HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

= ==== =

FINAL EXAM
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH METHODS IN ENGLISH

SUBJECT NAME:
COMMON ERRORS IN THE USE OF PASSIVE TENSES
MADE BY STUDENTS AT HANOI PEDAGOGICAL
UNIVERSITY 2

Supervior: NGUYỄN VĂN ĐEN

Prepared by: NGUYỄN THU HẰNG
Msv: 207220201024
Class: K46A – ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Ha Noi, 2022
 ABSTRACT
In the process of learning English, especially learning grammar, learners often
make mistakes when converting active sentences into passive sentences. In order
to indicate the cause and extent of the problem and find the best solutions to
overcome as well as serve the learning and teaching work, the research entails
researching the function and meaning of the passive sentence, the relationship
between active and passive sentences, and conduct a survey to analyze errors.

Research results have shown that most of the errors leading to the formation of
false passive sentences come from mistakes in tense, making it difficult for
students to do exercises on converting passive sentences. On the basis of the
error types and causes indicated, several related solutions have been proposed.
Besides, some types of special cases that cause difficulties for students while
studying have also been given for reference. Therefore, this research has
important implications for all English learners.
 ABBREVIATIONS

S Subject

V Verb

O Object

V3/ed Verb in column 3 or add “ED”

V2/ ed Verb in column 2 or add “ED”

V_ing Verb adding "ING"

V inf (infinitive) Unconjugated infinitive

Modal verbs Can/ could/ may/ should/ have to/ must.

Etc Et Cetera
TABLE OF CONTENTS
 PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

I. Rationale

In the current process of globalization integration, in most countries around the

world, English is the most commonly used language after the mother tongue.
Without a good foundation in English, it will be difficult for future generations
to catch up with new trends in the world, and the development of technology,
and lose job opportunities. Therefore, learning English is essential.

English subject in Vietnam is also becoming more and more important, being
good at English helps students have many advantages in work as well as study.
And learning the grammatical structure of sentences in English is a basic but
especially important first step in the process of learning foreign languages in
general and learning English in particular. No matter how much vocabulary is
remembered, if the grammatical structure is wrong, the sentence cannot be
complete, and if the student does not understand the grammatical structure, it
will be difficult for learners to use sentences in English.

Grammar plays an essential role in learning a language in general and in learning

English in particular. To learn English well, in addition to many other factors,
learners need to master the basic grammatical phenomena. One of English's basic
and relatively common grammatical phenomena is the passive sentence form.
However, in the process of studying and researching, I found that when
converting from active to passive sentences, learners often make mistakes when
changing "tense", causing difficulties for learners and also one of the obstacles,
the biggest concern for English learners. Therefore, we have chosen the topic
"Errors in tense when changing active sentences to passive sentences".

II. Research objectives

The study is aimed at achieving the following two goals:

1.Clarifying mistakes in tense when changing from active sentences to passive

sentences, analyze and point out the difficulties that learners often face when
doing this type of exercise.

2.To find the best solution to the problem under study. Solutions to help students
be confident in applying the passive voice to their work correctly, and at the
same time improve their scores in tests and exams, and minimize students'
mistakes in form change tense in English passive sentence.

III. Research subjects

- "Tense" error in English passive sentences.

IV. Research scope

The general research area of the paper is the mistake of tense in the passive
sentence. Identify the types of mistakes that students often make, analyze the
causes of errors and offer appropriate solutions.

The subjects of the study were students. The research topic is to serve the
teaching of teachers as well as the learning of English grammar for students.

V. Research tasks

As specified in the research topic, the research work involves fulfilling a number
of tasks:

1)Research the reasons why students make mistakes easily when doing this type
of exercise.

2)Clarifying the steps when changing from active to passive.

3)Studying cases of errors about tense when converting passive sentences to
active sentences, including special cases.

4)Conduct a survey to see the level of error and identify the types of errors. On
the basis of research results, find the best solutions to limit students' errors
related to when converting active sentences to passive sentences.

VI. Research method

For the purpose of pointing out mistakes in English passive tenses and finding
the best solution to the research problem, the research method is information
gathering, in which document research is the main method. The supporting
method is to create a survey and set up a google form. There are also methods of
information processing and the comparative method.

VII. Significance of the proposed research

This study points out mistakes in tense while converting active sentences into
passive sentences, and with the help of a survey, it is possible to identify error
types and causes.

The first implication of this study is that any English learner can refer to the
solution provided by the research and they can reduce their errors when doing
grammar exercises.

The second implication is that with the support of the study, English teachers are
provided with more information about the types of errors and causes involved in
the transformation and the solutions to the problems. Therefore, in the process of
teaching, teachers find ways to overcome difficulties and effective methods to
help students learn English grammar better.

VIII. Design of the research work

The research work has three main parts, including Introduction, Investigation,
and Conclusion. The part “Investigation” consists of two chapters. Chapter one
is entitled “Theoretical Background”. It has four sections. The first part
introduces passive sentences and shows the relationship between active and
passive sentences. The second part deals with the types of sentences when
changing into the passive voice of thirteen types of tense, with examples for each
type and special cases. The third part is about the steps when changing from an
active to a passive sentence and part four is to point out the mistakes when
changing from an active to passive, including reasons and mistakes.

