The Grammatical Rule That Must Be Well Mastered

To Improve Communicating Skills

PASSIVE VOICE

# A Painless Study of Grammar

# Various Exercises Included

Ir. Raden Gunawan, M.Eng

 Table of Content

Foreword

1. Introduction

2. Tenses Review

3. Active vs Passive Voice

4. Rule 1: PV follows AV tenses

5. Rule 2: PV with two objects

6. Rule 3: Agent-emphasized PV

7. Rule 4: Position of adverb of manner

8. Rule 5: Preposition in PV

9. Rule 6: They say vs It is said

10. Rule 7: You have something done

11. Rule 8: Get robbed, get killed...

12. Rule 9: Man-made world, Nuclear-headed missile...

13. PV in the best seller book

References
 FOREWORD

To begin with, alhamdulillah, I very much thank Allah SWT for giving me a
chance and ability to finish this work on time. I should also thank all my
friends, my master degree classmates, for having shown me how to be a
good teacher. All the moments when we talked about something unimportant
but really ejoyable and discussed serious scientific matters were truly
unforgettable memories in my life.

My special thanks should go to Professor Ilzamudin Mamur whose

enlightening lectures and stories are inspiring and motivating. Many thanks
also go to my caring and loving family, my wife, my daughters, and my
grandsons for all the things I cannot mentioned one by one.
 1. Introduction
I was quite shocked one day when a friend of mine told me what he experienced
when he was still writing his first degree minor thesis. He said that his supervisor
forbade him from using passive voice in his work. If he found some passive
sentences in my draft, he would surely cross them out by using red pen, he said.
Having heard that story, I spontaneously responded, Wah, gak bener itu (That was
not true). I wont do that if I were your supervisor, I said to him.

With regard to the pasive voice, in 1968, Johnson-Laird, P. N. came up with a

hypothesis whether or not sentences in the passive voice emphasize the importance
of the things referred to by their grammatical subjects to a greater extent than
sentences in the active voice. The question is, then, does the passive means the
same as the active in English? Some linguists claim that it does, e.g. Kats & Postal
(1964) in Johnson-Laird (1968), and others, e.g. Chomsky (1957) in Johnson-Laird
(1968), that it does not. McMahon (1963) and Slobin (1966), as cited by Johnson-
Laird, have shown that the passive voice is harder to understand than the active; and
so, since the passive has not fallen into disuse, it is sensible to question whether it
exists for merely stylistic purposes. Johnson-Lairds experiment shows that a passive
sentence does not necessarily refer to exactly the same thing as its coresponding
active. Let us take the sentence Everyone knows some songs. This might logically
be understood to mean that the songs were not necessarily the same ones for
everyone. As opposed to that, the sentence Some songs are known by everyone
might mean that it was the same songs that were known.

In 2010, Dumin, Laura Marie mentioned that there were two main camps that
have been formed in the debate on the existence of passive voice. The first was
those who think that passive voice serves a purposeful function in scientific writing,
and the second was those who think that passive voice should be banished forever.
In concluding her dissertation, Dumin puts forward some recommendations to
English teachers. She says:

As teachers of writing, we need to pay attention to how the passive voice can
be used well. In order for us to be able to teach our students about using
language to their benefit, we need to understand that each discourse
community has its own ways of using language to produce a desired result.
 Instead of telling our students that the passive voice always has been and
always will be the choices of poor writers, we need to be able to explain to our
students why the passive voice might be better for some situations than for
others. Our students need to know that we practice what we teach... (Dumin,
2010, p. 124)

Having mentioned the above perspectives of passive voice researchers, it might

be sensible to say that passive voice is and will be still one of the most important
parts of English Grammar. Passive voice must be well comprehended and mastered
by English learners who intend to improve their communication performance.
Accordingly, this book chapter is focused on how and when to use passive voice
both in writing and speaking activities. The motto is Never hate passive voice, but
love and master it.

