PASSIVE VOICE

What do they do?

1.In active voice: the subject develops the action
2.In Passive voice: the subject suffers the action
3.Passive voice: formalism & impersonality
4. Active & Passive voices are similar in content
but different in form.

RULES OF THUMB
We use passive constructions:
1.To describe processes: The beans are picked in
late summer and are left to dry in the sun.
2. In various (often academic) styles of discourse;
i.e. to introduce evidence, argument, opinion: It is
sometimes argued that.
3. To describe procedure in formally reporting
scientific experiments: Thirty-eight subjects were
interviewed in the first round of interviews.

4. To avoid the implication of personal

involvement or responsibility: The vase got
broken, Mum.
5. With certain verbs when the person who did
the action is generally unimportant; they often
describe claiming, blaming, acts of destruction or
emotional reactions: He is alleged to be in a
sanatorium.

What do they look like?

Basic pattern: form of BE (is, has been, is going to
be,)/GET (get, got, will get) + PAST
PARTICIPLE OF THE MAIN VERB: The whole
house was /got flooded.
If the agent is specified, this comes at the end of
the clause and follows: BY; i.e. Several protesters
were taken away by the police.

CHOOSING BETWEEN BE AND GET AS

AUXILIARY VERBS
GET is usually an alternative to BE
We choose get to suggest:
1. That the action is unexpected, involuntary or
possibly unwelcome: When he picked up the phone,
we got cut off
2. An achievement based on something that has
been built up beforehand: she got elected.
3. An achievement in the face of difficulty: I finally got
admitted to hospital.

VERBS USED WITH A FULL INFINITIVE

ONLY IN PASSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS
Verbs which are often/usually followed by a that
clause in active constructions (believe, consider,
say, think, understand) are followed by an
INFINITIVE when the verb is passive.
Active: People think (that) she is a genius.
Passive: She is thought to be a genius
Active: People say that he was fiddling
Passive: He was said to have been fiddling the
books.

Some verbs often followed by the bare infinitive in

active constructions (help,make) are followed by a
full infinitive when they are passive.
Active: The made him clear up.
Passive: He was made to clear up the mess.
Active: They helped him get
Passive: He was helped to get the premises ready
this time

PASSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS WITH IT AS

THE SUBJECT
Verbs
like:
believe,
consider,say,
think,
understand are also often used in passive
constructions with an impersonal subject: IT,
particularly in more formal or written styles.
i.e. It is understood that no one speaks during the
time for private prayers.

Using By and other prepositions after

passive constructions
By: to introduce
construction.

the

agent

in

passive

We can use any preposition after a passive

construction, our choice depends on the meaning
we want to express: the fruit was cut up on the
table; the fruit was cut up in the kitchen; the fruit
was cut up into cubes.

RESTRICTIONS
Some verbs like:
To have: tener, tomar
To lack: carecer
To hold:caber
To resemble: parecerse a
To fit: ir/estar/quedar bien (ropa)
The object is a sentence: Mike thought (that)the
new girl was pretty BUT If the construction is
impersonal, passive voice can be used:

Its thought that he has fled the country.

When the object is a reflexive pronoun or there is
a possessive:
She looked at herself in the mirror
He washed his hands
ATTENTION!
To hold: celebrar; passive voice is possible
To fit: instalar, equipar; passive voice is possible

Frequent tenses in passive voice

LOVE
Simple present: Im loved, youre loved (soy
amado)
Present continuous: Im being loved, youre being
loved (estoy siendo amado)
Present perfect: Ive been loved, youve been
loved (he sido amado)
Simple past: I was loved (fui amado)
Past Continuous: I was being loved (estaba siendo
amado)

Past perfect: I had been loved (haba sido amado)

Simple future: Ill be loved (ser amado)
Future perfect: Ill have been loved (habr sido
amado)
Simple Conditional: Id be loved (sera amado)
Past conditional: Ihave been loved (habra sido
amado)

EXERCISES
1. Write the passive form of:
They have a farm
Hes having dinner
She lacks common sense
You resemble your father
The dress suits her
These shoes dont fit me