Chapter two is called solutions for students' mistakes. It has four parts. The first
part is devoted to pointing out the solutions that other studies have suggested.
The second part is to evaluate the effectiveness of the solutions mentioned
above. The third part is to outline the solutions that we propose based on the
survey and the results of the survey. The final part is to evaluate the
effectiveness of the above solutions based on the obtained results.
 PART TWO: INVESTIGATION

CHAPTER ONE

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

I-LITERATURE REVIEW IN BRIEF

Regarding the English passive, they have been studied by many researchers such
as:

The first is the research paper "On errors when using the passive voice in English
by non-linguistic students at Hong Duc University" written by T.S. Nguyen
Thanh Minh and presented at Hong Duc University in Thanh Hoa in 2021.
Identify the specific errors that students frequently make while utilizing passive
sentences. In it, the author discussed the error of verb tense in his research and
presented a few explanations as to why it happens, such as habit. Particularly if
the tenses are the same in the present, past, and past participle tenses, students
frequently retain the "tense" when converting or students still do not recognize
the "tense" of the verb. This is one of those studies that are quite detailed and
useful for everyone.

Following Ria Adriyani's study project at Pamulang University in Banten,

Indonesia, on "Analysis of errors in active and passive sentences about students'
writing" in February 2019, we have discovered and thoroughly detailed the faults
made by students in active and passive phrases. In March 2018, grade 12
students from a number of public high schools in Indonesia conducted this study
using a qualitative methodology. And as a result, the majority of students
confirmed that they made more errors in active sentences than in passive
sentences. Additionally, this study discussed the problem with the passive
sentence's "tense" issue and offered a fix. Similarly, the study "Grammatical
errors of students when composing English passive sentences" published on
November 29, 2020, by authors Siska Bochari, Afrillia Anggreni, and Maf'ulah
mentioned the structures of the passive sentence. Besides, pay attention to the
use of "tenses" in passive sentences to avoid making mistakes. This
comprehensive study has brought new breath to us and also made us review the
grammar knowledge we have learned.

Alternatively, the study "Error Analysis in Using Passive Voice" by Sukmawati

Yasim and Hasnawiah Hasnawiah of the Faculty of Teacher Training and
Education, Roni of Universitas Sulawesi Barat, Indonesia, carefully examined
the errors that learner students make while using passive sentences. With a
qualitative study paradigm, the goal is to discover and identify typical errors that
students make when writing passive sentences in the simple past tense, as well as
to determine the reasons why these errors occur. describe. The author has
collected data using three methods: observation, interview, and test, and has
gotten incredibly thorough results. This study includes extensive details on
passive sentences and passive sentence tenses.

In addition, the research paper "An analysis of grammatical error in writing

procedural text by vii the grade junior high school students" by Rupina
Holidazia, Mataram University, written in 2016 analyzed some errors in the
passive tense. In particular, the author has clearly pointed out why students often
make such mistakes as some previous authors. The typical reasons mentioned by
the author are: forgetting to conjugate verb tenses, not knowing the basic
"tenses", or irregular verbs of simple past tense... In detail, we can refer to and
apply some suggestions that the author gave earlier.
Research paper “An error analysis on changing active voice into passive voice”
by H. Abdul Qodir. The purpose of this study is for learners to know the types of
errors when changing from active sentences to passive sentences, specifically 4
types of errors omission, addition, wrong order of sentences, and errors in
sentence formation. Based on 5 tenses: present simple, present continuous, past
simple, past perfect, and future. Among them, the present continuous has the
most number of mistakes. The study has provided useful information for English
learners about mistakes so that learners can be aware of and avoid making them.
Provide more detailed instructional materials for teachers.

Research paper “An error analysis on changing active voice into passive voice”
by H. Abdul Qodir. The purpose of this study is for learners to know the types of
errors when changing from active sentences to passive sentences, specifically 4
types of errors are omission, addition, misordering and misinformation. Based on
5 tenses: present simple, present continuous, past simple, past perfect and future.
Among them, the present continuous has the most number of mistakes. The
study has provided useful information for English learners about mistakes so that
learners can be aware of and avoid making them. Provide more detailed
instructional materials for teachers.

II. Passive voice

II.1. Define

Passive voice is a sentence where the subject is the person or thing affected by
the action, used to emphasize the object affected by that action. The tense of the
passive sentence must follow the tense of the active sentence.

II.2. The characteristics

• When we change the sentence from active to passive voice, the object becomes
the subject.

• We can use sentences with only transitive verbs in the passive voice. That is,
we can change the sentences having objects into this voice.

• This form may or may not tell clearly about the actor who has done it.

• We should add ‘by’ in a sentence to make clear the action, who has done it.

II.3. The relationship between active and passive sentences

The relationship between a verb and the subject and object it is related with is
referred to as voice.

• Active voice: the sentence's subject performs the action on the action's target.
The subject of a sentence is followed by the verb and then the object of the verb
(e.g., “the children ate the cookies”).

• Passive voice: the target of the action is the main focus, and the verb acts upon
the subject. The object of the verb is followed by the verb (usually a form of “to
be” + past participle + the word “by”) and then the subject (e.g., “the cookies
were eaten by the children”). If the subject is omitted (e.g., “the cookies were
eaten”), it may result in confusion about who performed the action (did the
children eat the cookies, or was it the dog?).

When writing about people's actions, use the active voice as often as possible to
create straightforward, clear, and succinct phrases. When discussing an
experimental setup, for example, it is more crucial to focus on the recipient of an
action than on who conducted the action.

III. Types of sentences when changing to passive sentences

III.1. Thirteen tenses and examples

Present Active form: Passive voice: Example:

Present S+ V(s/es) + O S + am/is/are + My sister does the
Simple V3/ed + by O homework
everday.
->The homework
is done everyday
by my sister.