2. Tenses and Modal Auxiliaries Review

Before starting to discuss about passive voice sentences, a short review on
tenses and modal auxiliaries is quite a requisite. This is because one of the rules we
will see is that passive voice sentence will always follows the tenses and modal of its
corresponding active voice. For detailed explaination on the tenses and modals, it is
suggested that the readers should consult with the references provided at the end of
this chapter.

(1) Present continuous

Present continuous tense is also called present progressive tense. Here are
some exampels:

# Please dont make so much noise. Im studying.

# Lets go out now. It isnt raining any more.

# Is your English getting better?

 (2) Present simple

# Nurses look after patients in hospitals.

# What does this word mean?

# Rice doesnt grow in Britain.

(3) Past continuous

# This time last year I was living in Brazil.

# When Tom arrived, we were having dinner.

# What were you doing at ten oclock last night?

(4) Past simple

# Mr. Edwards died ten years ago.

# Was Tom at work yesterday?

# I very much enjoyed the party.

(5) Future tense

# That bag looks heavy. Ill help you with it.

# I wont tell John what you said. I promise.

# Will you please be quiet? Im trying to concentrate.

(6) Present perfect

# Jim has gone to Canada.

# Ive lost my key. Can you help me look for it?

# Tom is back in England now. He has been to Italy.

 (7) Present perfect continuous

# I ve been living in Serang for more than 10 years.

# Youre out of breath. Have you been running?

# How long have you been learning English?

(8) Past perfect

# When I got home, I found that someone had broken into my flat and had stolen
my fur coat.

# Im not hungry. Ive just had lunch.

# Ann had just got home, when I phoned her.

(9) Past perfect continuous

# I was very tired when I arrived home. Id been working hard all day.

# Ken had been smoking for 30 years when he finally gave it up.

# The football match had to be stopped. They had been playing for half an hour
when there was a terrible storm.

(10)Modal auxiliaries

(i) Can and Could

# You can see the sea from our bedroom window.

# My grandfather could speak five languages

(ii) Must, May and Might

# Nancy is yawning. She must be sleepy.

# If you want to get into the movie theater, you must buy a ticket.

# May I please borrow your pen?

# It might rain tomorrow.

(iii) Would and Should

# Would you please open the door?

# My clothes are dirty. I should wash them.

3. Active and Passive Voice

Active Voice Passive Voice

Nurses looked after patients in Patients were looked after by nurses

hospitals in hospitals

Silvia is learning English at the English is being learned by Silvia at

moment the moment.

People speak English all over the English is spoken all over the world
world

A cat will eat a mouse A mouse will be eaten by a cat

Have you washed your hair? Has your hair been washed?

The police had found the stolen car The stolen car had been found by the
police

People cannot build a new building A new building cannot be built near
near the bridge the bridge.

Students must return the borrowed The borrowed books must be

books in two weeks returned in two weeks.
 4. Rule 1: PV follows AV tenses

Rule 1: Passive voice will always follow tenses of the active voice and vice
versa.

Section 3 above shows how passive voice sentences always follow tenses of
the active voice sentences.

Exercise 1:

Complete the following passive voice sentences in the tenses suggested.

1. The Tower of London (formerly use) as a prison. Past

2. This exercise (do) very carefully. Present continuous

3. This picture (always admire). Present

4. Two of my dinner plates (break). Present perfect

5. This play (forget) in a few years time. Future

6. The bridge (build) last year. Past

7. My brother (never beat) at tennis. Present perfect

8. English (speak) all over the world. Present

9. Any question (ask) about me?. Past

10. These books must (not take away). Infinitive

11. I (punish) for something I didnt do. Past

12. The piano (play) far too loudly. Past continuous

13. The stolen car (find) in another town. Present perfect

14. The matter (discuss) tomorrow. Future

15. You (want) to help lay the table. Present.

 5. Rule 2: AV with two objects.
Rule 2: When the verb in the active voice takes two objects, it is more usual in
Englsih to make the PERSONAL object the subject of the passive voice. For
example:

Active voice : Someone gave me a book (the first object is me, and the second is a
book)

Passive voice : I was given a book.

