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.
How do we make the passive?
The basic structure of a passive clause is very simple:
| subject | + | auxiliary verb be | + | main verb past participle | + | by | + | agent(optional) |
Use of the passive
When and why do we use passive voice?
There are several times when the passive voice is useful, and usually the decision has to do with the agent or the "receiver" of the action. For example, we use the passive when:
1. we want to emphasize the receiver of the action:
- President Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald.
2. we don't know who did the action (the agent):
- My wallet has been stolen.
3. the agent is obvious:
- I am paid weekly.
4. we want to avoid responsibility for our own actions (typically found in government reports):
- Mistakes were made and unfortunately never rectified.
How to make the Passive
We make the passive by putting the verb 'to be' into whatever tense we need and then adding the past participle. For regular verbs, we make the past participle by adding 'ed' to the infinitive.
Verbs with no passive voice
Verbs that cannot be followed by objects are called intransitive verbs
here are common intransitive verbs:
-appear -come -die - go -look -rain - stay
-arrive -cry -emerge -happen -occur -sleep -walk
Transitive nonpassive verbs verbs that can be followed by objects are called transitive verbs. Most transitive verbs have passive forms, but some do not. Notice how the passive form of fit does not make sense in english
active passive
the dress fits valerie. valerie is fit by the dress.
Verbs that are intransitive or transitive some verbs can be transitive or intransitive. When they are intransitive they do not have passive forms.
For example:
-begin -break -close -end -freeze -open -start -stop
active vs passive voice
passive voice in tv series
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario