The Passive-II: Active & Passive Voice (Step-75)

THE PASSIVE

1. We do our homework regularly (in this school).
2. Homework is done regularly (in this school).

In 1, who does the work? We. We do (what?). “Homework’.  So, ‘we’ is the subject and ‘homework’ is the object. The verb ‘do’ is a transitive verb.

In 2, the subject is ‘homework’ and the verb has been change to ‘is done’ ‘is’ is a form of the auxiliary verb ‘be’ and ‘done’ is the past participle form (third or –en form ) of the verb ‘do’. So, an auxiliary ‘be’ and the –en form of the main or full verb indicate the passive voice of that main verb.

Both the sentences mean almost the same thing. In 1, the speaker talks about one their regular activities. In2, the speaker talks about homework. In 1, the focus is on the speaker ‘we’. In2, the focus is on an activity, ‘homework’, Sentence 1 is in the active voice and 2 is in the passive voice.

EXERCISE-1

Some of the following sentences are in the active voice and some are in the passive. Write A for active and P for passive against each of them.

1. Water is produced by the combination of Hydrogen and Oxygen.
2. I do not like cartoon shows.
3. You must not eat so much.
4. Who was given the first prize?
5. Who has broken this glass?
6. Who gave away the prizes?
7. He was asked several questions by the police.
8. It is time for a doctor to be called in.
9. I have painted this picture.
10. The classroom has been cleaned by the students.

EXERCISE-2

Change the following sentences into the passive.

1. We eat rice and fish in this part of the county.
2. The king built this temple in the twelfth century.
3. The customs officers seized the boat.
4. The child has fed the cow.
5. You must not take such a big risk.

You have seen that in a passive sentence the agent (subject of the active form) is usually not mentioned. We usually do not say:

2.(b) Home work is done regularly by us.

When the agent or the doer of the action is insignificant, unknown, too obvious, or purposefully hidden, we use the passive voice. So, in most of the passive sentences, the agent is not mentioned. Occasionally, it may be necessary to mention the agent. e.g.

3.         The child was saved by Raghuvi.

Now, look at the following sentces changed into the passive form.

4.         We grow rice once a year à Rice is grown once a year.

5.         We elected him monitor. à He was elected monitor.

6.         The kind man gave the beggar some food. à The beggar was given some food.

7.         The kind man gave some food to the beggar. à Some food was given to the beggar.

Mark the agent, the subject and the object in 6 and 7. Verbs having two object can have two passive forms.

Now watch how interrogative sentences are turned into the passive.

8. Did he write the poem?

à He did write the poem? (step-I)

à He wrote the poem. (step-II)

à The poem was written by him. (step-III)

àWas the poem written by him. (ste-IV)

9. Who saved the bird?

àSomeone saved the bird. (step-I)

àThe bird was saved by someone. (step-II)

àThe bird was saved by whom? * (not acceptable) (step-III)

àBy whom was the bird saved? (Step-IV)

Or , who was the bird save by?

Thus you find the interrogative sentence may be turned into a declarative sentence.

Then it is passivised and again turned into an interrogative sentence. With a little practice you can go from the first sentence in the active voice to the last sentence in the passive voice.

Exercise-3

Change the following sentences into the passive voice:

1. Who wrote this letter?
2. When did   you write this letter?
3. Why did you write this letter?
4. Did you write this letter yesterday?
5. Has everyone received the message?
6. Have they heard the news?

10.       (a) People say (that) he is honest. à It is said that he is honest. It will be unusual to say – that he is honest is said by the people. So, ‘it’ has been used in the subject position instead of ‘that he is honest’. But another passive form is also possible, e.g.,

10.       (b) He is said to be honest.

In this case the verb say has been passivised to is said. But the other verb is is changed into to be.

Compare these two passive forms with the following.

11. (a) People say (that) he was honest.

11. (b) It is said that he was honest.

11. (c). He is said to have been honest.

Notice that to be in 10(b) has changed into to have been in 11(c). Why? Compare the tenses of the verbs in the corresponding active forms: 10(a) and 11(a).

Exercise-4

Rewrite the following passive sentences beginning with the words given:

1. It is said that the Sultan is very rich. The Sultan…………
2. It is said that three men were arrested after the explosion. There men……………
3. It is expected that the government will increase the price of petro. The government ………….
4. It is thought that the prisoner escaped by climbing over the wall. The prisoner…………
5. It is reported that two people were seriously injured in the accident. Two people …………

12. I saw him crossing the road. à He was seen crossing the road.

13. I saw him cross the road à He was seen to cross the road.

In the passive form of 13, there is an extra ‘to’.  In the active form ‘to’ has not been used. Verbs like let, see, hear etc. are followed by bare infinitives (=infinitive without to) when they are in the active voice. When passivised, the bare infinitives change into to +infinitive.