Present S + is/am/are + V-ing S + is/am/are + Nam is cutting his

Continuous + O being + V3/ed + by hair at the
O moment.
->The hair is being
cut at the moment
by Nam.

Present S + have/has + P2 + S + have/has + been My younger sister

Perfect O + V3/ed + by O has broken flower
vase .
->The flower vase
has been broken by
my younger sister.

Present S + have/has + V-ing S + have/has + being My grandparents

Perfect +O + V3/ed + by O have been
Continuous decorating the
 house in Tet
holiday.
->The house has
being decorated in
Tet holiday by my
grandparents.

Simple S + V2/ed + O S + was/were + The dog bit the cat

Past V3/ed + by O yesterday.
->The cat was
bitten yesterday by
the dog.

Past S + was/were + V- S + was/were + I was watching TV

Continuous ing + O being + V3/ed + by when my mother
O cooked.
->When my
mother cooked,
TV was being
watch by me.

Past S + had + P2 + O S + had + been + When I woke up

Perfect V3/ed + by O this morning, my
sister had done her
homework.
->The homework
 had been done by
my sister when I
woke up this
morning.

Past S + had + been + V- S + had been being I had been thinking

perfect ing + O + V3/ed + by O about the problems
continuous before you
mentioned it.
->The problems
had been being
thought by me
before you
mentioned it.

Simple S + will + V-inf + O S + will be + V3/ed Nam will buy this

Future + by O dress for his mom
tomorrow.
->This dress will
be bought for his
mom tomorrow by
Nam.

Future S + will + have + P2 S + will + have + I will have finished

Perfect +O been + V3/ed + by this homework
O before 7 o’clock
 this evening.
->The homework
will have been
finished before 7
o’clock this
evening by me.

Near future S + am/is/are going S + am/is/are going Mai is going to

to + V-inf + O to + be + V3/ed + by take some pictures
O in the garden
tomorrow.
->Some pictures
are going to be
taken in the garden
tomorrow by Mai.

Future S + will + have + S + will have been Nga will have been
Perfect been + V-ing + O being + v3/ed + by living at this house
Continuous O for 2 days by the
end of next week.
->This house will
have been being
lived for 2 days by
the end of next
week by Nga.
 Modal S + Modal verb + V- S + Modal verb + be She can draw a
verbs inf + O + V3/ed + by O beautiful picture.
->A beautiful
picture can be
drawn by her.

NOTE:

With the verb "need" there are two passive forms as follows:

Case 1:

Need + to + be + participle verb (used with subject of person or thing)

Eg:

She needs to be washed her hair immediately.

Case 2:

Need + V-ing (used with subject of object)

Example: The wheels need replacing.

III.2. Some special cases

III.2.1. Passive sentence with two objects

In English, many verbs can be followed by two objects (for people and things) in
the form: V + somebody + something
To convert this sentence into the passive, there are two different ways, by
choosing one of the two objects at the beginning of the sentence to be the
subject.

Active voice Passive voice

S + V + O (indirect) + O (direct) Way 1: S + be + VpII + O (direct)
Way 2: S + be + VpII + preposition +
O (indirect)
Example: My father gave me a phone Example 1: I was given a phone by my
for my birthday. mother for my birthday.
Example 2: A phone was given to me
by my mother for my birthday.
III.2.2. Passive sentences with V-ing

Special passive with V-ing

In English, there are verbs often used with V-ing such as: like, dislike, love,
fancy, enjoy, hate, imagine, involve, admit, regret, deny, avoid, mind, etc.

The formula for the passive voice of verbs with V-ing is as follows:

Active Passive
V + Somebody + V-ing V + something/somebody + being +
VpII
Example: We like eating a lot of Example: We like a lot of vegetables
vegetables. being eaten.
III.2.3. Passive sentences with perceptive verbs

Perceptive verbs such as: see, hear, watch, notice, look, etc in the active sentence
when changing to the passive form will apply the following formula:

Active Passive
S + V + Somebody + V-ing/to V-inf Somebody + be + VpII + V-ing/to V-
inf
Example: Joe saw him leaving the Example: He was seen leaving cinema
cinema. by Joe.
III.2.4. Passive sentence "Double"

Double passive sentence structure

Some common verbs in double passive sentences are: say, think, believe,
understand, expect, know, consider, find, etc.

Case 1: V1 (Active Sentence) divided in present simple, present continuous,

present perfect.

Active Passive Example

S1+ V1 + that + S2 + V2 It is + V1-VpII+ that + People believe that he is

S2 + V2 very rich.
→ It is believed that he
is very rich.
S1 + V1 + that + S2 + V2 S2 + is/am/are + V1-
VpII+ to + V2 (inf) He is believed to be
→ Used when V2 in the very rich.
active sentence divides
 the present simple or the
future simple.
S1 + V1 + that + S2 + V2 S2 + is/am/are + V1-VpII Joe thinks that her father
+ to have + V2-VpII bought a new house.
→ Used when V2 in an → Joe’s father is thought
active sentence divides to have bought a new
the past simple or the house.
present perfect.
Case 2: V1 (Active Sentence) divided in past simple, past continuous, past
perfect.

