27: passive voice.

Forms and functions

SUMMARY:
01. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.
02. THE PASSIVE VOICE IN ENGLISH: FORM AND CONTENT.
03. CLASSES OF PASSIVE.
04. CHOICE OF THE PASSIVE.
05. VOICE CONSTRAINTS.
06. INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTIONS AFTER PASSIVE VERBS.
07. VERBS ACTIVE IN FORM BUT PASSIVE IN SENSE.
08. PASSIVE VERSUS ACTIVE INFINITIVE.
09. THE GERUND.
10. PERFECTIVE VERBS.
11. USING THE PASSIVE WITHOUT THE AGENT.
12. THE PASSIVE IN SPANISH.

01. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

In Old English times there was no formal passive, except in the one form surviving
from a nolder stage of the language: hâtte (=call) which was both present (is called)
and past (was called): Se munuc hâtte Abbo (=the monk is called Abbo).

In other instances, the passice was formed periphrastically with wesan/weorthan

and the past participles. The distinction between the two auxiliaries was not clearly
marked, but generally wesan indicates a state and weorthan an action.

From the 16th on to the 18th century is/ was/ has been/ ... ans a verbal noun ending
in -ing combined with the preposition a (on), was the normal way to express the
passive.. The verbal noun in -ing was in itself neither active nor passive: is on (a)
building might mean both "is engaged in the act of building" (active) or "is being
built" (passive). Examples without the preposition whilst this play is plaing
(SHAKESPEARE) and while innocent blood was shedding (MAcAULEY). This
construction was liable to misunderstanding, hence it was natural that a new clearer
construction should come into existence: somebody is always being murdered
(DICKENS).

This new construction received the opposition of many grammarians and people in
general, but it must now be considered a fixed element of the English language.

02. THE PASSIVE VOICE IN ENGLISH: FORM AND CONTENT.

Voice is a grammatical category which makes it possible to view the action of a

sentence is two ways without change in the facts reported: the butler murdered the
detective - the detective was murdered by the butler.

Thus, one and the same idea can often be expressed in two different ways by means
of an active sentence or by means of a passive sentence (examples above). Each
sentence means essentially the same thing and yet they are not in every aspect
synonimous, and it is not therefore superfluous for a language to have both turns
and thus be able to shift the point of view.

According to Jespersen, as a rule, the person or thing that is the centre of interest at
the moment is made the subject of the sentence, and, therefore, the verb is, in some
cases, put in the active; in others in the passive. A verbal construction in the passive
normally denotes an action undergone by the subject of the sentence.

02.1. FORM.

The opposition between the active and the passive is exemplified by sentences like
the following: John opened the letter - the letter was opened by John/ someone
has washed my plate - my plate has been washed by someone. The second
sentences of each pair are often said to be derived from the first sentences by a
process of transformation (in structural terms), which involves the following changes:

1. the noun or nominal which in the active sentence functions as the direct object
becomes the subject in the passive.

2. the verbal form of the active sentence is replaced by the appropriate form of the
auxiliary be + past participle of the verb.

3. and the nominal which in the active sentence functions as the subject may be
added in a prepositional phrase with by, which is usually called the agent. The
prepositional agent phrase of passive sentences is an optional sentence element.

The process of active-passive transformation for a transitive sentence with a nominal

object can be represented diagrammatically in this way:

S V O
John kissed Mary
ACTIVE SUBJECT ACTIVE VERB ACTIVE OBJECT
----------------------------------------
PASSIVE SUBJECT PASSIVE VERB OPTIONAL AGENT
Mary was kissed (by John)
S PASS. V A

Except for a few cases all active sentences with a noun phrase or pronoun object
can be made passive:

a) verbs with one object - SVO - SV(passive)by-AGENT

b) verbs with object + verb - SVOV - SV(passive)Vby-AGENT
c) verbs with two objects - SVOO - SV(passive)Oby-AGENT
d) verbs with object and object complement - SVOC -SV(passive)Cby-AGENT

NOTE: In the third of these patterns (SVOO) it is usually the first object (The Indirect
Object) that becomes the subject of the passive clause. There is, however, another
passive contruction in which it is the direct object that is made subject. In: my father
gave me this watch both the following are possible passive forms of the active
sentence: I was given this watch by my father & this watch was given (to) me by
my father.

