Passive look-alikes

Some sentences with be followed by a past participle may look like passives when they are
in fact active sentences. In sentences like this, the past participle form is a participial
adjective. Eg: Susan was exhausted after the marathon. Susan is the subject, was VL,
exhausted subject complement and after the marathon is an optional adverbial.

However, the presence of a by-agent phrase indicates that the -ed form is verbal.
Conversely, the presence of a complement, such as a that-clause, indicates that it is
adjectival. Eg: Adjectival (active voice): I was delighted to meet you again. / Verbal (passive
voice): I was delighted by his compliments. We can turn this sentences into an active one:
His compliments delighted me.

The get passive

They are predominantly associated with verbs that emphasize actions or processes. It tends
to be limited to constructions without an expressed animate agent. The get-passive tends to
have an adversative nature, as it generally occurs with verbs from semantic categories
such as physical assault (get hit), transference (get snatched), and verbs of emotional or
mental strain (get punished). However, get passives can also express events that have no
adverse implication as well as actions that benefit the subject, as in “He got promoted”;
“He got paid.”

Get Passive Look-Alikes

We should be careful because sometimes the meaning of “get + -ed” can be active as in: I
got dressed as quickly as I could. As we can notice, get means “become” and it is followed
by a participial adjective; besides, these sentences cannot be changed into active
sentences.

Middle Voice
Ergative verbs or change-of-state verbs: changing the subject without using the passive.

Middle voice has characteristics of both active and passive voice. The verb form is the same
as in the active voice; the subject is the same as in the passive voice. In middle voice
sentences, there is no agent. Eg:

Active voice: The information changed public opinion.

Passive voice: Public opinion was changed by the information.
Middle voice: Public opinion changed.

We use ergative verbs to say that an action simply happens without an agent. Eg: The door
opened. (= ergative verb – as if the door opened by itself.) The difference between the
passive form and the ergative form of the verb is that the passive sentence suggests the
existence of an agent, even if the agent is not explicit. The verb used ergatively does not
permit an agent.
The following are situations in which agentless “change-of state” sentences are preferred to
passive sentences with an explicit or implicit agent:

1. When the focus is on the change of state, and the agent is irrelevant: The bank
closes at 5 p.m.

2. When the writer’s or speaker's objective is to create an aura of mystery or suspense:

We were sitting quietly after dinner when suddenly the door opened.

3. When the subject is something so fragile or unstable that it can break, change,
dissolve, and so on without any apparent intervention on the part of any agent: Left
hanging on the fence, the red balloon suddenly burst.

4. When it is natural to expect change to occur: The ice on the pond melted earlier than
usual.

5. When there are so many possible causes for a change of state that it would be
misleading to imply a single agent: Prices increased due to a variety of factors.

Classification of ergative verbs:

● Verbs which show changes of state: begin, break, burst, change, close, develop,
drop, dry, evaporate, finish, grow, increase, melt, open, spread, etc. Eg: The window
opened.

● Verbs of food and cooking: bake, boil, cook, defrost, fry, thicken, etc. Eg: The cake
is baking.

● Verbs of physical movement: move, shake, swing, turn, etc. Eg: The wheel turned.

● Verbs that involve vehicles: drive, fly, park, reverse, run, sail, etc. Eg: The car
drives well.