EXERCISE-5

Change the following sentences into the passive voice. You may use the hints given in the brackets.

1. You have to see it carefully. (It…..)
2. We saw the thieves entering the house quietly. (The thieves…..)
3. It is time to ring the bell. (It is time for the bell….)
4. He gave me a book yesterday. (I…/A book…..)
5. They made him tell them everything. (He….)

The meaning of the passive:

We have already read that the passive is used when the agent is unimportant, unknown, and unnecessary or when it is too obvious. So look at these sentences being changed to the passive forms:

16. Someone has stolen my purse. à My purse has been stolen.

17. You kept me waiting. à I was kept waiting.

18. People speak Oriya in this stte. à Oriya is spoken in this state.

 It will be unusual to mention the agent in each of these sentences. In 16, the thief is not known. In 17, I am accusing the listener for having kept me waiting. Obviously, the agent is the listener. In 18, the language must be spoken by people, not by animals or birds.

Sometimes the agent is mentioned along with other prepositions but not with by + agent.

19. Smoke filled the room. à The room was filled with smoke.

20. His behavior surprised me. à I was surprised at his behavior.

21. I know him. à He is known to me.

In 21, ‘known’ may be considered as an adjective and therefore, it may not really be the passive of the active form. For comparison, consider the passive sentence without the agent. e.g.,

21.(b) He is known.

It mans everyone knows him. He is so popular.

Uses of the Passive:

(a)        When the object of a transitive verb becomes more important than its subject, we use a passive sentence, e.g., we say.

22. (b) The chairman has cancelled the meeting.

We are more interested to know what happened to the meeting. It doesn’t matter who has cancelled it.  

(b)  Sometimes the performer or the agent is not known or is difficult to identify. At that time the passive becomes quite useful, e.g.,

23. Earth’s atmosphere is continually being damaged.

We know that some foolish people damage the atmosphere. But we are not sure who they are. So, we use the passive.

(C). There is an important difference between the active and the passive. It depends on what we want to focus on e.g.,

24.       (a) Have you fed the dog?

24.       (b) Has the dog been fed?

In 24 (a) I ask you if you have fed the dog. But In 24(b) it does not matter who fed the dog. I only want to know whether the dog has been fed.

(d) In notices, scientific writings, reports of meetings, reports of experiments etc. the passive is used quite often.

25. Children under 12 are not allowed.

26. Penicillin was invented by Fleming.

28. A pinch of salt was added to the liquid.

In all these cases the agent is insignificant.

Restrictions  on the use of the passive.

(a)  Intransitive verbs cannot be passivised as there is no object to come to the subject position. E.g.,

29. (a) He laughed heartily.

There is no object there, only an adverb is there (laughed how?). If we change the sentence into 29(b), still then we cannot have a passive form, e.g.,

29.       (b)        He laughed a heartily laugh.

This sort of cognate object cannot go into the subject position.

(b) ‘Stative’ verbs which refer to mental states and not to actions usually have no passive  forms and no-ing forms. E.g.,

30. They have a nice house.

31.  My new shoes do not fit me.

32. That colour suits you.

33. Arun resembles his father.

34. Your brother lacks intelligence.

The verbs of these sentences cannot be passivised.

(c )       Some transitive verbs like get, have, let, like, suit, survive, resemble etc. are rarely used in the passive voice, e.g.,

35. He got the first prize.

(d)       The passive voice of climb, eat, drink, fear etc. appears so absurd and artificial that they are not commonly used in the passive, e.g.,

36. He climbed the tree.

37. We eat mangoes.

(e)         Sometimes verbs like was, blame, help  etc. cannot be passivised. In some cases they can, e.g.,

38.  Arun washed his hands.

The sentence cannot be passivised. But

39. The clothes have been washed.

40. He was blamed for his negligence.

41. They were helped by everyone.

These are all passive sentences.

(f) If the object is each other, one another, or a self-type pronoun, there cannot be a passive voice, e.g.,

42. Ram and Shyam helped each other.

(*Each other was helped by Ram and Shyam.)

43. I was myself in the mirror.

(*Myself was seen by me in the mirror.)

The passive sentences marked * are unacceptable.

(g)  Some phrasal verbs behave like transitive verb and can be passivised. Yet, there are some phrasal verbs which cannot be turned into the passive. E.g.,

44.       She looked after the children well. àThe children were well looked after. But

45.       The plane took offà No passive.

Restrictions on the use of the active voice :

(a)        Some verbs are used in the passive form only. They do not have any active form.

46.       I was born in 1992.

47.       You are supposed to finish the lesson by tomorrow.

48.       The man was drowned.

49.       He was caught in a traffic jam.

(But the thief was caught can be turned into the active voice)

50. She is reputed ot be a good teache.

(b)  Sometimes the active infinitive has a passive meaning.