02.2. THE PASSIVE AUXILIARY.

It is normally be but, besides it, get/ become/ grow may occur as auxiliaries of the
passive.

Get is usually restricted to constructions without an expressed animate agent and

expresses the getting into a state or situation denoted by the participle, ie, it has a
mutative meaning which distinguishes from the ordinary passive: how many people
got killed?/ our house is getting painted.

It is much more frequent in sentences which look superficially like the passive,
having a connotation of something self-inflicted: you'll get hurt/ I have to get
dressed before eight o'clock. This kind of sentences cannot have an agent: your
argument gets a bit confused here.

However, not every past participle is used after get emphasizing the result of an
action that is done to someone or something. Verbs so used include: broken, burnt,
caught, drowned, engaged, found out, hurt, killed, stuck.

Become is occasionally followed by a past participle denoting action, and may then
be a kind of auxiliary of the passive. The combination expresses change from one
condition to a new condition: we became acquaited; when we first became known
to one another. The expression is often one of gradual change, often enhanced by
modification with more and more/ increasingly: our technique is becoming
increasingly specialized.

According to Zandvoort, the difference between get & become as auxiliaries of the
passive may be expressed by the terms perfective & durative.

Grow is comparatively rare as auxiliary of the passive, apart from combinations like
grow accustomed.

02.3. THE SUBJECT OF THE PASSIVE IN ENGLISH.

It is what in the active would be an object. But a sentence may contain two objects, a
direct object usually denoting a thing and an indirect object usually denoting a
person: they offered her a better job. when the sentence contains two objects, only
one of them can be made the subject, the other object is "retained" as such. But,
which of the two objects is made the subject of a passive sentence? Originally, only
the direct object could be thus used: Justice shall de done everybody.

But during the last few centuries there has been a growing tendency to make the
indirect object the subject in the passive. The explanation given by Jespersen is that
the greater interest felt for persons than for things naturally leads to the placing of
the indirect before the direct object. Thus, it is more natural to say: she was offered
a better job, they were brought some food.

Schibsbye says that the indirect object is made the subject in the passive,
particularly if the direct object is long: he had been brought a small red tomato
and a hard, rocky wedge of bacon. If the direct object of the active sentence is
made the subject in the passive, the ⋅retained⋅ object is very often preceded by a
preposition, though American English often dispenses with it: a better job was
offered (to) her; some food was brought (to) them.

A construction which is similar, superficially, to the one just mentioned is seen in: the
party made him their leader; they appointed his uncle a director. Semantically,
the two types differ, because in the construction illustrated by the above examples,
the two nominals following the verb indicate the same person: his uncle became a
director. On the other hand, structurally, there is no indirect object in these
examples; we have a direct object and what is called a predicative complement
referring to the direct object. In the type under discussion only the first of the two
nominals following the verb can serve as subject in the passive tansform: he was
made their leader; his uncle was appointed a director.

Finally, when the object of the active construction is an infinitive or a clause

introduced by that, whether or if, a sentence with introductory it is required, ie, the
clause remains in post-verbal position in the passive sentence but is introduced by
anticipatory it as subject: it could hardly be expected (that) Ruth would be on
time; it was desired to have the report delivered here.

02.4. USE OF PREPOSITIONS (BY/ WITH/ IN) BEFORE AN AGENT.

As we have already explained before, we can mention the agent at the end of the
clause by using by. We put emphasis on the agent by doing so because the end of
the sentence is an important position: he was hated by his own brothers; it wasn't
delivered by train, it was delivered by ship.

We can mention something that the agent used to perform the action after the
preposition with: the letter was written with a pencil; the boy was hit with a stone. We
are dealing here with materials, not with agents. The same is true in: a table is made
of wood.

We can use with before the agent with a few transitive verbs which refer to states
rather than actions: the box was filled with tiny things; the wall was decorated with
flowers.

Some verbs which refer to states and are used with with in the passive are crowd,
decorate, fill, ornament -- Some can be used with with/ by after them: adorn,
cover, encircle, surround: the tree had been surrounded with bushes -- Several
verbs are used with in in the passive: contain, cover, include, involve: that was not
included in the form -- The verb cover can be used with in/ by/ with.

