Focusing on the thing affected: the passive voice

Focusing on the thing affected: the passive voice

8 Many actions involve two people or things-one that performs the action and one that is affected by the action. These actions are typically referred to using transitive verbs. Transitive verbs are explained fully in Chapter 3.

In English the person or thing you want to talk about is usually put first as subject of the clause. So, when you want to talk about someone or something that is the performer of an action (the agent), you make them the subject of the verb and you use an active form of the verb. The other person or thing is made the object of the verb.

However, you may want to focus on the person or thing affected by an action, which would be the object of an active form of the verb. In that case, you make that person or thing the subject of a passive form of the verb.

For example, you could report the same event by using an active form of a verb, as in 'The dog's eaten our dinner' or by using a passive form of a verb, as in 'Our dinner's been eaten by the dog', depending on whether you wanted to talk about the dog or your dinner.

Clauses which contain an active form of a verb are in the active voice and clauses with a passive form of a verb are in the passive voice.

9 Passive forms consist of an appropriate tense of 'be' followed by the past participle of the verb. For example, the passive form of the simple present of 'eat' is the simple present of' be' followed by 'eaten': 'It is eaten'.

She escaped uninjured but her boyfriend was shot in the chest and died.

He was being treated for a stomach ulcer.

He thinks such events could have been avoided.

For details of passive forms of verbs, see the Reference Section.

10 Using a passive form of a verb gives you the option of not mentioning the person or thing responsible for the action, often called the agent of the action.

You may want to do this for one of these reasons:

because you do not know who or what the agent is

He's almost certainly been murdered.

The fence between the two properties had been removed.

because it is not important who or what the agent is

I had been told that it would be perfectly quiet.

Such items should be carefully packed in tea chests.

because it is obvious who or what the agent is

She found that she wasn't being paid the same wage as him.

More people have been treated in hospital this year than at any time since the start of the Health Service.

because the agent was already been mentioned

His pictures of dogs were executed with tremendous humour.

The government responded quickly, and new measures were passed which strengthened their powers.

because people in general are the agents

Both of these books can be obtained from the public library.

It is very strange and has never been adequately explained.

because you wish to conceal the agent's identity or to distance yourself from your own action

The original has been destroyed.

She had been given instructions to moderate her tone.

The government was forced to say that the report would be implemented.

11 In accounts of processes and scientific experiments, the passive is used and no agent is mentioned because the focus is on what happens and not on who or what makes it happen.

The principle of bottling is very simple. Food is put in jars, the jars and their contents are heated to a temperature which is maintained long enough to ensure that all bacteria, moulds and viruses are destroyed.

12 The passive form of reporting verbs is often used in an impersonal 'it' structure, when it is clear whose words or thoughts you are giving or when you are giving the words or thoughts of people in general. See 45 in the section on impersonal 'it' structures.

It was agreed that he would come and see us again the next day.

It was rumoured that he had been sentenced to life imprisonment, but had escaped.

USACE NOTE 13 When people in general are the agents, an active form of the verb is sometimes used instead, with 'you' or 'they' as the subject. 'One' is used as the subject in this kind of clause in formal speech and writing.

You can't buy iron now, only steel.

They say she's very bright.

It is a matter of personal belief, like the colour of socks one prefers to wear or the television programmes one chooses to watch.

For more information, see the section on personal pronouns beginning at paragraph 1.9

You can also use the indefinite pronouns 'someone' or 'something'. This allows you to mention an agent, without specifying who or what they are. For more information about indefinite pronouns, see paragraphs 1.127 to 1.140.

I think someone's calling you.

Something has upset him.

Ergative verbs can also enable you to avoid mentioning the performer of an action. For example, instead of saying 'She opened the door', you can say 'The door opened'. See the section on ergative verbs in paragraphs 3.60 to 3.6

mentioning the agent with 'by' 14 When you use the passive, you can of course mention the agent at the end of the clause by using 'by'. But this puts emphasis on the agent, because the end of the clause is an important position, and so you often do this when you want to refer back to the agent in the next clause.

His best friend was killed by a grenade, which exploded under his car.

The defending champion, John Pritchard, was beaten by Chris Boardman.

This view was been challenged by a number of workers.

mentioning things or methods used 15 As with active forms of verbs, you can mention something that the agent used to perform the action after the preposition 'with'.

A circle was drawn in the dirt with a stick.

Moisture must be drawn out first with salt.

You can mention the method using an '-ing' form after 'by'.

Much of their strong taste can be removed by changing the cooking water.

passive of verbs referring to states 16 A few transitive verbs refer to states rather than actions. When some of these verbs are used in the passive, the agent is put after the preposition 'with'.

