THE PASSIVE VOICE & THE CAUSATIVE FORM

A. THE PASSIVE VOICE

I. Form:

Active: She wrote the report.

 The subject of the active verb performs the action of the verb.

Passive: The report was written by her.

 The subject of the passive verb receives the action of the verb.

Steps: to construct a passive equivalence of an active sentence, the following passive are followed:

 The active object becomes the passive subject.

 The passive verb is formed with “be” (in the same tense as the active verb) and the past participle of the active verb.
 The subject of the active verb becomes the “agent”. The agent is not often mentioned. If mentioned, we use it after “by” at the end
of the sentence.

II. The uses of the passive voice

1. When it is not necessary to mention the doer of the action as it is - Your hand will be X-rayed.
clear who he is (was, will be…) - The classrooms are swept every day.
2. When we don’t know, or don’t know exactly, or have forgotten - My car has been towed away.
who did (does, will do…) the action. - The soft drink Coca-Cola was invented in Atlanta on 8 May,
1886.

3. When the subject of the active verb is “People” - People believe that he has some connections with CIA.
 This passive structure is common with: “believe, discover, find,  He is believed to have some connections with CIA.
suppose, hope, expect, say, think, understand etc.  It is believed that he has some connections with CIA.
 That he has some connections with CIA is believed.

4. When the subject of the active verb is the indefinite pronoun
“One, Someone etc.”
 Instead of saying: After my talk, someone asked me to explain a
point I had made.
 We often say: After my talk, I was asked to explain a point I had
made.
- One must do the homework regularly.
 The homework must be done regularly.
- Everyone has to keep the school regulations.
 The school regulations have to kept to.

5. When we are more interested in the action than in the person - The house next door has been bought. (We can’t buy it now.)
who does (did, will do…) it. - The building was built long before the war. (It looks shabby
now.)
 6. When we want to avoid an ungrammatical sentence (by avoiding - When he arrived home, a detective arrested him.
a change of subject)  When he arrived home, he was arrested by a detective.

7. For psychological reasons - Overtime payment will be reduced.

 We often use the passive to give disagreeable news, (It is much better than: “We shall reduce overtime payment).
announcements. - The flight VN 568 has been canceled due to bad weather.
 On the contrary, the active verb is used for agreeable - We shall increase your overtime payment.
announcements.

SOME TYPICAL CONTEXTS FOR THE PASSIVE VOICE

1. In formal notices and announcements - Candidates are required to arrive fifteen minutes before the
examination.
- Passengers are requested to wear mask due to the pandemic.
- English (is) spoken.
- Cheques (are) accepted.
2. In press reports where the agent is not known, or does not need - Many people have been questioned and the driver of the car
to be mentioned has been traced.
3. In newspapers headlines - KENNEDY ASSASSINATED
- TRADE AGREEMENT BROKEN
- Us – Vietnam trade agreement signed in Washington.
4. In scientific writing - The mixture is placed in crucible and is heated to a
(esp. to describe a process) temperature of 1,400ºC for 6 hours.
III. Prepositions in the passive voice
1. The agent is the “doer” and it is placed after the proposition - The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell.
“by” ‘by = agent’ is necessary only when the speaker wishes to say (or
the hearer has to know) who did the action.
 - Who signed the Free Trade Agreement?
 It was signed by the 2 presidents.
2. When we refer to materials, methods, means, instruments, etc. to - The door was painted with blue paint.
help the agent to do the work we use “with” (but: ‘The door was painted by my father.’)
- He was killed with a knife. (He was killed by a maniac.)
- The room is filled with smoke.
3. ‘be made’ is used with: - This ring was made of gold.
 of + one material - The cake was made from flour, eggs, butter and sugar.
 from + more than one material - The cell phone was made by Nokia.
 by + manufacturer - This scooter was made in Thailand.
 in + place of manufacture
4. Verb + preposition + object - You can play with these cubs quite safely.
The preposition comes immediately after the past participle  These cubs can be played with quite safely.
- You should write to him.
 He should be written to (by you)
5. Phrasal verbs in passive voice - They pulled down the tent. (They pulled the tent down)
a. Verb + adverb: the adverb must be placed immediately after the  The tent was pulled down.
past participle. - They switched off the television (They switched the television
b. Verb + preposition: the preposition must be placed immediately off).
after the past participle.  The television was switched off.
c. Verb + adverb + preposition: we must keep the order of the - They broke into the house.
adverb and the preposition  The house was broken into by them.
- They look after the children properly.
 The children are looked after properly.
 - The children look up to football players.
 Football players are looked up to by the children.
- We have done away with the old rules.
 The old rules have been done away with.
6. ‘By’ is not used after adjectives. We never say ‘afraid by’, but ‘afraid of’, ‘angry about, at’. When a past participle is used like an
adjective ‘by’ is not used.
amazed at, astonished at, bored with, annoyed at/ with/ about, disappointed in/ with/ about/ at, concerned about (with), disgusted at/
with, interested in, depressed about, tired of, surprised at, scared/ frightened of, pleased with, worried about, excited about
IV. Position of adverbs and adverbial phrases in passive sentences

 Adverbs (adverbials phrases) of place stand before ‘by + agent’.