Exercise 2:

Put the following sentences into the PASSIVE VOICE with a PERSONAL OBJECT:

1. When we first met, they had already offered me a job at the bank.

2. They requested the stranger to leave the meeting.

3. They had made my uncle a captain.

4. They asked the rest of us to be there at eight oclock.

5. The others told the new students where to sit.

6. Someone is showing Maisie how to bath a baby.

7. They gave my little sister a ticket, too.

8. People will show the visitors the new building.

9. They promise us higher wages.

10. Somebody will tell you what time the train leaves.

11. Someone has already paid the electrician for his work.

12. Someone taught him French and gave him a dictionary.

13. Somebody recommended me to another doctor.

14. Someone will read you another chapter next time.

15. They will allow each boy a second plate of ice-cream.

 6. Rule 3: Agent-emphasizing PV
Rule 3: Such active subjects as I, we, you, they, one, someone, nobody, people,
a man, a boy, the servant, etc., are very seldom worth mention in the passive
construction. See exercise 2. However, certain agents (that is those who do or did
the job or process) need to be emphasized. For examples:

(i) This poem is written by W. S. Rendra.

(ii) Yesterday I was given a bicycle by President Jokowi.

Exercise 3:

Put the following sentences into the PASSIVE VOICE:

1. A car ran over our dog.

2. A friend told me the news this morning.

3. Unkind remarks easily upset Maisie.

4. What questions did the examiner set?

5. Beethoven composed this piece.

6. A guide pinted out the Pyramids to me.

7. The police gave me $100 reward.

8. An unseen hand opened the window.

9. A friend lend me this book.

10. The stone struck him in the right shoulder.

11. The fire destroyed many valuable paintings.

12. A huge wave overturned the little boat.

13. Lions attacked the travellers.

14. The same man mended your shoes.

15. On my birthday, my Mom gave me a two-way ticket to London.

 7. Rule 4: Position of Adverb of Manner
Rule 4: In the PV it is more usual to put an adverb of manner immediately in front of
the past participle it qualifies. For examples:

(i) This chair is very well made.

(ii) The article has been beautifully written.

Exercise 4:

Put the following sentences into the Passive Voice.

1. The people of Cikoneng can speak four language equally fluently.

2. Someone can mend this door easily.

3. Advanced learners must master English Grammar very well.

4. Nobody has answered my question properly.

5. Somebody has brought this child up very badly.

6. Unkind remarks easily upset Dessy.

7. She will look after the little girl well.

8. Children cannot open the botlle easily.

9. The orchestra played that piece beautifully.

10. Somebody has cooked the food badly.

8. Rule 5: Preposition in PV
Rule 5: Prepositions or adverb particles must not be left out with verbs requiring
them. For example:

Active : They will look after you well.

Passive : You will be well looked after.

Exercise 5:

Put the following sentences into the Passive Voice.

1. We must look into this matter seriously.

2. You must work for success.

3. It is time they brought the cows in.

4. Nobody has slept in that room for years.

5. Somebody left the light on all night.

6. You must not throw away empty bottles.

7. No one has drunk out of this glass.

8. We ate up all the biscuits yesterday.

9. People were carrying the chairs out into the garden.

10. They turned my offer down.

9. Rule 6: They say = It is said

Rule 6: The passive form here only brings in another vague subject, the introductory
it. So we generally prefer the subject of the clause introduced by it as the subject of
the PV.

Active : People say that figs are better for us than bananas.

Passive (1) : It is said that figs are better for us than bananas.

Passive (2) : Figs are said to be better for us than bananas.

Note: Passive (2) is the best.

Exercise 5:

Put the following sentences into the PV.