51.       (a) You are not to blame.

            (b) You are not to be blamed.

52.       (a) There is a house to let.

            (b) There is a house to be let.

(C).      After some verbs the –ing form of another verb is more useful than the passive infinitive, e.g.,

53.       (a)  The room needs cleaning. =

            (b)  The room needs to be cleaned.

(d)       Imperative sentences usually do not have the passive voice. Sometimes, we use let or be to turn them into passive. However, such passive sentences lose their imperativeness, e.g.,

54.       Announce the results. à Let the results be announced.

55.       Prepare (yourself) for the worst. à Be prepared for the worst.

Get / Have – passive:

Get / Have + Verb –en can work as a passive sentence, e.g. ,

56.       (a) He cut his hair.

            (b) He had his hair cut.

            (c.) He got his hair cut.

Obviously, in 56(b) and 56(c) he appointed somebody to cut his hair. But we cannot get a similar meaning in these sentences:

57.       He got hurt in the accident.

58.       We got delayed in a traffic jam.

Verbs like arrested, caught, confused, divorced, drunk, elected, engaged, killed, lost, married etc. follow ‘get’ in the passive voice as mentioned above.

EXERCISE-6

Put in was/were/did/have /has in the blank spaces and then say which sentence is in the active voice (A) or in the passive voice (P). The first one has been answered as an example.

1. _________ you come to school yesterday?
2. Where _________ you born?
3. When _________ this road built?
4. Why _________ they come to school late?
5. How long _________ you been studying here?
6. _________ Anupama gone home?
7. Why _________ he scolded?

EXERCISE-7

Make passive sentences using the words given in the brackets:

1. Was there any trouble during the strike?

Yes. (about 20 people / arrest)

1. Did anybody call for the ambulance to the place of accident?

Yes. (but nobody / injure / so it/ not / need)

1. Where is bicycle?

Yes. (he / like / everybody)

1. A tree was lying across the road.

It’s gone! (it / steal)

• A tree was lying across the road.

(it / blow / down in the cyclone )

• Last night someone broke into our house.

Oh dear. (Anything / steal?)

• The people next door left the place six months ago.

Ah, (they / not / seen / since then)

• Our headmaster can’t use his office now.
• (it / repair)
• The blackboard looks neat and clean.

It (clean / by the monitor)

• (When / that temple / Build? )

I read somewhere that it was built in the 12^th century.

Exercise-8

Fill in the blanks with being + asked / attacked /given / invited / kept/ paid/ used.

Example:

• Most children like _____ ______ presents on their birth days.
• Our Sarpanch doesn’t like his phone _____ ______ by other people.
• Few people are prepared to work without _____  ______
• I don’t like _____ ______ stupid questions.
• Our teacher doesn’t like _____ ______ waiting.
• He came to the function without _____  ______
• She won’t go out at night. She’s afraid of _____  ______

Exercise-9

Fill in the blanks with the proper form of get and the –en form of one of the following verb: – [break, catch, damage, hurt, steal, sting]

• Madhubal  _____  ______ by a bee while she was sitting in the garden.

Example : – got stung.

• Did any of these houses _____  ______ during the cyclone?
• There was police action during the strike. Twenty people _____  ______
• How did that doll _____  ______?
• If you continue to break the law, you will _____  ______
• I used to have a bicycle, but it _____  ______

Exercise-10

Rewrite the following sentences using the bracketed verbs in the passive voice and in proper tense forms: –

• If you have a wound, you (advise) to wash it clean.
• Louis Pasteur proved that diseases (cause) by germs.
• In New York many new skyscrapers (built) since that attack. More and more skyscrapers (build) nowadays to accommodate offices, shops and houses. More such buildings (erect) in future.
• Sunflower (can grow) in any type of soil. But it (should water) regularly.
• Potatoes (should boil) and (mash). It (should mix) with fried onion and green chilies.

Exercise-11

Complete the following passages with the appropriate forms of the given verbs in brackets.

1. Bomb Scare

            New Delhi, April 1 :- Work in the New Delhi Municipal Committee office (disrupt) for over 3 hours today when the police (clear) the building following a phone call that two bomb (plant) inside , reports PTI.

            The police (clear) the offices of the staff just before the lunch break, after they (inform) of the phone call received by the security officer.

            A three-hour thorough search (prove) the call to be a hoax as the bomb disposal unit (not come across) any explosive.

• Scrambled eggs.

                        To cook scrambled eggs, butter (should melt) in a frying pan over medium heat. Onions (should add) and (fry0 two minutes. Diced tomatoes and green chilies (add) next and (stir). It (cook) until the tomatoes soften a bit. Then beaten eggs (pour) in. Salt and pepper (sprinkle) lightly.