PASSIVE VOICE

PASSIVE VOICE

• 
• Caption: Passive constructions consist of an appropriate tense of be followed by the past participle of the main verb
• COMPARE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES:
• PROMINENT PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCHERS CONDUCTED THIS STYDY
• THIS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED BY PROMINENT PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCHERS
• THESE SENTENCES CONVEY IDENTICAL MEANING INFORMATION. YET 1) AND 2) DIFFER IN THAT THEY VIEW THE EVENTS IN THE QUESTION FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES:
• IS ABOUT PROMINENT PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCHERS.
• IS ABOUT THIS STUDY
• IN SENTENCE 2)THE PASSIVE VOICE IS USED.

PASSIVE VOICE

• SPEAKERS / WRITERS TEND TO RESERVE FINAL POSITION FOR NEW INFORMATION.
• E.G.
• THIS BOOK IS DESIGNED TO HELP TEACHERS WHO WANT TO ENCOURAGE GENUINE COMMUNICATION AMONG STUDENTS
• SOMETIMES SPEAKERS/WRITERS WANT TO LEAVE THE AGENT UNMENTIONED BECAUSE:
• THE AGENT IS NOT KNOWN
• THE AGENT'S IDENTITY IS NOT IMPORTANT
• THE SPEAKER/WRITER WANTS TO HIDE THE AGENT'S IDENTITY
• E.G.
• IDIOGRAMS WERE USED TO EXPRESS CERTAIN IDEAS.
• IN THIS BOOK CROSS REFERENCES ARE SHOWN WITH AN ARROW.
• IN THE FUTURE SOME STORIES WILL BE PRODUCED AS COMPUTER SOFTWARE, NOT BOOKS.
• 
• Caption: When the agent is mentioned it is introduced by the word by.

PASSIVE VOICE

PASSIVE VOICE

• Impersonal Passive It is said....
• The phrase It is said...is an impersonal passive construction. We often use it in news.
• Passive Sentence1--------- It is said children are afraid of ghosts.
• Passive sentence 2-------- Children are said to be afraid by ghosts.
• The correct active sentence would be:
• Active sentence------------People say that children are afraid of ghosts.

PASSIVE VOICE

• More Examples...
• Active: People believe that he is the hero of the town
• Passive 1: It is believed that he is the hero of the town
• Passive 2: He is believed to be the hero of the town
• Active: We understand that he dislikes children
• Passive 1 : It is understood that he dislikes children
• Pasive 2: He is understood to dislike children
• Active: People claim that he left the country two months ago.
• Passive 1 : It is claimed that he left the country two months ago.
• Passive 2 : He is claimed to have left the country two months ago.
• Active: They say that he was very rich in the past
• Passive 1: It is said that he was rich in the past
• Passive2_ He is said to have been rich in the past-
• Active: People think that he has deserted his family.
• Passive 1: It is thought that he has deserted his family
• Passive 2: He is thought to have deserted his family.
• Active 1: People expect that the range of crime will go down soon.
• Passive 1:It is expected that the rate of crime will go down soon.
• Passive 2: The rate of crime is expected to go down soon.