PASSIVE VOICE

PASSIVE VOICE

 

Definition of Passive Voice

Passive voice is a grammatical construction (grammatical form) in which the subject sentence does not take action, but instead receives action (as a receiver of action ). The action is followed up by  another agent (as a doer of action ) who can be mentioned or not. In contrast to the active voice , the subject is directly related to the verb  by acting as the actor of the action. Active sentences may be changed to passive, especially active sentences that use a transitive verb (need to be followed by a  direct object ).

 

Passive Voice function

In English lessons, passive voice is a sentence whose function is often underestimated. In fact, there are several functions of the passive voice that are crucial and cannot be replaced by the active voice. If you use active when passive is needed, you gonna embarrass yourself! You can see more about the passive voice function as follows.

To explain sentences where the subject is an inanimate object

The first function of the passive voice is to explain sentences whose subject cannot do a verb. Or in short, if the subject is an inanimate object. What is meant by inanimate objects here is not only physical objects, but also abstract objects, such as thoughts, values, feelings, and the like.

Example:

§  Those buildings were ruined by weather anomaly (passive voice)

§  The weather anomaly ruined those buildings (active voice)

Now try to compare the two examples above, the first sentence uses the passive voice and the second uses the opposite. At first glance, there is no obvious difference between the two sentences of the passive and active voice. In fact, the first sentence is easier to read than the second sentence. Especially if the sentence above is included in a news or report.

To Describe an Event for which the Perpetrator is Unknown

The second function of the passive voice is to explain a sentence whose subject is not known with certainty. Due to this, the object of the final sentence has to be the subject in order for the sentence to be understood.

Example:

§  My wallet was stolen when I strolled on this way (passive)

§  Someone stole my wallet when I strolled on this way (active)

Literally, the two examples above make sense , but the second sentence seems less effective. So since the culprit is unknown, it's better to use the first sentence which uses the passive voice form.

To describe an event whose object is more important than the subject

The third function of the passive voice is to describe events that focus on the object, not on the subject. This means that the object of the sentence is much more important to discuss than the subject.

This type of sentence can be found in scholarly presentations or other focused discussions. So for example, there is a meeting with the aim of reviewing "robots with human intelligence". So the focus of the meeting was a discussion of the object "robots with human intelligence".

Example:

§  The experiment is conducted between June and September 2019 in Komodo Island, Indonesia (passive)

§  We conducted the experiment between June and September 2019 in Komodo Island, Indonesia (active)

The focus of the two examples above is actually the same, namely telling about an experiment. However, if the second sentence is used, it is as if the focus is the activities of the person conducting the experiment, not the experiment. From this alone it is clear that in this condition, the passive voice is more appropriate.

To Describe Two Events in One Sentence

Well, here comes the passive voice function that people rarely talk about! The passive voice can be used in sentences that want to include two or more verbs. One goal: so that the sentence sounds varied. Now as an example, try to compare the two sentences below:

Example:

§  When Faza went to school, some punk kids beat her and confiscate her pocket money

§  When Faza went to school, she was beaten and her pocket money is confiscated by some punk kids

Again, the two sentences above do not have a significant difference. However, for storytelling, generally the sentence form like the second example is preferred.

Passive Voice Formulas

The passive voice is  formed from the auxiliary verb and past participle (verb-3).

 

auxiliary verb + past participle

 

Auxiliary verbs  used in passive voice can be:

·         primary auxiliary verb  "be" (is, are, am, was, were),

·         a combination of two primary auxiliary verbs  (is / are being, was / were being, has / have been), or

·         combination of  primary auxiliary verb and  modal auxiliary verb  (will be, will have been)

 

The  past participle used is a transitive verb . Past participles are  obtained by adding -ed, -en, -d, -t, -n, or -ne to the  base form, which  are  regular verbs . In the  base form, it is  an  irregular verb , the  past participle  is inconsistent.

 

1. Simple Present Tense

Aktif : S + do/does + V1
Pasif : S + to be (am, are, is) + V3 + by + O
example:
Aktif : Students speak English
Pasif : English is spoken by students

2.Present Continuous Tense

Aktif : S + to be (am, are, is) + V1-ing + O
Pasif : S + to be (am, are, is) + being + V3 + by + O
example :
Aktif : Students is speaking English
Pasif : English is being spoken by students

3. Present Perfect Tense

Aktif : S + have/has + V3 + O
Pasif : S + have/has + been + V3 + by + O
example :
Aktif : Students have spoken English
Pasif : English has been spoken by students

4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Aktif : S + have/has + been + V1-ing + O
Pasif : S + have/has + been + being + V3 + by + O
example :
Aktif : Students have been speaking English
Pasif : English has been being spoken by students

 5. Simple Past Tense

Aktif : S + V2 + O
Pasif : S + to be (was, were) + V3 + by + O
example :
Aktif : Students spoke English
Pasif : English was spoken by students

6. Past Continuous Tense

Aktif : S + to be (was, were) + V1-ing + O
Pasif : S + to be (was, were) + being + V3 + by + O
example :
Aktif : Students were speaking English
Pasif : English was being spoken by students

7. Past Perfect Tense

Aktif : S + had not + V3 + O
Pasif : S + had + been + V3 + by + O
example :
Aktif : Students had spoken English
Pasif : English had been spoken by students

8. Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Aktif : S + had + been + V1-ing + O
Pasif : S + had + been + being + V3 + by + O
example :
Aktif : Students had been speaking English
Pasif : English had been being spoken by students

9. Simple Future Tense

Aktif : S + will not + V1 + O
Pasif : S + will be + V3 + by + O
example :
Aktif : Students will speak English
Pasif : English will be spoken by students

10. Future Continuous Tense

Aktif : S + will + be + V1-ing + O
Pasif : S + will + be + being + V3 + by + O
example :
Aktif : Students will be speaking English

Pasif : English will be being spoken by students