Active Passive Example

S + V1 + that + S2 + V2 It was + V1- VpII+ that + People said that the new
S2 + V2 teacher was very kind.
→ It was said that the
new teacher was very
kind.
S + V1 + that + S2 + V2 S2 + was/were + V1-
VpII+ to + V2 (inf) → The new teacher was
→ Used when V2 the said to be very kind.
active sentence is in the
simple past tense.
S + V1 + that + S2 + V2 S2 + was/were + V1- People said that she had
VpII+ to + have + V2- been very thirsty.
part participle → She was said to have
been very thirsty.
III.2.5. Passive with imperative sentences

Imperative sentences starting with "It's" will be changed to passive sentences

according to the following formula:

Active Passive Example

It’s one’s duty to + V- S + to be + supposed to It’s your duty to
finish your homework
inf + V- inf
today.
⟶ You are supposed to
finish homework today.
It’s necessary to + V-inf S + must/should + be + It’s necessary to
solve traffic congestion.
V2/ed
→ Traffic
congestion should be
solved.
The command sentence S + must/should + be + Open the door, please!
⟶ The door should be
→ Verb + Object V2/ed
opened.
III.2.6. Passive sentences with structure: "Ask someone to do what?"

The passive voice is special in the sense of "Ask someone to do what?" often
appear two verbs get and have.

Active Passive Example

S + have + sb + V S + have + sth + V2/ed I have my
father repair my bag.
→ I have my
bag repaired by my
father.
S + get + sb + to + V S + get + sth + VpII She got her sister to
sweep the floor.
→ She got the floor
swept by her sister.
III.2.7. Passive sentences with Make and Let

Active Passive Example

S + make + sb + V-inf S + to be + made + to + They make me
V-inf do housework alone.
⟶ I am made to
do housework alone.
S + let + sb + V-inf Let + sb/sth + be V2/ed My parents let me
= be allowed to V-inf cook dinner.
⟶ My parents let the
dinner be cooked by
me.
⟶ I am allowed to
cook dinner.
III.2.8. Passive sentences with 7 special verbs

The passive sentence structure of suggest, order, require, demand, request,

insist, recommend is as follows:

Active Passive
S + suggest/require/request/… + that It + be + VpII (of 7 verbs) + that +
+ S + (should) + V-inf + O something + be + VpII
Example: He suggested that my son It was suggested that the outdoor
should take part in outdoor activities be taken part in by my son.
activities.
III.2.9. Passive sentences with pseudo-subject IT

Active Passive
 It + be + adj + for sb + to V + to do It + be + adj + for sth + to + be V3
sth
Example: It is impossible for us to Example: It is impossible for the
complete the exercise in 30 minutes. exercise to be completed in 30
minutes.
IV. Steps to move from active to passive sentences

* When to use passive sentences?

Case 1: Instead of focusing on the human doing an action, one places more
emphasis on the item it affects.

Example : The tree was cut by my father

Case 2: When the subject responsible for the action in the sentence is
unknowable, irrelevant, or unwilling to be mentioned.

Example: My laptop and phone were stolen.

In the example above, the speaker wants to convey that his laptop and phone
were stolen. Who caused the act of “stealing” may not be known. The passive
voice is used when we want to be more polite in some situations.

Note: In addition to the two situations listed above, we should prioritize utilizing
active phrases in everyday situations because doing otherwise would not sound
natural and could lead to misunderstandings on the part of the opposing party.

How many steps does it take to switch from an active sentence to a passive
sentence?

According to our research, when switching from active to passive sentences,

each person will have their own way of transitioning, be it 3 steps or 4 steps.
However, the most common and easiest to use formula for both students and
students we know of is the 4-step formula. Details are as follows:

Step 1: Identify the subject (S), verb (V) and precursor (O) of the active sentence
(This step is usually combined with step 2, but to make it more convenient for
the next steps we should take step 1 as a stepping stone)

Step 2: Translate the new language (O) of the active sentence into the subject (S)
of the passive sentence

Step 3: Identify the tense of the verb (V) in the active sentence, then proceed to
conjugate the verb "to be " to match the tense form for the passive sentence (the
verb movement to be passive as stated in section 2 above).

Step 4: Define the subject of the active sentence down to the new language of
the passive sentence and add "by " in front.

Note: In some cases we can omit ambiguous subjects such as: by people, by
someone, by a woman, by him, etc. In addition, the step of defining the tense of
the verb and conjugating the verb tense is the most important step and is easily
confused in the transition.
V. Mistakes when switching from active to passive sentences:

According to research by some teachers

*When switching from active to passive sentences, we often make some

common mistakes:

V.1. Conditions for switching from active sentences to passive sentences:

From the formula mentioned above we can see that the New Language (O) of the
active sentence becomes the Subject (S) of the passive sentence.

So, in the case of an active sentence without a neologism, we cannot convert it

into a passive sentence.

Example:

V.2, When translating from Vietnamese to English:

We should note that not every time we encounter the word "be" in Vietnamese,
we can also use passive expression, because the word "be" in Vietnamese has 2
different meanings.

Example:

In the passive sense: "The tree is cut down" –another entity has "cut down" the
tree, the passive tree.

In the active sense: "The tree is down"- the tree itself "falls", no object is
affected. Describe an unwanted action.

Therefore, the word "suffer" in Vietnamese has both active and passive
meanings, so we need to pay attention when switching from Vietnamese to
English.
On the contrary, we can see that in English we only use passive with passive
meaning, while with active we use active (active sentence).

Example:

1. The tree was chopped down.( Passive)

2. The tree fell: The tree fell (Active)

V.3. Use Antony(O) as an "adverbial phrase indicating place" in the active

sentence to change to the subject in the passive sentence:

V.4. The epilogue of the active sentence is a prepositional phrase that must
be transformed into the subject of the passive sentence.

