The passive voice

The passive voice

The passive voice is a grammatical construction (specifically, a "voice"). The noun or noun phrase that would be the object of an active sentence (such as Our troops defeated the enemy) appears as the subject of a sentence with passive voice (e.g. The enemy was defeated by our troops).

The subject of a sentence or clause featuring the passive voice denotes the recipient of the action (the patient) rather than the performer (the agent). The passive voice in English is formed periphrastically: the usual form uses the auxiliary verb be (or get) together with the past participle of the main verb.

For example, Caesar was stabbed by Brutus uses the passive voice. The subject denotes the person (Caesar) affected by the action of the verb. The agent is expressed here with the phrase by Brutus, but this can be omitted. The equivalent sentence in active voice is Brutus stabbed Caesar, in which the subject denotes the doer, or agent, Brutus. A sentence featuring the passive voice is sometimes called a passive sentence, and a verb phrase in passive voice is sometimes called a passive verb.

English allows a number of passive constructions which are not possible in many of the other languages with similar passive formation. These include promotion of an indirect object to subject (as in Tom was given a bag) and promotion of the complement of a preposition (as in Sue was operated on, leaving a stranded preposition).

Use of the English passive varies with writing style and field. Some publications' style sheets discourage use of the passive voice, while others encourage it. Although some purveyors of usage advice, including George Orwell (see Politics and the English Language, 1946) and William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White (see The Elements of Style, 1919), discourage the English passive, its usefulness is generally recognized, particularly in cases where the patient is more important than the agent, but also in some cases where it is desired to emphasize the agent.

Identifying the English passive

The passive voice is a specific grammatical construction; not every expression that serves to take focus away from the performer of an action is classified as an instance of passive voice. The essential components of the English passive voice are a form of the auxiliary verb be (or sometimes get), and the past participle of the main verb denoting the action. For example:

... that all men are created equal..

We have been cruelly deceived.

The captain was struck by a missile.

I got kicked in the face during the fight.

(For exceptions, see Additional passive constructions below.) The agent (the doer of the action) may be specified, using a prepositional phrase with the preposition by, as in the third example, but it is equally possible to omit this, as is done in the other examples.

A distinction is made between the above type of clause, and those of similar form in which the past participle is used as an ordinary adjective, and the verb be or similar is simply a copula linking the subject of the sentence to that adjective. For example:

I am excited (right now).

This would not normally be classed as a passive sentence, since the participle excited is used adjectivally to denote a state, not to denote an action of excitation (as it would in the passive the electron was excited with a laser pulse). See Stative and adjectival uses below.

Sentences which do not follow the pattern described above are not considered to be in the passive voice, even if they have a similar function of avoiding or marginalizing reference to the agent. An example is the sentence A stabbing occurred, where mention of the stabber is avoided, but the sentence is nonetheless cast in the active voice, with the verbal noun stabbing forming the subject of the simple past tense of the verb occur. (Similarly There was a stabbing.) Occasionally, however, writers misapply the term "passive voice" to sentences of this type.^[8] An example of this loose usage can be found in the following extract from an article from The New Yorker about Bernard Madoff (bolding and italics added; bold text indicates the verbs misidentified as passive voice):

Two sentences later, Madoff said, "When I began the Ponzi scheme, I believed it would end shortly, and I would be able to extricate myself, and my clients, from the scheme." As he read this, he betrayed no sense of how absurd it was to use the passive voice in regard to his scheme, as if it were a spell of bad weather that had descended on him . . . In most of the rest of the statement, one not only heard the aggrieved passive voice, but felt the hand of a lawyer: "To the best of my recollection, my fraud began in the early nineteen-nineties.

The intransitive verbs would end and began are in fact in the active voice. Although the speaker uses the words in a manner that subtly diverts responsibility from him, this is not accomplished by use of passive voice.

Examples of misuse of the term are also found in Strunk and White's influential The Elements of Style. Professor Geoffrey Pullum notes that three out of four "passive voice" examples given in that book do not in fact contain passives: "There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground" (no sign of any passive); "It was not long before she was very sorry that she had said what she had" (again, no sign of the passive); "The reason that he left college was that his health became impaired" (here became impaired is an example of the adjectival, not passive, use of the past participle)

Form of Passive

Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)

Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence

the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)

the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)

Examples of Passive level : lower intermediate

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Simple Present	Active:	Rita	Writes	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is written	by Rita.
Simple Past	Active:	Rita	Wrote	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was written	by Rita.
Present Perfect	Active:	Rita	has written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	has been written	by Rita.
Future I	Active:	Rita	will write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will be written	by Rita.
Hilfsverben	Active:	Rita	can write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	can be written	by Rita.

Examples of Passive level:  upper intermediate

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Present Progressive	Active:	Rita	is writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is being written	by Rita.
Past Progressive	Active:	Rita	was writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was being written	by Rita.
Past Perfect	Active:	Rita	had written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	had been written	by Rita.
Future II	Active:	Rita	will have written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will have been written	by Rita.
Conditional I	Active:	Rita	would write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	would be written	by Rita.
Conditional II	Active:	Rita	would have written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	would have been written	by Rita.

Passive Sentences with Two Objects Level: intermediate

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.