On the other hand when a verb + preposition + object combination is put into the
passive, the preposition will remain immediately after the verb: I wrote to my friend
>> my friend was written to. Similarly with verb + preposition/adverb combinations:
the girl looked after the children >> the children were looked after.

03. CLASSES OF PASSIVE.

The formal definition of the passive, ie the auxiliary be + past participle, is very
broad, and will include, for example, all the following sentences:
1. He was interested in Linguistics/ he was encouraged to go on with the project.
2. The modern world becomes more highly industrialized.
3. He was rescued by a French mountaineer.
4. This difficulty can be avoided in several ways.

1. QUASI-PASSIVE.

This construction consists of the verb (not the auxiliary) be + past participle used as
an adjectival. This can be seen from the fact that it is possible to coordinate the
participles with other adjectives and to insert an intensifier before the past participle:
he was encouraged and content/ he was very interested.

Nevertheless, it is not possible to draw a hard-and-fast line between this construction

(be + past participle adjectival) and the other constructions. This can be seen from
the fact that the sentence can be related to the following active sentence: (someone)
interested John in Linguistics. On the other hand, the prepositional phrase (in
Linguistics) could be interpreted as a kind of agent phrase. There are, in fact,
several prepositions which can introduce such quasi-agents, for example, about/
at/ over/ to/ with. Ex: I was surprised at his behaviour, his behaviour surprised me.

For all these reasons, Quirk includes this type of passive in what he calls quasi-
passives.

2. NON-AGENTIVE PASSIVES.

This construction has no active transform or possibility of agent addition, since no

performer of the action is conceived of. Moreover, the participles have adjectival
value as in the quasi-passives. Nevertheless, while it is clear that sentence No.2 is
not passive in the sense of sentences 3 and 4, it is not always possible to draw a
sharp line of division between them. We can bring here some other example: we are
supposed to be back before dark, this sentence has no equivalent active form or
possibility of agent addition either.

For this reason, Quirk uses the term non-agentive passives for these constructions
and includes them in the passive because they still satisfy the formal passive
requirements as regards content (ie, the subject undergoes the action denoted by
the verb).

3 & 4. AGENTIVE PASSIVES.

They have a direct passive-active relation. They can be called genuine examples of
the passive voice. The only difference between them is that no.4 has no expressed
agent, while no.3 has an expressed agent.

NOTES: 1. The Notional Passive with active form as in: your book reads well (=it
can be read well).

2. "-ED" PARTICIPLES: They are used as adjectives may sometimes be followed

by prepositions other than by. Note the difference:
a) as adjective: I am very interested in mathematics.
b) as part of a pasive sentence: I was interested by what you told me. very could
not modify interested in this sentence

04. CHOICE OF THE PASSIVE.

Since the passive voice provides an additional way of saying what may also be
expressed by the active voice the question naturally arises: when and why is the
passive used in preference to the active?. It is important to realize that although, as a
rule, sentences with a transitive verb + an object may be turned from the active into
the passive by a completely mechanical process, the two constructions do not simply
represent alternative expressions which can be used indiscriminately.

The passive voice is not merely a formal variant of the active voice, able to replace it
without any change of meaning. Therefore, English almost always has a reason to
justify the use of one or other ofthe voices. Let us see:

* If both the agent and the patient are expressed, the passive sentence covers
the same reality as the corresponding active sentence. The form chosen in such
cases is often determined by these reasons:

a) Generally speaking the subject of the sentence is the main point of interest;
according to most grammarians, the passive voice is the grammatical device that
gives the object of a transitive verb prominence by making it the subject. So, when
we want to place the emphasis on the performer of the action, we generally use the
active voice; when we want to place the emphasis on the action, or on the receiver of
the action, we use the passive voice: the mouse was caught by the cat - the cat
caught the mouse. In the examples given, it is thus determined by whether it is the
experiences of the mouse that are to be described or the cat's.

b) Another reason given to determine the choice of the voice is due to stylistic
factors, eg, the passive voice may be used when the construction facilitates the
connexion of one sentence with another: he rose to speak and was listened to
with enthusiasm by the great crowd present. Here we have two sentences of
which the second is put in the passive because it has the same subject as the first
one. It would be clumsier to say ... and the listened to him ...