Example: They must take care of books borrowed from the library. (Active )

Students frequently misunderstand and confuse the new language of the active
sentence in this situation. In this example, you will define "books borrowed" as
the subject of passive sentences => Books borrowed must be taken care of from
the library. (Passive). In this sentence the transliteration is wrong because "from"
is a preposition connecting "books borrowed" and "the library", grammatically
"prepositional phrase" is usually inseparable. To make the correct conversion,
we have to take the preposition "books borrowed from the library" as the subject
of the passive sentence.

Note: The adverb phrase for place should always be placed adjacent to By+O in
the passive sentence.

A. In case the sentence has relational pronouns:

For this genre is very complicated, they are often difficult to understand and do
not know how to do it right? Often the documents only have answers without
conversion formulas, the proof path to the result is not. In the process of
teaching, I helped students find solutions like this:

 It is necessary to distinguish between pronouns acting as neologisms and

adverbial phrases only when defining new words in active sentences.

In this case, if the student mistranslates incorrectly, it will determine the new
language of the wrong active sentence.

On the contrary, students often identify the new language in the wrong active
sentence, so they switch

 It is necessary to correctly place adverbs in passive sentences:

This part when doing the test, you are often confused about where to put it,
where to put it correctly?

The position of adverbs is usually placed as follows:

- Adverbs for activity are usually placed between Be + P2.

- Adverbs for places are usually preceded by By + O.

- Adverbs for time are usually after By + O.

Adverbs of place

Some students, because they do not understand the above rule, put adverbs in the
wrong place:

This restaurant is being built by Miss Hoa in the Park. (Passive – wrong)

Same rule above for adverbs indicating time.

B. When the subject of the active sentence is: Noone, Nobody,...

- When changing to passive we must use negative

C. It is necessary to distinguish the context for choosing a passive sentence:

For some verbs such as: enjoy, advoid, admit, finish, deny + V-ing (Active)/
being + P2.

– When doing assignments, if students do not distinguish the context of the

leading sentence, it is easy to mistake when choosing the answer, often choosing
the active form.

D. Note that the verb "get" is sometimes substituted for the verb "to be" in a
passive sentence:

E, avoid confusion when using the preposition "by" or "with":

– For multiple-choice exercises on choosing prepositions in passive sentences,

students should pay attention to the preposition "by" used to refer to the person
who caused the trigger.

CHAPTER II

ERRORS IN TENSE IN PASSIVE SENTENCES AND SOLUTIONS

In this study, we have given a specific survey about mistakes in the passive
sentences and applied questions for students. For 2 weeks, with the main subjects
being students majoring in languages, other majors and high school students.
The number of people participating in the survey was 81 people.

II.1.1: Purpose of survey

Purpose: to provide an objective evaluation of students' tense errors made when

moving between active and passive sentences through targeted application
questions to identify the fundamental errors that are simple to make. Provide
specific solutions concurrently by analyzing the results of the survey.

II.1.2: Types of survey:

For this study, we used an online survey through google form to evaluate the
results.

II.1.3: Construction of test:

The layout of the survey consists of 3 main parts:

Part 1: personal information (school and name, occupation: student and student)

part 2: mistakes you often make

part 3: application questions (related to tenses and other special cases)

II.1.4: Preparation for the survey:

We have organized all information on passive sentences, including their

description, examples, how to switch from active to passive sentences, and
common errors, in order to be ready for the survey. grammatical errors, incorrect
verb tenses, etc. in passive sentences. Analyze errors made while also posing
practical questions to help students solidify their understanding of passive
phrases.

II.1.4.1: Test items:

The questions applied in the survey are systematized as a multiple choice test.
The results will be saved and given a score corresponding to the number of
correct answers.

II.1.4.2: Arrangement of the test items:

The above survey is arranged in the following order: first, the personal
information of the survey participants, then the mistakes that students often
make, and finally 17 questions related to tenses. and special cases intermixed.

II.1.5: Administration of the try-out:

Like other surveys, the survey in our research paper was tested before being sent
to the survey subjects.

II.1.5.1: Preparation of the try-out:

The survey management department ran and checked the survey in terms of
content, form and results

II.1.5.2: Try-out:

After 2 weeks of surveying the target population, which included high school
students and college students, particularly those majoring in languages, we
obtained the findings.

II.1.6: Method of data analysis:

To analyze the data in the results obtained from the survey we have used some of
the following methods:

- Descriptive analysis

- Exploratory analysis

- Prescriptive Analysis

II.1.7: Result of survey:

According to the survey results, out of a total of 81 participants, the majority

were students and students. Students accounted for 71.6% of the total, with
students accounting for 27.2% and other subjects accounting for 1.2%.

The results also show that the majority of students frequently make mistakes
about 50.6%, or 41 people, the boss then makes a mistake about ordering 27.2%
or 22 people, the number of people making mistakes about the subject accounted
for 3.7% (3 people), and the other errors accounted for 18.5% (15 people).

To apply the exercise, we provide 17 questions for 190 points, two of which are
invalid. The points range from 80 to 180. On average, most students scored more
than 116.79. The remaining pupils received scores ranging from 20 to 140
points. For example, we can determine that the survey's question level is not too
difficult: The passive sentence is a tough knowledge category to master,
especially when it comes to verb tenses conjugation when converting.

The survey results also show that some students often answer wrongly about
errors about modal verbs (specifically after "need" uses the preposition "to +
PP"), the past perfect tense (missing by O), passive sentences with the verb "let".
Thereby, it is concluded that students are not only easy to make mistakes about
tense in passive sentences but also easily confused with other special cases.

