The Passive Voice
The Passive Voice
In Unit 2 we looked at Word Order, and we said that the usual word order is:
SV, SVO or SVC (Subject, Verb, Object, Complement)
In this unit we will look at SVO. That is, sentences with a Subject (the ‘doer’ of the action), a Verb, and an Object (which is affected by the verb or action).
Use
A sentence with the order SV or SVO is in the Active Voice - the Subject of the sentence carries out the action described in the Verb.
But what if we are not sure who performed the action, or if we don’t need to know?
For example:
London was rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1666.
We do not know who rebuilt it, and we don’t need to know.
‘People rebuilt London in 1666’ sounds strange.
We only need to know the fact that London was rebuilt.
Let’s look at this sentence:
Smoking is not allowed.
Who does not allow it?
We don’t need to know.
We only need to know that we mustn’t smoke here.
Here are some sentences from the text:
In CLIL learning, knowledge of subject content and of new language are constructed at the same time (1).
In geography, for example, learners might know that Australia is a land far away, where kangaroos and koalas are found (2).
In each CLIL lesson, new content and new language are introduced to build on the foundation the students already have (5).
In all of these sentences, WHO ‘develops’, ‘finds’ and ‘introduces’ is not important. But the facts, that things ‘are constructed’, ‘are found’ and ‘are introduced’, are important.
In CLIL, we often use the Passive when WHO is not important.
For example, here is a short text from a Geography textbook, about how coffee is produced:
‘A coffee bean is actually a seed. When dried, roasted and ground, it is used to brew coffee. Coffee seeds are planted in large beds in shaded nurseries. After sprouting, the seedlings are removed from the seed bed to be planted in individual pots. They are watered frequently and shaded from bright sunlight until they are big enough to be permanently planted’.
In a Chemistry experiment:
The acid is added slowly and carefully to the mixture to avoid a sudden exothermic reaction.
In a History lesson:
Poland was invaded in 1939.
(We could add ‘by the Germans’ if we wanted to, but Poland is the focus of our attention here, not the Germans.)
In these texts, the PROCESS or ACTION is important, but not WHO did it.
When WHO did the action is important, we use the Active voice:
Coffee growers plant coffee seeds in large beds in shaded nurseries.
The chemist adds acid to the mixture slowly and carefully.
Germany invaded Poland.
In Active Voice sentences, the usual word order is SV(O).
With the Passive Voice, the Object of the Verb becomes the Subject .
To sum up, the Passive is used:
q To focus attention on the Object of the verb (by making it the Subject)
q To avoid mentioning the Subject (or agent) of the verb (WHO).
q In formal writing, such as reports, to make the text less personal
q In explaining processes
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Obviously, to be able to form the Passive,the verb has to be take an object.
In the sentence:
Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa
Leonardo is the Subject, and the Mona Lisa is the Object,of the Verb ‘paint’.
We can make this sentence passive by saying:
The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
But we cannot form a passive with a sentence like:
Hot air rises.
To form a Passive, we need a Verb which takes an Object – what we call a Transitive Verb.
Verbs like ‘rise,’ which cannot have an object, are called Intransitive Verbs.
Form
Notice these sentences from the text:
During this stage of learning, the student can benefit from support to move on. It is often called by the metaphor of ‘the Zone of Proximal Development’ or ZPD (7).
This support is described by the metaphor of ‘scaffolding’ (9).
Data processing is made easier, and thinking skills such as comparing and contrasting, sequencing, recognising relationships and classifying are developed with tools like tables and grids, flow charts and mind maps (11).
In each sentence, the Passive is made up of the verb ‘BE’ with the Past participle of a verb.
We put BE in the tense we want to use:
Rain is produced when clouds condense. (Present Simple)
Students are being taught the value of thinking skills. (Present Progressive)
The Valletta bastions were built after 1565. (Past Simple)
The CLIL approach has been used since 2002. (Present Perfect)
Let’s take a simple sentence to see how the Passive can be used.
Notice that all the Passives marked * make very awkward sentences and are rarely used.
Question Forms:
To form the question, move the first auxiliary in front of the new Subject:
Students will have been helped.
Will students have been helped?
Students were being helped.
Were students being helped?
Negatives:
NOT (or n’t) should come straight after the first auxiliary:
Students will have been helped.
Students will not (won’t) have been helped.
Students were being helped.
Students were not (weren’t) being helped.
Passives with Modals
Look at these sentences from the text:
But they need to be shown that Australia is a continent, often very hot and with a small population (3).
In the same way, they might know how to say that Australia is a big country, with a lot of desert and not many people; but they need to be taught how to say that it is bigger, drier and has fewer people than its neighbour, India (4).
Both sentences use ‘need to’ which must be followed by an infinitive. We saw that the form of the passive is:
BE (in the tense we want to use) + Past Participle of Verb
In this case, the ‘tense’ we want is not a tense at all. We need the infinitive after ‘need to’. So we use: ‘be + Past Participle’:
‘need to be shown’ and ‘need to be taught’
When we want to use any Modal in the Passive, we need an infinitive:
When the student is between the two, the new knowledge or skill is developing, but cannot be used independently and confidently (6).
A variety of ways of supporting learning can be utilised (8).
One example of how learning can be scaffolded is the use of graphic organisers (10).
Form:
Modals in the present
Modal + BE (in the tense we want to use) + Past Participle
should be checked / must be revised / could be developed / can be seen
Modals in the Past:
Modal + HAVE BEEN + Past Participle
should have been checked / must have been revised / could have been developed
For example:
(ACTIVE) The teacher should have corrected the assignment.
(PASSIVE) The assignment should have been corrected.
The Homework might have been handed in.
The Exams could have been scheduled a week later.
The students should have been told.