencing and becoming, as well as
subject or topic markers. However, Nguyen (1987) pointed out that the passive
voice in Vietnamese can be also expressed by means of clause subordination that
depend on whether the action of the clause has adversative outcomes to the clause
subject or topic.

When to use Passive Voice in Vietnamese.

Like English, Vietnamese use passive voice in these cases:

- When the speaker does not want to mention or not know the agent (Ex: Một sai
lầm đã được thực hiện: A mistake was made)

- When the speaker just want to pay attention to the result of the action. (Ex: Tiếng
Anh được sử dụng khắp thế giới: English is spoken all over the world)

- When the speaker wants to have a smoother sentence by keeping the same subject
for the two or more verbs. For example, Cô ấy thường hay giúp đỡ người nghèo và
được mọi người quý mến vì việc làm đó: She often helps the poor and is respected
for these kind things)

1.4.2 Passive voice in English

When to use Passive voice.

There are some situations in which the passive voice is more effective than the
active voice:
- To emphasize the receiver of the action, the receiver of the action is more
important than the performer.

Eg: Millions of people have read “Gone with the wind”.

“Gone with the wind” has been read by millions of people.

- If we want to focus on the number of people who have read "Gone with the
wind", we use active voice. If we want to focus on the novel "Gone with the wind",
we use passive voice. The question is to ask yourself what you want to emphasis.
When the receiver of the action is more important than the performer, use the
passive voice.

- When we do not know who the performer of the action is, the performer will be
dropped from the sentence.
Eg:Her car has been stolen (by someone) (We do not know who stole her car

When we want to avoid responsibility: when the active voice seems indiscreet, we
can use passive voice to avoid assigning responsibility for the action.

Eg: You made this machine out of order.

This machine was made out of order.

To maintain a consistent point of view or sequence of subjects.

Eg: Our auditors have reviewed our accounting practices and found them to
be adequate. We should convey this to our investors. The capital they
provide allows us to operate.

Our accounting practices have been reviewed and found to be adequate.

These findings should be conveyed to our investors, who provide us with
operating capital.

1.4.3 Some similarities and difference between passive voice in English and
Vietnamese

- Similarities: In both English and Vietnamese, we use passive voice to put

more attention on the fact, the action or the result of the action. We want to
focus more on the recipient than on the performer, as a result, the doer or the
agent is often omitted.

- Differences: The formation of Vietnamese passive voice is mainly based on

the lexical meaning or grammatical status of the words "bị/ được/ do".
Although in some cases, the passive meaning is mainly understood by the
semantic meaning of the whole sentence. English passive voice is marked by
the form of the verbs (Be + P.P).
1.5 When should we avoid passive voice?
Passive sentences can get you into trouble in academic writing because they can be
vague about who is responsible for the action:
Both Othello and Iago desire Desdemona. She is courted. [Who courts
Desdemona? Othello? Iago? Both of them?]
Academic writing often focuses on differences between the ideas of different
researchers, or between your own ideas and those of the researchers you are
discussing. Too many passive sentences can create confusion:
Research has been done to discredit this theory. [Who did the research? You? Your
professor? Another author?]
Some students use passive sentences to hide holes in their research:
The telephone was invented in the nineteenth century. [I couldn’t find out who
invented the telephone!]
Finally, passive sentences often sound wordy and indirect. They can make the
reader work unnecessarily hard. And since they are usually longer than active
sentences, passive sentences take up precious room in your paper:
Since the car was being driven by Michael at the time of the accident, the damages
should be paid

I. CONCLUSION
In the English language, the passive sentence is a very common grammatical form.
Furthermore, it will aid students' essays in general, and certificate candidates in
particular, in achieving high marks. The nature of this sentence form causes the
sentences to become more refined and academic. However, we must exercise
caution. To avoid repetition and confusing sentences, we should combine with
other types of grammar in a flexible manner.