Explaining the Passive (Introduction) - E4-01G

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Active & passive

 

Let’s begin with a noun: fish. In an active sentence, the fish will be the subject of a verb, in other words, the fish does/did/will do etc something:

 

Some fish find their way thousands of miles across the sea to return to the place where they began life.

 

In a passive sentence, the fish is the object of the verb, that is: somebody or something does/is doing/did/has done/will do/should do etc something to the fish:

 

Certain fish are found only in cold waters.

An unusual fish was found on the beach yesterday by a local resident, Miss Angela Green.

 

The two basic types of passive sentence are as shown above. To analyse them:

 

a) in the first, we do not mention who finds the fish – we don’t know or it doesn’t matter;

 

b) in the second, the person who would have been the subject of the active verb (Yesterday, a local resident Miss Angela Green found an unusual fish….) now follows the passive verb and is joined to it with the word by:   by …..Angela Green.

 

Using the passive

 

A. Newspaper language uses the passive a great deal:

 

The Chancellor is expected to announce an increase in petrol tax.

Junior minister Ruth Kelly is said to be in line for a promotion.

 

In such expressions, the focus is not on who says or expects such things, but on what is said, expected, believed, rumoured, known, thought, suggested…..

 

B. In formal instructions, we often use the passive also – for example, we might say:

 

In the event of an emergency, cabin crew are required….

 

If cabin crew must do certain things to/for certain categories of passenger, eg children, blind etc, the instructions will begin with those categories:

 

 Children must be looked out for at all times. (Cabin crew must look out for….)

 

Similarly, in a school: Food and drink must not be consumed in classrooms

 

Focus on the object

 

Here are some more examples of Cases where we want to talk about the noun that has something done to it, them, her, him etc

 

The pizzas are then coated with tomato sauce

 

The tiger was sedated using a tranquilising dart.

 

The match is likely to be abandoned at half-time.

 

Photography is prohibited in the interior of the building.

 

Children must be given nutritious  food in school.

 

Conclusion

 

Active and passive is a fundamental division in language. An English sentence must start with a subject. An active sentence follows the pattern - subject, active verb, object:

 

Miss Angela Green (S) found (AV) an unusual fish (O)

 

A passive sentence changes the object of the active sentence into the subject of the sentence:

 

An unusual fish

 

The verb shows that something happens, or rather is / was / will be (etc) done (passive) to the fish:

 

Was caught

 

Finally, if we know who does / did / will do the active action, this agent follows the passive verb, prefaced by ‘by’:

 

By Miss Angela Green

 

Here are the active and passive together, for comparison:

 

 Miss Angela Green (S) found (AV) an unusual fish (O)

An unusual fish (S) was found (PV) by Miss Angela Green