II.2. Errors in tense in previous studies and reasons

2.1. Errors in thirteen tenses.

According to teacher Nguyen Thanh Minh's study, "Some Common Mistakes in

Using English Passive by Non-Major Students of English at Hong Duc
University," students frequently make the mistake of not changing the tense
when turning active sentences into passive ones. Instead, they maintain the tense
of the active sentences. Because certain words have the identical form in all three
present tenses—present, past, and past participle—students occasionally struggle
to identify the verb tense.

Example:

1. They have been building the house for a year.

False: The house had been built for a year.

True: The house has been built for a year.

2. My mother cuts this tree every morning.

False: This flower is cutten by my mother every morning.

True: This flower is cut by my mother every morning.

3. How many languages do they speak in England?

False: How many languages were spoken in England?

True: How many languages are spoken in England?

This mistake is often quite common and occurs in the types of sentence
conversion exercises that students do.

2.3. Special cases

The research also discusses the unique situation for phrases with several verbs as
well as instances where the second verb in the sentence contains the verb that
needs to be shifted to the passive, which frequently calls for a separate transition.

Example:

Active Passive
 Sb + be + seen/watched/heard/made +
To see/ watch/ hear/ make + sb + do sth
to do sth
To let sb + do sth To let sth + be + done
To have + sb + do sth
To have/get +sth +done
To get + sb + to do sth
To want/like +sb + to + do sth To want/like + sth + to be done

“For the above sentence types, students often make mistakes when using them.
In addition, sentences with difficult and special structures do not follow a certain
conversion pattern or translate into Vietnamese with phrases that are the subject
of an active sentence when written in the passive form such as "people"”.

Example:

1. People say that he was a good teacher.

False: It is say that he was a good teacher.

True: It is said that he is a good teacher.

2. She will get him to fix the car.

False: He will be got to fix the car.

True: She will get the car fixed.

2.3. Reason

Do not understand well about tenses in English

First, students frequently make mistakes and struggle to employ passive voice
phrases because they still do not fully comprehend English tenses.

Example:
False: Some flowers are picked yesterday.

True: Some flowers were picked yesterday.

Difficulties in identifying pronouns

The formula for active sentences is subject + verb + object. The subject is
relocated after the verb and the object is placed before it when a sentence
switches from being active to passive. When switching from an active to a
passive sentence, the active sentence's object becomes the passive sentence's
subject, and if the active sentence's object is an object pronoun, the passive
sentence's subject must be a pronoun. It is incorrect if the active sentence's object
does not shift to a personal pronoun in the passive.

Example:

He always sings a Chirstmas song. (Active voice)

A Chirstmas song is always sung by she (Student’s answer)

From the example above, the active sentence using the third person singular
should be changed to a personal pronoun as the object in the passive voice. The
personal pronoun that is the object of "he" is "him". Therefore, students need to
use "him" instead of "he".

Difficulties in using the auxiliary verb "be"

Students should understand that "to be" will be utilized when the item being used
as the new subject when changing active sentences into passive ones. Even some
students misuse the verb "to be."

Example:

The broken fans always repair by father (active sentence)

The broken fans is always repaired by father (student’s answer)

Difficulties in past participle

When students struggle to discern between utilizing the irregular form and the
regular form, they have trouble with the past participle. While the irregular form
requires students to learn the word change, the regular form is typically formed
simply adding "ed."

Example:

The first mechanical computer was invent by Charles Babbage in 1822.

A Christmas song is always singed by him.

Difficulties in arranging in the wrong order

Through analysis, wrong order occurs when students lack knowledge about order
in passive sentences or even the complete structure of active sentences. As a
result, the continents become meaningless because the position of the word is
wrong.

Example:

Active sentence:

His company co-operated a project through camera images.

S V2 O Prep Adv

Passive sentence:

Camera images were co-operated by his company. (Student’s answers)

S aux.Be V3 by O
It seems that the student tried to put the last word of the sentence as the subject.
They do not understand that the part that should be placed at the beginning of the
sentence as the subject is the object in the active sentence. Do not reverse from
back to top. This can lead to incorrect conjugations of tenses and verbs.

Difficulties in special cases

Using the fundamental form (be + V3), students convert active statements into
passive ones. When writing passive sentences, students err. This is due to the
fact that students still do not fully understand the roles played by the subject,
object, and adverb in a phrase.

Make active phrases passive by using the Perfect (have + been + V3) pattern.
The majority of the errors in this area are out of sequence, especially those that
involve where the subject and object are placed. Due to the fact that there are
two objects in the active phrase, it can be difficult for students to determine
which object belongs as the subject in the passive sentence.

To convert active sentences into passive ones, use the modal (modal + be + V3).
Students frequently make errors with this sentence form, such as putting the
words in the wrong order or overlooking the subject of the passive phrase. The
following error type stands out because of the omission. This variant is widely
used as a result of students' propensity to omit the preposition BY and
occasionally the auxiliary verb BE.

Making use of the Modal Perfection pattern (modal + have + been + V3),
convert active statements into passive ones. On this form, students make a
number of errors. By eliminating the auxiliary verb BEEN, they frequently omit.
Use the To-infinitive pattern (to + be + V3) to create a passive phrase. Because
students frequently alter their answers, this question frequently contains the kind
of miscommunication error that is prevalent.

Make a passive sentence using a non-finite sample (which is +V3). The primary
verb in this question has been changed from HAVE to GET, and the object has
been moved from the subject to the object, exhibiting the same misordering
problems as the previous one. Every student made the mistake of ordering things
the wrong way. The subject of a passive sentence is frequently misinterpreted by
students as being the object.II.3: Suggested solutions and exercises:

II.3.1: Solutions

The passive form is a challenging linguistic phenomena in English. To study the

passive form effectively, students must first understand a variety of other
fundamental grammatical concepts. In which students frequently make common
body-related blunders. As a result, we came up with some suggestions in the
hope that it will be a valuable document for students to avoid making those
mistakes throughout the exercise.

