Structure and Functions of Passives in English

Okay, let’s review the structure and functions of passives in English, drawing on the information from the sources and our previous discussion.

Understanding passive constructions is highlighted as important for mastering English, and looking at how they function in the mind can contribute to accuracy and confidence.

What is the Passive Voice?

In a general sense, the term “passive” can refer to non-involvement or non-directness. In the context of sentences, passive structures denote an event or someone who is acted upon or undergoes the action of the verb. The key characteristic is that the immediate information about the doer, agent, or actor is missing, suppressed, or perhaps simply not expressed.

Structure of Passive Sentences

The passive is formed using the verb ‘be’ or sometimes ‘get’, followed by the past participle of the main verb. The past participle of regular verbs ends in ‘-ed’ (e.g., cleaned, damaged), while irregular verbs have different forms (e.g., done, built, taken).

Examples of passive structures shown in the sources include:

• Present Simple Passive: is/are + past participle (e.g., The office is cleaned every day, Butter is made from milk, These rooms are cleaned every day).
• Past Simple Passive: was/were + past participle (e.g., The office was cleaned yesterday, Two people were taken to hospital, My car was stolen).
• Present Continuous Passive: is/are being + past participle (e.g., The door is being painted, My car is being repaired, Some new houses are being built).
• Present Perfect Passive: has/have been + past participle (e.g., The door has been painted, My key has been stolen, I haven’t been invited).
• Modal Passive: will/can/must be + past participle (e.g., will be done, can be done) [Appendix 1.2].

The form of the ‘be’ auxiliary carries the tense and agreement information. The past participle itself loses the properties of a full verb, such as carrying tense or agreement.

Changes from Active to Passive

When an active sentence is recast into the passive voice, significant structural changes occur:

• Subject and Object Role Reversal: In an active sentence, the subject is typically the agent (the doer of the action), and the direct object is the theme or patient (the one acted upon). In the passive voice, the original direct object is promoted to the subject position of the sentence.
• Why the Object Moves: The sources explain that the third form of the verb (past participle) loses its verb properties and cannot categorise or contain any direct object anymore. The direct object becomes a “free element” that needs to move.
• The Subject Requirement: English sentences mandate a subject (except for certain imperative cases like ‘Get out’ where the ‘you’ subject is understood/predictable). Since the original agent is suppressed and removed from the subject position, this position becomes vacant. The free element (the original direct object) must occupy this vacant subject position to complete the sentence structure.
• Handling the Agent: The agent (original subject) is typically suppressed, removed, or concealed in the passive. If the agent is mentioned, it appears in a phrase introduced by the preposition ‘by’. This ‘by’ phrase is optional. It acts like a landing spot created by the preposition for the original agent. Prepositional phrases often function as adverbs, which are considered adjuncts.
• Complements and Adjuncts: Objects are described as complements of the verb – required, structurally indispensable parts of a sentence whose existence is dictated by the nature of the verb. Adverbs and prepositional phrases are often adjuncts – optional elements that modify the verb but are not structurally required by the verb’s nature. In the passive, the original direct object (a complement) becomes the subject, while the ‘by’ phrase agent behaves like an optional adjunct.
• Grammatical vs. Logical Roles: The sources draw a distinction between grammatical relations (like subject and object positions) and thematic/logical/semantic roles (like agent, patient, theme). In passive sentences, these roles are separated. The passive subject is the grammatical subject, but thematically or logically, it is still the theme or patient that is acted upon, not the agent.

Which Verbs Can Be Passive?

Only transitive verbs can be recast in the passive form. Transitive verbs are those that mandatorily require a noun phrase in the object position to complete their meaning. Intransitive verbs, which do not take a direct object, cannot form a passive because there is no object to move to the subject position.

For sentences with two objects (ditransitive verbs), typically the noun phrase immediately following the verb (often the indirect object) can become the subject of the passive sentence, while the other object remains. An example given is “Deepa was given a book,” derived from “Ravi gave Deepa a book”.

Functions of the Passive Voice

The use of the passive voice serves several purposes:

• Suppressing the Agent/Agency: This is a key function. It allows the speaker to conceal, remove, or suppress the information about who performed the action. This can be used to avoid or suppress responsibility. (e.g., The glass got broken implies the agent is not being named, compared to I broke the glass).
• Highlighting the Event or Receiver: The passive shifts emphasis away from the doer and onto the action itself or the entity that is acted upon (the original object, now the subject).
• When the actor is unknown. (e.g., Some rare artefacts were stolen from the museum).
• When the actor is considered unimportant.
• When the act or action itself is more important than the doer.
• When the agent is known and predictable (so mentioning them is unnecessary). (e.g., The workers are paid weekly - presumably by the employer).
• In general statements, announcements, or appeals, where the focus is on the message or the recipients rather than the authority making it. (e.g., People are requested to donate generously).

By using the passive voice, the grammatical subject position (the “front topic position”) is no longer occupied by the agent.

Understanding the structure and function of passives, and the underlying reasons for the changes from active voice, is presented as a way to improve your command and control of English and build confidence.