The room was filled with pleasant furniture.

The railings were decorated with thousands of bouquets.

Here is a list of transitive verbs referring to states which are used with 'with' in the passive:

However, 'by' is used with some verbs which describe a state.

The Melbourne meeting is likely to be overshadowed by the implications of the recent Ottawa economic summit.

Here is a list of transitive verbs referring to states which are used with 'by' in the passive:

Some verbs, such as 'adorn' and 'surround' can be used with 'with' or 'by' after them.

Her right hand was covered with blood.

One entire wall was covered by a gigantic chart of the English Channel.

The house was surrounded with tanks and policemen with dog.

The building was surrounded by a deep green lawn.

Here is a list of transitive verbs which can be used with either 'with' or 'by' in the passive:

There are also several verbs which are used with 'in'.

Douglas Hamilton's recommendations are contained in the report of a survey of African elephants carried out under his direction.

Free transport was not included in the contract.

The walls of her flat are covered in dirt.

Here is a list of transitive verbs which can be used with 'in' in the passive:

Note that 'cover' can be used with 'in', 'by' or 'with'.

17 Phrasal verbs which consist of a transitive verb followed by an adverb or preposition, or by an adverb and a preposition, can be used in the passive. Lists of phrasal verbs are given in paragraphs 3.84 to 3.11

Two totally opposing views have been put forward to explain this phenomenon.

Millions of tons of good earth are being washed away each year.

I was talked into meeting Norman Granz at a posh London restaurant.

Such expectations are drummed into every growing child.

18 Because of their meaning, some transitive verbs are usually used in the passive. The agent of the action is usually thought to be not worth mentioning or is not known.

He was deemed to be the guardian of the child.

The meeting is scheduled for February 1

Drunken airmen were alleged to have rampaged through the hotel.

The following transitive verbs are usually used in the passive:

The following phrasal verbs are usually used in the passive:

They were bowled over by the number of visitors who came to the show.

The journalists were taken aback by the ferocity of the language.

verbs rarely used in the passive 19 A few transitive verbs because the thing affected by the action they describe is rarely the thing you are interested in.

The following are rarely used in the passive:

The following phrasal verbs containing a transitive verb are rarely used in the passive:

ditransitive verbs 20 In the case of ditransitive verbs such as 'give', 'teach', and 'show', which can have an indirect object as well as a direct object in an active clause, either object can be the subject of a passive clause.

For example, instead of 'He gave the receptionist the key', you can say 'The receptionist was given the key', where the indirect object of the active clause is the subject of the passive clause. Note that the direct object is still mentioned after the verb.

They were given a pint of water every day.

She had been taught logic by an uncle.

But you can also say 'The key was given to the receptionist', where the direct object of the active clause is the subject of the passive clause. The indirect object can be mentioned after 'to' or 'for'.

The building had been given to the town in the late 1920s by an investment banker.

Shelter had been found for most of those still wandering the streets.

Sometimes it is unnecessary to mention the indirect object at all.

The vaccine can be given at the same time as injections against diphtheria and tetanus.

Interest is charged at 2 per cent a month.

For lists of ditransitive verbs, see paragraphs 3.74 to 3.83.

21 There is a group of transitive verbs which can have a complement after their object. They are listed and described in paragraphs 3.162 to 3.172. When these verbs are used in the passive, the complement is put directly after the verb.

In August he was elected Vice President of the Senate.

If a person today talks about ghosts, he is considered ignorant or nutty.

22 Reflexive verbs, whose object is a reflexive pronoun referring to the subject of the verb, are not used in the passive. For more information on reflexive verbs, see the section beginning at paragraph 3.2

23 Many intransitive phrasal verbs can be used in the passive. The verbs are followed by a preposition and a noun group referring to the thing affected by the action the verb describes. The object of the preposition can be made the subject of the passive form of the verb. The preposition remains after the verb, with no object after it.

In some households, the man was referred to as 'the master'.

Two people at the head of the line were being dealt with by a couple of clerks.

The performance had been paid for by a local cultural society.

Sanders asked if such men could be relied on to keep their mouths shut.

The following is a list of intransitive phrasal verbs which are quite often used in the passive:

A few phrasal verbs which consist of an intransitive verb, an adverb, and a preposition are used in the passive.

The farm labourer used to be looked down on.

I was afraid of being done away with.

The following list contains three-word phrasal verbs used in the passive:

USAGE NOTE 24 Note that in informal English, 'get' is sometimes used instead of 'be' to form the passive. The agent is not usually mentioned.

Our car gets cleaned about once every two months.

My husband got fined in Germany for crossed a road.