* When the agent is left unspecified in the sentence, the passive turn is the
normal construction. This is due to one of the following reasons:

a) the active subject is unknown or cannot easily be stated: her father was killed in
the Boer War, he was given a knighthood. It is of course possible to denote an
unknown agent by some such words as somebody, one, people; somebody killed
her father in the Boer War but this is not a very common construction in English.

b) the construction by + agent would be unnatural and unnecessary in sentences

like the following, where the performer of the action is either clear from the meaning
of the sentence, or is not of interest to us: he was elected Member of Parliament
for Leeds; he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1951.

c) there may be special reasons (tact or delicacy of sentiment for not mentioning the
active subject). One may, for instance, wish to use an impersonal style, thus the
mention of the first person is often avoided, in writing more frequently than in
speaking: enough has been said here of a subject which will be treated more
fully in a subsequent chapter.

In none of these cases is the active subject mentioned. According to Jespersen, over
70 per cent of passive sentences found in English literature contain no mention of
the active subject.

05. VOICE CONSTRAINTS.

The general rule is that transitive verb sentences can be either active or passive but
there are a number of exceptions where there is no simple paraphrase relation.
There is a number of restrictions or voice constraints which do not permit the passive
transformation of an active sentence. Quirk points out the following ones:

1 - Verb Constrains:

Since the subject in the passive is the object of the corresponding active sentence it
follows that only sentences with transitive verbs (ie, those which can take objects)
can be transformed into the passive. But from this, it cannot be inferred that any
sentence with a transitive verb and a direct object can be made passive. There are
some combinations of a transitive verb + an object which have no passive transform,
among them:

1. Sentences which include have with durative association have no passive

transform: I have a house in the country, they had dinner before they left. With
perfective association, however, the passive is common: to be had of all dealers
(IN ADVERTISEMENTS).

2. resemble does not occur in the passive. marry, when meaning take to one's
wedded wife or husband cannot occur in the passive either but it does when it
means join in marriage. So these sentences have no passive transform: he
resembles his father; she married a Frenchman.

The passive voice is not used in sentences containing intransitive verbs (here we
can also include linking verbs such as become, prove, seem, sound) But, however,
the passive voice is used of a number of verbs which, while being primarily
intransitive, may be used as causatives. Some of the commonest are fly/ run/
stand/ walk: how many people have been flown to New Zealand this year?/
cheap trains will be run on Sundays/ the bottle must not be stood close to the
fire/ horses should be walked for some time after the race.

In English, Phrasal Verbs can often occur in the passive, but not as freely as in the
active. Here belong verbs, whether transitive or intransitive, followed by a
preposition, if participle and preposition are so closely associated as practically to
form a unit, or, in other words, as to be equivalent to a transitive participle. Some of
the commonest groups of this type are: be cared for (=tended), be come to
(=reached), be laughed at (=ridiculed), be listened to (=heard), be looked upon
(=regarded), be relied on (=trusted), be sent for (=called), be talked of
(=discussed), be thought of (=considered), be dealt with (=treated). The doctor
was sent for/ rescue was not to be thought of/ had any decision been come
to ...?/ this matter will have to be dealt with.

The construction is also found with a few intransitive verbs accompanied by a local
preposition, even thought, in the corresponding active sentences at any rate, the
preposition is less closely associated with the verb: this bed was once slept in (by
QUEEN ELIZABETH)/ my new hat has been sat on.

Prepositional verbs can often occur in the passive, but not freely as in the active.
Compare: the engineers went very carefully into the problem/ the tunnel >> *the
tunnel/ the problem was very carefully gone into by the engineers. It is clear
that the difference in acceptability can be stated in terms of concrete/ abstract
passive subject. It is only in figurative sense that arrive at/ go into/ look into and
many other prepositional verbs accept the passive. With some ingenuity one may
construct contexts where such verbs will passivize even concretely, especially in a
parallel construction: this private correspondence of mine has been gone into.