1. People generally assume that money brings happiness.

2. People say tortoises live longer than elephants.

3. They said that black coffee was healthier than white coffee.

4. People say that soccer is much more attractive than tennis.

5. They say that Mandarin is more difficult than English.

10. Rule 7: You have something done

Rule 7: You cut your hair has different meaning from You have your hair cut.
The first means that you do it by yourself, while the later means that somebody else
does it for you.

Study the following situation:

Sarahs house was damaged during the long and hard winter. In the spingtime she
arranged for somebody to repair it. Last week a workman came and repaired it. So
Sarah had her roof repaired. This means: She did not repair that roof herself. She
arranged for somebody to do that job.

The formula is have/get something done if you want to say that something is not
done by yourself but by someone else.

Exercise 6:

Correct the following sentence if the job is done or to be done by somebody else.

1. When did you wash your car? It looks very clean.

2. I will cut my hair tomorrow at Pretty Salon.

3. She wants to clean her room.

4. My mother needs to iron her clothes.

5. I want to correct my homework.

 11. Rule 8: Get robbed, get stuck...
Rule 8: PV form On the way home, I was robbed can be changed to be On the
way home, I got robbed. So, Subject + tobe + Past Participle = Subject + get/got +
Past Participle.

Exercise 7:

Use get or got to change the following PV.

1. If you do not make decision, you will be stuck in the middle.

2. The lawyer was killed in an accident.

3. His brother was lost in London.

4. I hope my research report will be finished by the end of this month.

5. One government official was caught on the spot last night.

12. PV in the Best Seller Book

The following are some PV sentences that can be found in the Deepak Chopras
book The Future of God: A Practical Approach to Spirituality for our Times,
Harmony Books, New York, 2014.

1. For most people, religion is simply taken for granted. (p. 1)

2. At any given moment, someone in the world is amazed to find that the God
experience is real. (p. 8)

3. God is revealed as pure conciousness, the essence of who you are. (p.19)

4. In reality you are completely connected to God already, since we are talking
about the source of existence. (p.19)

5. Unbelief: In this stage a person is guided by reason and doubt. (p. 20)

6. A famous guru was once asked, How should I be your disciple? Should I
worship you?... (p. 22)
 7. The most virulent protests against God can be used to clear the mind of false
beliefs, paving the way for stonger faith. (p. 27)

8. Raw prejudice is spewed out all over the place, ... (p. 38)

9. Soon after he was transported to Auschwitz in May 1941, ... (p. 60)

10. The reality of Gos is hidden behind a fiction of God. (p. 74)

Exercise 8:

1. Put the above ten passive voice sentences into active vice.

2. Find other 10 passive voice sentences in the book, then put them into active
voice.
REFERENCES
1. Allen, W. Stannard, Living English Structure, Longman Group UK Limited,
London, 1987.

2. Azar, B. Schrampfer, Understanding and Using English Grammar, Third

Edition with Answer Key, Longman, New York, 2002.

3. Azar, B. Schrampfer, Fundamentals of English Grammar, Third Edition,

Longman, New York, 2003.

4. Chopra, Deepak, The Future of God: A Practical Approach to Spirituality for

our Times, Harmony Books, New York, 2014.

5. Dumin, Laura Marie, Changes in the Use of Passive Voice over Time: A
Historical Look at the American Journal of Botany and the Changes in the
Use of the Passive Voice from 1914-2008, Dissertation, Oklahoma State
University, 2010.

6. have/get something done (a English Grammar Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_tPpQCQnPY

7. Johnson-Laird, P. N., Shorter Articles and Notes the Interpretation of the

Passive Voice, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1968, 20:1, 69-
73.

8. No. 67 English Grammar Have something done, get smth done, want smth
done https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep4B4yu_OEc

9. Murphy, Raymond, Englsih Grammar in Use, Cambridge University Press,

Cambridge, 1987

10. Passive Voice Englsih Lesson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxbQ2U3Uuv0&t=48s

11. Swick, Ed, English Verb Drills, Mc Graw Hill, New York, 2009.

12. The Passive Voice: When, why, and how to use it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6pHfjH0Efg