	Subject	Verb	Object 1	Object 2
Active:	Rita	wrote	a letter	to me.
Passive:	A letter	was written	to me	by Rita.
Passive:	I	was written	a letter	by Rita.

.

As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.

Personal and Impersonal Passive

Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.

Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.

Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.

Example: he says – it is said

Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.

Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.

The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).

Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.

Sumber  : -  http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive

-          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_passive_voice

Nama    : Muhammad Aditya Suhendra

Kelas     : 4 EA 15

NPM      : 13209870

Universitas Gunadarma

-           

Tugas SoftSkill Bahasa Inggris Bisnis 2

conditional sentence

Do you understand what these sentences imply?
Do you know what they mean?

 

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• "If you had left earlier, you would have caught the train." or
• "You will make yourself ill if you eat all those chocolates."

They are called conditional sentences. A conditional sentence consists of two clauses; the if-clause, and the main clause. The if-clause can come first or second. When it comes first, we usually put a comma between the two clauses.

There are 4 (four) types of conditional sentences, including mixed conditional.

1. Conditional Sentence Type 1

The if-clause is in the present tense, the main clause uses will and the infinitive, or simple present.

Conditional Sentence Type 1
TYPE	IF CLAUSE	MAIN CLAUSE	MEANING
Type 1	Simple present If you work hard,	Simple present you succeed. Simple future you will succeed.	True in the present or possible in future It’s possible to happen in the future

When do we use conditional sentence type 1?

1. We use conditional sentence type 1 to talk about possible situations in the present or future.
• If you leave earlier, you will not be late.
• If you open the windows, the room will get some fresh air.
2. We often use conditional type 1 to talk about facts or processes:
• If you heat water to 100 degrees, it will boil.
• If we stare into the sun, we will hurt our eyes

 

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Note:

Other modal verbs can also be used in place of will and would.

o    If it rains like this all day, the river might flood. (might = will possibly)

o    If it rains like this all day, the river could flood. (could = will be able to)

                Conditional Sentence Type 2

The if-clause is in the simple past or the past continuous tense, the main clause uses would and the infinitive, or would be and the present participle (Verb-ing).

Conditional Sentence Type 2
TYPE	IF CLAUSE	MAIN CLAUSE	MEANING
Type 2	Simple past If you worked hard, Past continuous If it were not raining now,	would + simple form you would succeed. would be + present participle I would be going out for a walk.	Untrue in the present Fact: You don’t work hard, so you don’t succeed Fact:It’s raining now, so I’m not going out for a walk.

When do we use conditional sentence type 2?

Conditional sentence type 2 is used to talk about actions or situations that are not taking place in the present or future, but we can imagine the probable result.

o    If we didn’t live in a big city, we would not have to breathe polluted air everyday. (In truth, we live in a big city)

o    If he were here, I would tell him about my plan.
(In fact, he isn’t here)

Note:

§  ‘Were’ is used for both singular and plural subjects.

§  The use of type 2 conditional in “If I were you, I would ………” is a common form of advice.

                Conditional Sentence Type 3

The if-clause is in the past perfect or the past perfect continuous tense, the main clause uses would have and past participle (Verb 3), or would have been and present participle (Verb-ing).

Conditional Sentence Type 3
TYPE	IF CLAUSE	MAIN CLAUSE	MEANING
Type 3	Past perfect If you had worked hard, Past perfect continuous If it had not been raining yesterday afternoon,	would have + past participle you would have succeeded. would have been + present participle I would have been going out for a walk.	Untrue in the past Fact: You didn’t work hard, so you didn’t succeed. Fact: It was raining yesterday afternoon. I was not going out for a walk.

When do we use conditional sentence type 3?

Conditional sentence type 3 is used to talk about actions or situations that did not take or were not taking place in the past, but we can imagine the probable result.

o    If you had come to the party last night, you would have met my cousin. (In truth, you didn’t come to the party last night)

o    If he had not been late this morning, his teacher would not have punished him. (In truth, he was late)

                Mixed Conditional Sentence

Mixed conditional sentence is a combination of conditional sentence type 2 and conditional sentence type 3.

Mixed Conditional Sentence
TYPE	IF CLAUSE	MAIN CLAUSE	MEANING
Mixed Type	Simple past If I were a bird, Past perfect If you had worked hard,	would have + past participle I would have flown to your place last night. would + simple form you would succeed.	Untrue in the present or future. Fact: I am not a bird, so I didn’t fly to your place. Untrue in the past. Fact: You didn’t work hard. Now, you don’t succeed.

When do we use mixed conditional sentence?

Mixed conditional sentence is used to talk about actions or situations that did not take or were not taking place in the past, but we can imagine the probable result in the present, or actions or situations that do not take place in the present, but we can imagine the probable result in the past.

o    If you lived near the factory, you would have heard the sound of the explosion. (In truth, you don’t live near the factory. Therefore, you didn't hear the sound of the explosion.)

o    If he had not been late this morning, he would be permitted to join the test. (In truth, he was late. Therefore, he is not permitted to join the test.)

Sumber: http://www.misterguru.web.id/2011/09/conditional-sentences-type-1-type-2.html#ixzz2O5Vr5qB8

http://www.misterguru.web.id/2011/09/conditional-sentences-type-1-type-2.html

Nama   :Muhammad Aditya Suhendra
Kelas   : 4ea15
Universitas Gunadarma