 Adverbs (adverbial phrases) of the stand after ‘by + agent’.
 Adverbs (adverbials phrases) of manner stand between ‘be’ and the past participle (esp. in written English).

e.g. Rearrange these words to make a sentence:

into the room, this morning, carefully, were carried, the chairs, by the children

 The chairs were carefully carried into the house by the children this morning.
 The house will be bought at that price by Mr. Smith next week.
 They have been cruelly treated by the boss.
 These figures must be carefully checked.

V. THE USE OF ‘GET’ AND ‘BECOME’ IN THE PASSIVE VOICE

In formal English, ‘get’ or ‘become’ is used instead of ‘be’ before certain past participles.
 Examples: arrested, caught, confused, delayed, divorced, dressed, drowned, drunk, elected, engaged, hit, killed, lost, married, stuck

- I try to find my way round London without a map and got lost.
- I became worried when he hadn’t come home till midnight.

WE USE ‘GET’ WHEN:

 We do something to ourselves or in our favor.

- He got shaved, dressed, washed as quickly as possible.
- Ms. Sugar has got (herself) promoted finally.
 In commands: Get washed! Get dressed!
 Something (usually unfavorable) happens beyond our control
- We got delayed because of the holiday traffic.

VI. VERBS WITH TWO OBJECTS

Verbs with two objects (e.g. offer, give, pay, send, buy, etc.) have two passive equivalences:

- Someone gives him a cub.

 He is given a cub.
 A cub is given to him.

VII. INFINITIVE STRUCTURES AFTER PASSIVE VERBS

1. After passive verbs we use full infinitive with ‘to’ - We saw them go, going out.  They were seen to go out.
BUT ‘let’ (in the passive) is followed by an infinitive without - He made us work.  We were made to work.
‘to’ - They let us go.  We were let go. (We were allowed to go).
2. Such sentences as: “People think that he is rich.” have 3  It is thought that he is rich (by people).
 passive equivalences:  He is thought to be rich (by people).
 That he is rich is thought (by people).
3. The infinitive is more usual. This structure is commonly used with:
acknowledge, assume, believe, claim, consider, discover, estimate, expect, find, hope, know, report, say, suppose, think, understand
etc.
4. after ‘suppose’, ‘expect’, the infinitive often has an idea of - You are supposed to know how to drive. (=You should know how
duties, obligations. to drive. It is your duty to know how to drive.)
Therefore, they are sometimes used in criticisms and not the - You are supposed to keep quiet. (= You must, should, have to keep
equivalences of ‘suppose’ and ‘expect’ in the active. quiet).
- You are expected to have done all the homework before going to
school.
VIII. SOME SPECIAL PASSIVE STRUCTURES
1. Advice, suggest, propose, recommend + V-ing. - They advised using bullet-proof glass.
 We used that + clause with “should”
 They advised that bull-proof glass (should) be used.
2. There + be + said, believed + to be +… - People say that there was a ghost here.
 There is said tot be a ghost here.
3. It + be + possible, impossible… - It is impossible to frow rice in such a poor soil.
 Rice can’t be grown on such a poor soil.
- It was impossible to do such a long test in only 30 mins.
 Such a long test couldn’t be done in only 30 minutes.
4. Commands - Don’t feed the animals.  The animals mustn’t be fed.
- Do it now, please.  Let it be done now, please.
5. It + be + one’s duty + to -infinitive  be supposed, - It is my duty to check the mail early in the morning.
expected + to -inf
  I am supposed to check the mail in the morning.
B. THE CAUSATIVE FORMS
The causative forms are similar to the passive voice. We focus on “What is done?” (not “Who does it?”)

I. Form
Structure 1:

 S + have + O + V (bare-inf)
 S + get + O + to -inf
 Please, have the boy deliver my letter to her house.
 I had a mechanic service y motorbike.
 In these examples, the object is caused, asked, paid, ordered, employed… to do the action of the verb after it.

Structure 2: S + have, get + O + past participle

 Please, have (get) this PC scanned for viruses and malwares.

 If you don’t eyesight examined last week by an optician.
 In this structure, the object receives the action expressed by the past participle after it.

II. The uses of the causative forms

Like the passive, we may not know or do not need to know the person who performs the action.

1. Cause s.b to do s.th or cause s.th to be done

- The customs officer had everybody fill out a form.
2. “allow” or “refuse to allow”
(with first person only and in the future tense, the past participle has passive meaning)

- I won’t have him tell (telling) me what to do.

- I will not have my house turned in to ha hostel.
3. Have, get + O + past participle can be used differently to replace a passive verb for accidents, disasters beyond our control. (Non –
causative meaning)
- He had his fruit stolen before he had a chance to pick it. (His fruit was stolen before he had a chance to pick it.)

NOTE

1. The causative forms are special passive constructions.

2. The word order is very important:
 Compare:
- I had repaired the bike.
 With:
- I had the bike repaired.
 These sentences are quite different in time and in meanings.