Structure and Functions of Passives in English

Here’s an explanation of the structure and functions of passive voice in English, presented in an easy-to-understand notes format with emojis, practice questions, and answers:

📝 Passives in English: Structure and Functions

The passive voice is a fascinating construction in English that allows us to shift focus in a sentence. It’s all about who or what receives the action rather than who performs it! 🎯

1. What is the Passive Voice? 🤔

• In simple terms, passive sentences describe an event where someone or something is acted upon or undergoes the action of the verb.
• The key characteristic is that the doer, agent, or actor of the action is often missing, suppressed, or simply not expressed.

2. Structure of Passive Sentences 🏗️

The structure of a passive sentence involves a specific verb form and a reordering of sentence elements compared to an active sentence.

• The Core Formula:
  • The fundamental structure of a passive verb is ‘be’ verb + the third form of the main verb (past participle).
  • The ‘be’ verb carries the tense and agreement information (e.g., is, are, was, were, has been, will be), while the main verb remains in its past participle form.
  • Examples:
    • “Butter is made from milk.”
    • “This house was built 100 years ago.”
    • “My car is being repaired.”
    • “My key has been stolen.”
    • “The injured man had to be taken to hospital.”
    • “My watch can’t be repaired.”
• The Past Participle (V3):
  • The third form of the verb (past participle, e.g., ‘written,’ ‘broken,’ ‘stolen’) loses many of the properties of a full-fledged verb. It does not contain tense, agreement, or the ability to take a direct object directly after it.
  • It can sometimes act like an adjective (e.g., “broken chair”).
• The ‘by’ Phrase (Optional Agent):
  • The original doer or agent of the action, if mentioned, is introduced by the preposition ‘by’.
  • This ‘by’ phrase is optional and can often be omitted, especially if the agent is unknown or unimportant.
  • Example: “The telephone was invented by Alexander Bell in 1876.”
• Transformation from Active to Passive:
  • Step 1: Subject Vacancy 🗑️ - The original subject (agent) of the active sentence is suppressed or moved out of the subject position, leaving it vacant.
  • Step 2: Direct Object Promotion ⬆️ - The direct object of the active sentence is “promoted” to occupy the subject position of the passive sentence. This is because English sentences generally require a subject, and the past participle can no longer categorize the direct object in its original position.
    • Active: “Deepa wrote a novel.” (Deepa = subject/agent, novel = direct object)
    • Passive: “A novel was written by Deepa.” (A novel = new grammatical subject)
• Grammatical vs. Logical Subject: 🤯
  • In active sentences, the grammatical subject (e.g., ‘Deepa’ in “Deepa wrote a novel”) is also the logical or thematic subject (the agent doing the action).
  • In passive sentences, the noun occupying the subject position (e.g., ‘A novel’ in “A novel was written”) becomes the grammatical subject, but it is not the logical or thematic subject (agent). The logical subject (agent) is either expressed in a ‘by’ phrase or suppressed.
• Only Transitive Verbs Can Be Passive: 🗣️
  • Passives can only be formed from transitive verbs.
  • A transitive verb is one that mandatorily takes a direct object (a noun phrase) to complete its meaning (e.g., ‘write’ in “Deepa wrote what? A novel”).
  • Intransitive verbs, which do not take a direct object (e.g., ‘runs’ in “Ravi runs very fast”), cannot be made passive.
• Dealing with Two Objects (Ditransitive Verbs): 📚
  • Some verbs (ditransitive verbs) can take two objects: a direct object (DO) and an indirect object (IO).
  • Example: “Ravi gave Deepa a book.” (Deepa = IO, book = DO)
  • In passive, either the IO or the DO can become the subject:
    • If the indirect object immediately follows the verb in active voice, it is often promoted to the passive subject: “Deepa was given a book by Ravi.”
    • If the direct object precedes the indirect object (often with ’to’), the direct object is promoted: “A book was given to Deepa by Ravi.”
• Adverbs with Passives: 📈
  • Specific adverbs of degree can be used with past participles in passive constructions. For example, “The new highway was very much needed.” (Using ‘very much’ is correct, not ‘very’ alone).

3. Functions of Passive Sentences 🎯

Why do we use the passive voice? It serves several important purposes in communication:

• Unknown or Unimportant Agent 👻: When the person or thing performing the action is unknown, obvious, or not relevant to the information being conveyed.
  • Example: “My car was stolen last week.” (The person who stole it is unknown or not the focus.)
• Concealing Responsibility 🤫: To deliberately hide or suppress the identity of the agent, especially to avoid assigning blame or responsibility.
  • Example: “A bullet was fired.” (Instead of “I fired a bullet,” which confesses the action.)
• Obvious/Predictable Agent ✅: When the agent is so well-known or obvious in the context that stating it would be redundant.
  • Example: “The workers are paid weekly.” (It’s understood they are paid by their employer.)
• General Statements & Announcements 📢: To make general statements, announcements, or appeals where the action or event itself is more important than the specific doer, or the “masses” are the focus.
  • Example: “People are requested to donate generously to the relief funds.”
• Focusing on the Action/Event ✨: To emphasize the action or the receiver of the action rather than the performer.
  • Example: “The bridge is being repaired.” (The focus is on the bridge and its current state of repair, not necessarily who is repairing it.)

Understanding these structural elements and functional reasons for using passives can significantly improve accuracy and confidence in speaking and writing.

✍️ Practice Questions

Identify the passive sentences and, for each, explain its structure and a possible reason for using the passive voice.

1. The novel was written by a famous author.
2. Many houses were damaged in the storm.
3. The report is being prepared by the team now.
4. Only transitive verbs can be made passive.

✅ Answers

1. The novel was written by a famous author.
   • Structure: Passive voice. Uses ‘be’ verb (‘was’) + past participle (‘written’). The original direct object (’the novel’) is promoted to the subject position. The agent (‘a famous author’) is included in a ‘by’ phrase.
   • Possible Reason for Passive: The focus is on the novel and its creation, rather than on the author, or perhaps the author’s identity is secondary information.
2. Many houses were damaged in the storm.
   • Structure: Passive voice. Uses ‘be’ verb (‘were’) + past participle (‘damaged’). The original direct object (‘many houses’) is promoted to the subject position. The agent (who or what damaged them, presumably the storm itself, or an unknown force) is omitted or implied, not explicitly stated with ‘by’.
   • Possible Reason for Passive: The agent (the storm’s exact action or the force behind it) is either unknown, less important than the damage itself, or it’s obvious from context. The emphasis is on the houses and what happened to them.
3. The report is being prepared by the team now.
   • Structure: Passive voice (Present Continuous Passive). Uses ‘be’ verb (‘is’) + ‘being’ + past participle (‘prepared’). The direct object (’the report’) is the grammatical subject. The agent (’the team’) is included with ‘by’.
   • Possible Reason for Passive: The focus is on the report and its ongoing state of preparation, rather than the specific individuals in the team. It could also be a formal statement where the action’s progress is paramount.
4. Only transitive verbs can be made passive.
   • Structure: Passive voice (with modal verb). Uses modal ‘can’ + ‘be’ + past participle (‘made’). The direct object (‘only transitive verbs’) is the grammatical subject. The agent (‘who makes them passive,’ i.e., language users/grammarians) is suppressed.
   • Possible Reason for Passive: This is a general statement or a rule. The emphasis is on the characteristic of transitive verbs (their ability to be made passive), not on who performs the act of making them passive.