To begin, the most common error students make is failing to use the correct form
of the verb in the passive voice. To get around this, students must add the verb
"tobe" as well as the participle form of the main verb.

The second is that while utilizing the passive voice, pupils frequently mix up
verb tenses. Students must memorize the tense form's structure to prevent
making this error.
Students must observe verbs in phrases and differentiate between action verbs
and verbs of state in the third step. Passive sentences cannot be made from
sentences containing intransitive verbs.

The fourth tip is that while changing active phrases into passive ones, students
should be mindful of the auxiliary verbs they utilize. Make it obvious who is
performing the action. If in doubt, use the active voice.

The fifth is when pupils need to be proficient in theory, grammatical usage, and
each tense and form.

The sixth, students need to memorize the passive sentence formula and use it
fluently (from basic form to special form).

The seventh, students need to remember the past participle form of irregular
verbs.

The eighth, students need to master the diagram of conversion from active to
passive sentences

Finally, students need to pay attention to the position of the subject, predicate,
and object components in the sentence to conjugate verbs correctly.

II.3.2. Suggested exercise types

There are plenty of practice tasks for English's active and passive verb tenses in
grammar and test books. They could be used by the teacher to consolidate the
lessons the student has learned in the right way.

However, due to tenses being confused, Vietnamese students frequently make

mistakes when learning active and passive forms in English. Teachers must
therefore create particular types of exercises to get rid of them. The key error
types listed in the research article should be the focus of the exercise types.

Three types of exercises that an intermediate student can find useful are listed
below:

I. Rewrite the sentences, starting with the words provided

1. My grandmother is knitting a new sweater for me

 A new sweater …………………………………………

2. They will hold the meeting before May Day

The meeting …………………………………

3. People spend a lot of money on advertising every day

A lot of money ……………………………….

4. My boyfriend bought that gift in 2019.

That gift ………………………………….

5. My mother was feeding the dog at this time yesterday

The dog …………………………………………………

6. Brian had bought this washing machine in the supermarket.

This washing machine …………………………………

7. John has washed his car for 2 hours.

 John's car…………………………………………………..

8. We will have completed this assignment by the end of year.

 This assignment …………………………………………..

9. David will be washing dishes this time tomorrow.

 Dishes …………………………………………………….

10. We are going to buy her a gift.

 She ………………………………………………………..

11. The manager must sign the cheque.

 The cheque ……………………………………………….

12. I didn’t expect the police to find my car.

 I didn’t expect my car ……………………………………

13. We saw them go out of the house.

They ……………………………………………………..

14. He kept me waitting.

I …………………………………………………………

15. I remember somebody giving me a toy drum on my fifth birthday.

I remember …………………………………………………

16. People say that he is a good doctor.

 He ………………………………………………………………

17. Don’t touch this switch.

Let ………………………………………………………………

18. He won’t let you do that silly this again.

 You ……………………………………………………………..

19. You need to have your hair cut.

 Your hair ……………………………………………………….

20. We have just ordered someone to whitewash the ceiling.

 We ……………………………………………………………..

II. Supply the correct verb forms

1. He (go) ______out since 9 a.m.

2. My vacation in Ha Noi last summer (be) ______ wonderful.
3. Trang (walk)___________down the street when it began to rain.
4. I (go) ______ home after I (finish) ______ my work.
5. My sister ______ her hair every day (wash).

6. The airplane, which _______________ (operate) by Japan Airlines,

_______________ (fly) by an experienced pilot.

III. Select any correct options

1.We _____________to the remote village and _____________meals for

homeless children last year

A. come- cook

B. came- cook

C. came- cooked

D. come- cooked

2. When I last saw him, he _____ in London.

A. has lived

B. are living

C. was living

D. has been living

3. My brother ________ for you since yesterday.

A. is looking

B. was looking

C. has been looking

D. looked

4. Chuc _______ in the room right now.

A. am being

B. was being

C. have been being

D. am

5. I have never played soccer before. This is the first time I _____ to play.

A. try

B. tried

C. have tried

D. am trying
 PART THREE: CONCLUSION

Passive sentences have always been difficult for English learners, especially for
students who are learning English at the beginner to intermediate level. At this
level, students often make mistakes in changing active sentences into passive
sentences, especially mistakes with tenses and special forms of sentences.

The ultimate goal of this research paper is to clear up the outstanding

problems, analyze the grammatical errors, and find the best solution for them.

For the above reasons, the thesis has focused on tasks such as: studying the
function, and meaning of tenses in passive sentences in English and comparing
and contrasting to find solutions to overcome mistakes and progress. conduct a
survey.

From the results obtained in the thesis, the following conclusions can be
drawn for reference:

1) Most of the survey subjects are students, students, and learners who have
chosen the most common mistakes made in terms of tenses, then mistakes in
sentence order.

2) The fact that students often make mistakes with tenses is clearly shown in
the survey that we compiled earlier. Most of the errors are concentrated in the
unconjugated error "to be" and special forms of the passive voice such as
"have/get something done", the passive form with the reporting verb, and need...
3) Another error that is also a cause affecting students' wrong division is
misunderstanding the meaning of the sentence. The misunderstanding of the
sentence is because students are confused in determining the order in the
sentence, leading to the wrong identification of the subject and the wrong
conjugation of the verb.

