Passive Voice (Belajar English)

Passive Voice

v   Use of Passive

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.

In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.

Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.

In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).

v   Form of Passive

Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)

Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

ñthe object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence

ñthe finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)

ñthe subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)

v   Examples of Passive

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Simple Present	Active:	Rita	writes	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is written	by Rita.
Simple Past	Active:	Rita	wrote	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was written	by Rita.
Present Perfect	Active:	Rita	has written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	has been written	by Rita.
Future I	Active:	Rita	will write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will be written	by Rita.
Hilfsverben	Active:	Rita	can write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	can be written	by Rita.

 

v   Examples of Passive

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Present Progressive	Active:	Rita	is writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is being written	by Rita.
Past Progressive	Active:	Rita	was writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was being written	by Rita.
Past Perfect	Active:	Rita	had written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	had been written	by Rita.
Future II	Active:	Rita	will have written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will have been written	by Rita.
Conditional I	Active:	Rita	would write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	would be written	by Rita.
Conditional II	Active:	Rita	would have written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	would have been written	by Rita.

 

v   Passive Sentences with Two Objects

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.

	Subject	Verb	Object 1	Object 2
Active:	Rita	wrote	a letter	to me.
Passive:	A letter	was written	to me	by Rita.
Passive:	I	was written	a letter	by Rita.

.

As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.

v   Personal and Impersonal Passive

Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.

Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.

Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.

Example: he says – it is said

Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.

Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.

The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).

Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.

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TELLING PREFERENCES (belajar English)

Structure II

TELLING PREFERENCES

There are some ways we can use to show our preferences.  Using the following expressions we want to show our own preferences. Personally, we think that something or doing something is better than others, so we’d like to take it or to do it.

A.    Subject+like + noun/gerunds + better than + noun/gerunds.

-          I like reading better than writing.

-          My nephew likes apples better than watermelons.

-          My mother likes cooking better than washing.

-          We like drinking soft drinks better than wine.

B.     Subject +prefer + noun/gerunds + to + noun/gerunds.

-          I prefer an English Dept. to Clothing Dept.

-          Shelly prefers watching TV to listening to music.

-          I prefer studying to taking a walk.

-          She prefers watering the flowers to cleaning the bathroom.

C.    Subject+would prefer + to inf + than + to inf

-          My family would prefer to stay here than move to another town.

-          My boyfriend would prefer to accompany me than go to campus.

-          Linda would prefer to take an English course than (to take ) a computer course.

-          Mr Herry would prefer to go fishing than drive her wife to the mall.

D.    Subject+would rather + simple form of verb + than + simple form of verb

-          My parents would rather go to the beach than stay at home.

-          My father would rather read magazines than accompany us to the market.

-          The dog would rather eat meat than fruits.

-          Anton would rather drink Coca Cola than Sprite.

-          I would rather stay at home.

-          Deni would rather come with me.

E.     Subject+had better + simple form of verb.

-          You’d better go to the doctor about your cough.

-          You’d better not do that again.

-          We’d better meet early

-          You’d better marry her soon.

We also use “had better” to give a suggestion in which if the advice is not followed, something bad will happen.

-          You'd better do what I say or else you will get into trouble.

-          We’d better leave now or we’ll miss the train.

-          I'd better get back to work or my boss will be angry with me.

-          We'd better get to the airport by five or else we may miss the flight.

Exercise : Write sentences  to provide examples of telling preferences using the above ways. Write two sentences for each way.

Present Contrary to Fact

( Siti is absent today)

-          I would rather that Siti were present.

-          I would rather that Siti were not absent.

(Eko’s wife works in a different town)

-          Eko would rather that his wife worked in the same town.

(You do not agree with my opinion)

-          I ‘d rather that you agreed with my opinion.

Past Contrary to Fact

(Erika bought an expensive dress)

-          I would rather that Erika had bought a cheaper dress.

-          I would rather that Erika hadn’t bought an expensive dress.

Had better

We use “had better” plus the infinitive without “to”  to give advice. Although “had” is the past form of “have”, we use “had better” to give advice about the present or future.

·         You'd better tell her everything.

·         I'd better get back to work.

·         We'd better meet early.

The negative form is “had better not”.

·         You'd better not say anything.

·         I'd better not come.

·         We'd better not miss the start of his presentation.

We use “had better” to give advice about specific situations, not general ones. If you want to talk about general situations, you must use “should”.

·         You should brush your teeth before you go to bed.

·         I shouldn't listen to negative people.

·         He should dress more appropriately for the office.

When we give advice about specific situations, it is also possible to use “should”.

·         You shouldn't say anything.

·         I should get back to work.

·         We should meet early.

However, when we use “had better” there is a suggestion that if the advice is not followed, that something bad will happen.

·         You'd better do what I say or else you will get into trouble.

·         I'd better get back to work or my boss will be angry with me.

·         We'd better get to the airport by five or else we may miss the flight.

Had better

We use “had better” plus the infinitive without “to”  to give advice. Although “had” is the past form of “have”, we use “had better” to give advice about the present or future.

·         You'd better tell her everything.

·         I'd better get back to work.

·         We'd better meet early.

The negative form is “had better not”.

·         You'd better not say anything.

·         I'd better not come.

·         We'd better not miss the start of his presentation.

We use “had better” to give advice about specific situations, not general ones. If you want to talk about general situations, you must use “should”.

·         You should brush your teeth before you go to bed.

·         I shouldn't listen to negative people.

·         He should dress more appropriately for the office.

When we give advice about specific situations, it is also possible to use “should”.

·         You shouldn't say anything.

·         I should get back to work.

·         We should meet early.

However, when we use “had better” there is a suggestion that if the advice is not followed, that something bad will happen.

·         You'd better do what I say or else you will get into trouble.

·         I'd better get back to work or my boss will be angry with me.

·         We'd better get to the airport by five or else we may miss the flight.

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