Passives continued

The passive form is a feature of much academic writing, making

it more impersonal and formal, but the passive should not be
used exclusively. This lesson provides practice in developing a
balanced style.
Active and passive
The passive is used when the writer wants to focus on the result, not on the cause:

The college was founded in 1925 by Walter Trimble. (passive)

Walter Trimble founded the college in 1925. (active)

In the first sentence, the emphasis is on the college, in the second on Trimble.

So the passive is often used in written English when the cause (a person or thing) is less important or unknown.

Aluminium was first produced in the nineteenth century. (by someone)

The colony was abandoned in the 1630s. (due to something)

The cause of the action can be shown by adding ‘by . . .’:

The city was flooded by a severe hurricane.

The passive is also used in written work to provide a more impersonal style:

The findings were evaluated. (not ‘I evaluated the findings’)

Structure
All passive structures have two parts:
Change the following into the
passive.
(a) We collected the data and compared the two groups.

(b) I interviewed 120 people in three social classes.

(c) They checked the results and found several errors.

(d) We will make an analysis of the findings.

(e) He asked four doctors to give their opinions.

(f) She wrote the report and distributed ten copies.

Using adverbs
An adverb can be inserted in a passive form to add information: This process is commonly called ‘networking’.

Change the following sentences from active to passive and insert a suitable adverb from the box below (more words than sentences). Decide if it is necessary to show

a cause.

Example: The recession forced half the companies to go out of business…… Half the companies were eventually forced to go out of business by the recession.

(a) The Connors family ran the company until 1981.

(b) Dr Weber has predicted that prisons will be unnecessary in the future.

(c) They provided pencils for all students in the exam.

(d) The researchers calculated the percentages to three decimal places.

(e) The students handed in the essays on Tuesday morning.

(f) She researched the life cycle of over 15 types of mice.

When John Boot died at 45, he was worn out by the effort of establishing his herbal medicine business. He had spent his early

years as a farm labourer but had worked his way up to be the owner of a substantial business. He was born in 1815, became a

member of a Methodist chapel in Nottingham, and later moved to the city. John was concerned by the situation of the poor,

who could not afford a doctor, and in 1849 he opened a herbal medicine shop which was called the British and American

Botanic Establishment. In the early stages John was helped financially by his father-in-law, while his mother provided herbal

knowledge.

On his death in 1860 the business was taken over by his wife, and she was soon assisted by their 10-year-old son, Jesse. He

quickly showed the business ability which transformed his father’s shop into a national business. Jesse opened more shops in

poor districts of the city and pioneered advertising methods. He also insisted on doing business in cash, rather than offering

his customers credit.

Identify the passive verb forms. Which could be rewritten as active

verbs?