To solve and overcome the above errors, we have together come up with the
most optimal and easy-to-apply solutions for most people as follows:

a) Master the theory, how to use grammatical structure and usage of each
tense, each form, and practice doing more exercises to memorize special forms.

b) Fluently use passive sentence formulas (including passive sentences of

modal verbs), master the transformation diagram and past participle of irregular
verbs.

c) Students need to be explained and clarified the structure or translated it

into Vietnamese with phrases that are the subject of a passive sentence in the
most basic form, how to use the subject when written in the passive voice as well
as how Change sentences from active to passive. Students need to know other
forms of sentences in the passive voice.

It is hoped that this thesis has made certain contributions to the practice of
learning and teaching English in Vietnam and will continue to do more in-depth
research on the "passive form" (about tenses and special cases). of it) from the
perspective of scientific research in linguistics. I have tried very hard to
complete this research paper, however certain errors will still be inevitable. I
would welcome comments and criticisms from readers.
 REFERENCES

Oleh: H. Abdul Qadir. (April 2006). An Error Analysis on Changing Active

Voice lnto Passive Voice.

Nguyễn Thanh Minh. (2014). Về những lỗi khi sử dụng thể bị động trong
tiếng Anh của sinh viên không chuyên ngữ trường Đại học Hồng Đức. Thanh
Hoá. Đại học Hồng Đức.

Ria Adriyani. (March 2019). An error analysis on active and passive voice
on student’s writing. Banten. Universitas Pamulang.

Siska Bochari, Afrillia Anggreni, Maf’ulah Maf’ulah. (December 2020).

Students' Grammatical Errors in Composing English Passive Sentences.
Indonesia. Tadulako University.

Sukmawati Yasim, Hasnawiah Hasnawiah, Roni Roni. (September 2018).

Error Analysis in using Passive Voice. Indonesia. Universitas Sulawesi Barat.

Rupina Holidazia. (2016). An analysis of grammatical error in writing

procedural text by VIIth grape junior high school students. University of
Mataram.

Zim Academy. (2021). Câu bị động (Passive voice) là gì? Công thức, cách
dùng và bài tập. Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Việt Nam.

Daythemvn. (2017). Một số lỗi mà học sinh thường mắc phải khi viết câu bị
động. Việt Nam.
 Vicky Fawzah, Rohani. (2018). Students’ difficulties in changing active
voice into passive voice in simple present tense and simple past tense. Indonesia.
Universitas Negeri Semarang.

Tiếng Anh mỗi ngày. Câu bị động (Passive Voice) trong tiếng Anh. Việt Nam.

APPENDICES

I. Passive sentence structure.

1. General structure:

Active sentence: S+V+O

Passive sentence: S + be + Vp2 + (by + O)

2. Details of each tense:

Passive sentence structure

Present simple S+is/am/are + Vp2 + (by + O)

Present continuous S + is/am/are + being + Ving + (by + O)

Present perfect S + have/has + been + Vp2 + (by + O)

Present perfect
S + have/has + being + Vp2 + (by + O)
continuous

Past simple S+was/were + Vp2 + (by + O)

Past continuous S + was/were + being + Vp2

Past perfect S + have/has + been + Vp2

 Past perfect continuous S+ had been being + Vp3 + (by + O)

Simple future S + will be + Vp3 + (by + O)

Future perfect S + will + have + been + Vp2 + (by + O)

Future perfect
S+ will have been + being + Vp2 + (by + O)
continous
Near future S+ am/is/are going to + be + Vp2 + (by+O)

Modal verb S+ Modal Verb + be + Vp2

II. Notes when using passive sentences.

Passive sentences are very common sentences used in English with simple usage.
So with just a little attention, we can completely avoid making unnecessary
mistakes:

• Verbs (such as cry, die, arrive, disappear, wait) are not used in passive form.

• When the active sentence has two new words, we can convert it into two
passive sentences or choose one of the two new languages as the subject but
prioritize the new language only people.

• For active sentences with both adverbs indicating place and adverbs indicating
time, switching to passive sentences positions the arrangement of adverbs must
follow the rule:

S+be + Vpp + location + by O + time

• Verbs: ask/ tell/ give/ send/ show/ teach/ pay/ offer... there are usually two
languages.
• When the subject in the active sentence is negative (no one, nobody, none
of ... ), then when we switch to a passive sentence, we conjugate the passive verb
in negative form.

III. Results of the survey.

Correct Incorrect
Questions
answer answer

Marry is going to write the book. 70,4% 29,6%

The grass (cut) yesterday. 60,5% 39,5%

People believe that the weather is changing

53,1% 46,9%
dramatically.

I see him bathing her dog now. 59,3% 40,7%

I sometimes see him go out. 53,1% 46,9%

Do they teach English here? 64,2% 35,8%

The manager made all the employees work

74,1% 25,9%
at the weekend.

Nothing will affect the result of the

64,2% 35,8%
competition.

The girls have to wear uniforms on Monday

56,8% 43,2%
and Friday.
I don’t have my watch. I’m _______ at the
45,7% 54,3%
shop.

We need to _______. They are really dirty. 54,3% 45,7%

The kitchen needs cleaning because it's been

54,3% 45,7%
a long time since we last cleaned it.

You needn't type this letter now. 37% 63%

They weren’t breaking television at 7

63% 37%
o’clock last night.

Did Marry draw pictures yesterday

61,7% 38,3%
morning?

After Mark had washed his clothes, he

48,1% 51,9%
studied.

My parents never let me do anything by

48,1% 51,9%
myself because I’m very careless.