Another type of construction which may be put in the passive is that consisting of a
form of to be + past participle + noun + preposition. So long as this group can be
regarded as a unit, or, in other words, as equivalent to a single transitive participle.
This can be exemplified by the following verbal groups: be found fault with
(=criticized), be got rid of (=removed), be lost sight of (=overlooked), be made fun
of (=ridiculed), be paid attention to (=heeded), be set fire to (=ignited), be taken
advantage of (=utilized), be taken care of (=tended). His weakness was taken
advantage of/ something has been lost sight of/ he was made fun of. With some
of these groups an alternative passive occurs especially (but not exclusively) when
the noun is preceded by a qualifying word: undue advantage was taken of his
weakness/ little attention was paid to this warning. There are cases where these
kinds of passive constructions are not admissible. For example, we could not
transform these sentences this way: John agreed with Mary >> *Mary was agreed
with, She sat by the window >> the window was sat by. The rule is that, to be
transformed in that way, a phrase must be of regular occurrence, apart from forming
a close unit with a transitive meaning.

Some verbs can only be used in the passive: Joan was (said/reputed) to be a
good teacher/ they (said/reputed) him to a good teacher. However, repute can
be used in the active with be/ have: they reputed him to have the means to do it
& they reputed him to be the one who did it.

There are some transitive verbs which are normally used in the passive because
of their meaning. The agent of the action is not known or normally thought to be not
worth mentioning. that man has been deemed to be the speaker. Some transitive
verbs normally used in the passive are: be born/ be deemed/ be fined/ be
horrified/ be jailed/ be prized/ be rumored/ be wounded. Some phrasal verbs
normally used in the passive: be caught up/ be handed down/ be pensioned off/
be rained off/ be sworn in/ be written into; the chief was caught up by the
police.

A few transitive verbs rarely used in the passive because the thing affected by the
action they describe is rarely the thing we are interested in. Some of them are:
escape/ get/ have/ let/ like/ resemble/ suit/ survive. The same happens with some
phrasal verbs which constitute a transitive verb: bite back/ get back/ have on/
phone back/ ring out/ sit out/ stand off/ wait out/ walk off. Reflexive verbs,
whose object is a reflexive pronoun referring to the subject of the verb, are not used
in the passive.

Passive of progressive sentences: It sometimes seems difficult because it

requires the progressive tenses of be, which are not otherwise much used: the
bridge is being repaired - the bridge was being repaired.

Since it adds one element of complexity to the verb phrase, the passive is often felt
to be heavier than the corresponding active sentence in these cases. This occurs
especially in the perfect tenses: seats have not been beeing won by the
Conservatives lately. English prefers: the Conservatives have not been winning
seats lately.

2 - Object Constraints:

Cognate objects and objects which have co-reference with the subject of the
sentence such as reflexive and reciprocal pronouns block the passive
transformation: she smiled a curious smile/ she laughed a sad laugh/ she
sighed a little sigh/ sleep the sleep of the just - she is dressing herself/ I
usually shave myself.

Clausal Objects: only those consisting of a finite clause regularly have passive
analogues: John saw that she was very pretty >> It was seen (by John) that she
was pretty & ?That she was pretty was seen by John/ John hoped to kiss her
>> *It was hoped (by John) to kiss her/ *To kiss her was hoped (by John)/ John
enjoyed seeing her >> *it was enjoyed (by John) seeing her/ ?Seeing her was
enjoyed (by John).

3 - Agent Constrains:

In the active sentence the subject is obligatory, on the other hand, the use of the
passive is more common than that of the active when the agent is left unexpressed,
ie, when we do not wish to express what would have been the subject of the active
sentence, as for example in the Prime Minister was attacked last night in the
debate, when it is unknown or when it is redundant as in: John fought Paul last
night and John was beaten; an agent phrase would be clearly unnecessary or
even impossible in this context.

4 - Style Constrains:

Quirk writes: "There is a notable difference in the frequnecy with which the
active and passive voices are used. The active is generally the more common,
but there is considerable variation among individual texts. The passive has
been found to be as much as ten times more frequent in one text than another.
The major stylistic factor determining its frequency seems to be related to the
distinction between informative and imaginative prose rather than to a
diifference of subject matter or of spoken and written English. The passive is
generally more commonly used in informative than in imaginative writing,
notable in the objective, non-personal style of scientific articles and news
items".

5 - Meaning Constrains:

A shift of meaning may accompany shift of voice in verb phrases containing

auxiliaries that have more than one meaning: shalll/ will/ can - Joan cannot do it
(ability) & It cannot be done by Joan (possibility).

06. INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTIONS AFTER PASSIVE VERBS.

A. After acknowledge/ assume/ believe/ claim/ consider/ estimate/ feel/ find/

know/ presume/ report/ say/ think/ understand ... sentences like people
think/consider/know ... that he is ... have two possible passive forms: it is
thought/ considered/ known ... that he is ... & he is thought/ considered/ known
... to be ... Similarly: people said that he was jealous of her >> It was said that he
was jealous of her/ he was said to be jealous of her. The infinitive construction is
the neater of the two. It is chiefly used with be though other infinitives can sometimes
be used: he is thought to have information which will be useful to the police.

When the thought concerns a previous action we use the perfect infinitive so that:
people know that he was ... >> it is known that he was.../ he is known to have
been ... --- People believed that he was ... >> it was believed that he was.../ he
was believed to have been ... This construction can be used with the perfect
infinitive of any verb.

B. After suppose.

1. In the passive it can be followed by the present infinitive of any verb but this
usually conveys an idea of duty and is not therefore the normal equivalent of
suppose in the active: you are supposed to know how to drive (=you should
know how to drivve), though he is supposed to be in Paris could mean either "he
ought to be there" or "people suppose he is there".

2. It can be similarly followed by the perfect infinitive of any verb. This may convey
an idea of duty but very often does not: you are supposed to have finished (=you
should have finished), but he is supposed to have escaped disguised as a
woman (=people suppose ...).

C. An infinitive placed after a passive verb is normally a full infinitive, ie, an infinitive
with to:

.. Active .. .. Passive ..
We saw them go out They were seen to go out
He made us work We were made to work

Let, however, is used without to: they let us go >> we were let go.
D. The continuous infinitive can be used after the passive of believe/ know/ report
/think/ understand: he is thought/ known/ believed/ said/ supposed to be living
abroad (=people think/ know/ believe/ say/ suppose he is living). -- you are
supposed to be working (=you should be working). The perfect form of the
continuous infinitive is also possible: he is believed to have been waiting for a
message (=people believe that he was waiting for a message), you are supposed
to have been working (=you should have been working).

E. VERB WITH OBJECT + INFINITIVE.

Many verbs can be followed by an object and infinitive: she asked me to sent a
stamped envelope, everybody wanted Doris to be the manager, we like our staff to
say what they think.

Sentences like these cannot usually be made passive. We cannot say, for example,
Doris was wanted to be the manager or our staff are liked to say what they think.

There are a few exceptions:

1. verbs of asking, ordering, allowing, ... can usually be used in the passive with a
following infinitive: I was asked to send a stamped envelope, she was told not to
come back, we are allowed to visit Harry once a week. Others verbs in this group are
advise, except, forbid, mean, order, request, require, teach.

2. Many verbs of thinking, saying, ... can be used in the same way: John is
considered to be dangerous, he is known to be violent. Others verbs in this category
are believe, feel, presume, report, say, understand. Note that with say the
infinitive structure is only possible in the passive. Compare: they say that he's
famous in his own country. Not. they say him to be famous..., he is said to be famous
in his own country. With the other verbs in this group too, the that structure is more
common than the infinitive structure in active sentences.

3. A few verbs are followed, in the active, by an object and an infinitive without to.
Examples are hear, help, make, see. In the passive, the to-infinitive is used.
Compare: I saw him come out of the house, he was seen to come out of the house,
they made him tell them everything, he was made to tell everything.

07. VERBS ACTIVE IN FORM BUT PASSIVE IN SENSE.

Transitive verbs are sometimes used in a passive sense without being put in the
passive voice:

Verbs with a complement. the stone feels rough (it is rough when it is felt), honey
tastes sweet (it is sweet when it is tasted), the milk smells sour (it is sour when it is
smelt), your blame counts for nothing (it is worth nothing when it is counted), your
composition reads well (it sounds well when it is read), the house does not let (it is
not taken when it is meant to be let), the cloth will wear thin (it will become thin when
it is worn), the horse does not sell (it is not taken when it is meant to be sold).

