Reference Actiae Passiue
Basrc Past Present Future
He painted the house last year.
He paints the house every five years.
He will paint the house next year.
The house was painted last year.
The house is painted every five years.
The house will be painted next year.
PpRrpcr Past Present Future
The house looked good because he had just painted it.
He has (just) painted the house.
He will have painted the house by the end of next month.
The house looked good because it had just been painted.
The house has (just) been painted.
The house will have been painted bv the end of next month.
PRocRrsswr Past Present
He was painting the house all last week He is painting the house right now.
The house was being painted all last week.
The house is being painted right now.
Qur,;srroN Did he paint the house last year? Was the house painted last year?
Nrcarnc He wasn't painting the house all last week.
The house wasn't being painted all last week.
ACTIVE AND PASSN,'E
The passive can be used with modal verbs, too, following the patterns used with ruill.
EXAMPLES
The house might be sold next week.
The kitchen should haue been cleaned yesterday.
The house can be seen ftorn the mountain.
The roof must be repaired soon.
EXERCISE 1
In each of the following sentences from the reading "White Lies,"
which appears with vocabulary glosses on p. 365, fill in the appropriate active or passive form ofthe given verb.
1. White lies cious.
(define) as being unmali-
2. In one study, 130 subjects (ask) to
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USES OF THE PASSIVE
keep track of the truthfulness of their everyday statements.
Sometimes a face-saving lie
(prevent) embarrassment for the recipient.
'You didn't receive the check? It must (delay) in the mail."
Sometimes we (lie) to escape an un-
pleasant situation.
6. "I really have to go. I should for a test tomorrow."
(study)
12b. Uses of the passive
There are four main uses for the passive:
l. Use the passive when it is not necessary to mention the agent (the person or thing doing the action) because the agent is obvious, not known, or not important. The emphasis is on the action itself or on the receiver of the action.
EXAMPLES
Passiue: The first digital computer was built in 1946. (no agent mentioned)
Actiue: Engineers built the first digital computer in 1946.
The "agentless passive" occurs frequently in journalism and in scientific writing:
Jewelry worth $500,000 was stolen from the Hotel Eldorado Iate last night.
In all early attempts at biological classification, Iiving things were separated into two major groups: the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom. These two groups were then subdiuided in a variety of ways.
2. Use the passive when you purposely want to avoid mentioning the agent.
EXAMPLES
I was told to come to this office.
An error was mq.de in our sales forecast for the coming year.
3 .
4 .
5 .
127
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ACTTVE AND PASSTW
It is belieued that some top executives are involved in the crime.
Some top executives are belieued to be involved in the crime.
It is said that he is a spy.
He is said to be a spy.
Most clauses with a passive verb (about 85 percent of them) do not mention the agent. There are, however, cases where disclosing the agent is necessary.
3. Use the passive with an agent when the agent is not a person but an inanimate object.
EXAMPLES
The cathode ray tube has been replaced by a flat electroluminescent display.
The alarm is triggered by photomagnetic cells.
4. Use the passive when the structure of the sentence or the relationship between two sentences determines that the new information should come last.
Often old or given information precedes new information in a sentence. (See also Chapter 28.)
EXAMPLES
The vice-president wrote a report. That report is being studied by all the company officers.
Not The company officers are studying that report.
The senator lost the election, but he was invited by the president to join the White House staff.
Not The senator lost the election, but the president invited . . . We will never forget last winter. We were buried under three feet of snow.
Not Three feet of snow buried us.
He picked up the wallet. It had been dropped by the gangster.
Not The gangster had dropped it.
EXERCISE 2
In the following active sentences, the agent is the very general they.
Rewrite them as passive sentences, emphasizing the receiver and the action and omitting mention of the agent.
EXAMPLE
They have translated the film into many different languages.
The film has been translated into many different languages.
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USES OF
1. They delivered supplies to the North Pole last week.
2. They passed new tax laws a year ago.
3. They will revise the defense budget within the next year' 4. They grow rice in China and Japan.
5. They cultivate the soybean in many parts of the world.
6. They made my sweater in Ireland.
7. They should cancel the game if it rains.
8. They might have offered that course last semester.
THE PASSIVE