Verbs without a complement. the trumpets are sounding (=they are being
sounded), the cannons are firing (=the cannons are being fired), the house is
finishing, the book is printing, the drums are beating, the cows are milking. The best
supported opinion about this is that what looks like a present participle is in reality a
gerund with the preposition on/in omitted: this house was three years on building
(being built). Others, however, think that it is a real active participle used in a passive
sense.

08. PASSIVE VERSUS ACTIVE INFINITIVE.

The active form of an infinitive can be transformed into its corresponding passive
form. The normal thins is that the active form denotes active content and the passive
form passive content: I like to teach - I like to be taught but we have certain
irregularities in the use of the infinitive as far as content is concerned. Let us see:

1. A number of cases where the active form can have a passive content. This is the
case when the infinitive comes after verbs like be/leave/remain. EX: there are two
houses to be built/ the house is to let.

2. In many cases only one form is idiomatic, either the active or the passive one, for
passive content: the key was nowhere to be found/ the causes were not far to seek/
the house is to let/ you are to blame (=the fault lies with you)/ these tablets are to be
kept out of the reach of the children; the passive infinitiveis common in notices and
instructions.

3. In other cases there is vacillation between the active and the passive form for
passive content. In spoken English the shorter form is usually preferred in some
cases: there was no time to lose/ be lost --- a lot of work to do/ be done --- nothing to
fear/ to be feared. Occasionally a slight difference in meaning between the two
constructions may be observed: there was nothing to see (=nothing worth seeing)/
there was nothing to be seen (=nothing one could see).

4. The active form of the infinitive with passive content is found as the complement of
many adjectives; note in particular difficult/ easy/ hard. The passive form of the
infinitive is here infrequent: the food was not fit to eat/ there remains some questions
difficult to answer.

09. THE GERUND USED WITH PASSIVE MEANING.

The gerund always replaces the passive infinitive after need/ want/ require/
deserve (all verbs that are followed by the infinitive in an active sense): the matter
requires going into, my shoes want cleaning/ this room needs redecorating.

Some gerunds can have an active and a passive meaning. Both the passive and
the active meaning are found together in: she deserved punishing for punishing me.
The passive meaning is found in: the tale did not lose anything in the telling. This
passive meaning was formerly more frequent than now.

10. PERFECTIVE VERBS.

Perfective verbs are verbs which refer to actions that produce a finished result. For
example, cut, build, pack, close are perfective verbs; feel, live, speak and run are
not perfective.

The past participle of perfective verbs, and their passive tenses, can have two
meanings. They can refer to the action, or they can describe the result (rather like
adjectives).

Consider the sentence: the theatre was closed. This can have two meanings: the
theatre was closed by the police on the order of the mayor; when I got to the theatre
I found that it was closed. In the first sentence, closed is the opposite of opened; it
refers to an action. In the second, closed is the opposite of open; it refers to a state,
not an action, and is more like an adjective.

The present perfect is often used to talk about the results of actions (for example:
I've packed the cases). With perfective verbs, a present passive often gives the
same meaning as a present perfect passive. For example: The cases are packed
(=have been packed), the vegetables are all cut up (have been cut up), I think your
ankle is broken (=has been broken).

11. USING THE PASSIVE FORM WITHOUT THE AGENT.

We make a person or thing the subject of a passive form of the verb when we want
to focus on that person or thing affected by the action, which would be the object of
an active form of the verb. Thus, the passive voice allows us to talk about an event
from the point of view of the thing or person affected, and even to avoid mentioning
who or what was responsible for the action. Using the passive form of the verb gives
us the option of not mentioning the person or thing called the agent of the action.

We can avoid mentioning the agent of the action for one of the following reasons:

1. we do not know who or what the agent is: she was murdered in London; the
wall was removed four years ago.

2. it is not important who or what the agent is: we were told that it might rain
tonight; the letter should be written before ten o'clock.

3. the active subject is self-evident from the context: he was elected Member of the
Parliament last year; he had to be treated in hospital.

4. we have already mentioned the agent: the doctor came in and Tom was treated
at once; the king responded quickly and new measures were passed.

5. the agents are people in general: many cakes are bought on Sunday;
Western films could be seen in the morning.

6. we wish to conceal the agent's identity or to distance ourselves from our own
action: they were told to wait for us at seven; the castle will be destroyed at
dawn.

We use the passive and we do not mention the agent in accounts of processes and
scientific experiments because the focus is on what happens and not on who or what
makes it happen. the process is very easy, water is put in jars and the jars are
heated then ...

The passive form of reporting verb is often used in an impersonal structure with it,
when it is clear whose words or thoughts you are giving or when you are giving the
words or thoughts of people in general. It was said that the Prime Minister was in
love; it is thought that some officials have submitted to blackmail.

The use of the "indefinite pronouns" someone/ something allows us to mention an

agent, without specifying who or what they are. We know something has been
decided, someone has been seen near the wall.

12. THE PASSIVE IN SPANISH.

The use of the passive is avoided in Spanish because in most cases an impersonal
expresssion will be more natural. To the English my dog was stolen corresponds
the Spanish me robaron el bolso. The overuse of the passive in Spanish in recent
years is owed to the influence of English and should be considered an anglicism
and be done away with.

Both in Spanish and English the passive voice are generated in the same way, with
be followed by the past participle of the verb and with the change of subject and
object, with optional omission of the by-phrase where the agent is found. La película
fue vista por los niños - the film was seen by the boys.

But the passive voice differ in the following points:

1. The passive voice in English, as we have already seen, is very frequent and highly
productive in formal style and in writing, but in Spanish is not frequent and less
productive for several reasons:

a. Spanish uses the active more than English when the agent is not expressed in
sentences such as: vendieron libros - books were sold.

b. in Spanish the pronoun se is used with a passive function as in se construyeron

muchas cosas, though this construction does not occur in English.

c. the Spanish construction estar + adjective (including past participles) is used if

an event is over and only its results are being noted: la estatua fue destruida; la
estatua estaba destruida - the statue was destroyed.

2. The participle agrees in number and gender with the subject in the Spanish
passive, since Spanish distinguishes these categories in participles. This does not
happen in English as the participle has always the same form.

3. be is the usual auxiliary verb to form the passive in English but there are two more
verbs which may be used as auxiliaries in some constructions in the passive: these
two verbs are get/ become. the verb ser is the only auxiliary verb of the passive in
Spanish. the boy got hurt.
4. There are some verbs such as give/ teach/ show which can have an indirect
object as well as a direct object in an active clause and either object can be the
subject of the passive clause. We can say: he gave the receptionist the key - the
receptionist was given the key & the key was given to the receptionist. In
Spanish only the direct objects can become subjects in the Spanish passive: la llave
fue dada al recepcionista.

5. We can only use transitive verbs in the Spanish passive but the English passive
can use some intransitive verbs which may be used as causatives; many of these
verbs are intransitive phrasal verbs such as: act on, aim at, deal with, hope with,
plan for, play with, relly on, refer to, see to, talk to. He asked if such a boy
could be relied on to keep it.

USE OF THE IMPERSONAL ⋅SE⋅ IN SPANISH.

The Spanish pronoun se functions as a reflexive whether with passive or with

impersonal character; when it functions this way, we call the construction pasive
refleja: se construyeron muchos edificios; la nieve se derrite cuando hace
calor; se dijo que iríamos en tren.

In these sentences the verb is in connection with the pronoun se + a subject; this
subject agrees with its verb in number. This construction does not exist in English
but it could be termed reflexive ⋅se⋅ in agent deletion. There are several ways to
translate this construction into English:

1. by means of a non-agentive passive with be + participle: English is spoken in

this shop. The Spanish sentences with the impersonal form se dice are translated
into English with the use of it: it is said that many houses are being built.

2. we can translate it with the verbs get/ become + participle: the boy got dressed
quickly.

3. we can use an intransitive construction: the window was opened, snow melts
easily.

There are some sentences in Spanish which have no expressed subject and they
can be classified as impersonal refleja: se trabaja poco en verano.

We have sentences with no subject in Spanish but this does not happen in English
because we cannot have a sentence without a subject. So we must try to find a
subject with an indefinite reference and we can do it in several ways:

1. we can translate the indefinite agent with one/ people/ the personal pronoun you
with an impersonal function: you have to study hard every day; a person can find
a better job in London.

2. we can translate the construction with impersonal sentences too: there are
always many parties before Christmas.
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