Verbs 13:The Passive (Part 2)

Materials by Liz Siler

The Passive• To understand the passive, we must

first understand that there are three important types of verbs in English: transitive, intransitive, and linking.

Transitive Verbs

• Transitive verbs are verbs that take one or more objects.

• An object can be:– A noun phrase– A pronoun– A noun clause

Examples

• I teach | English daily.

• My dog is chasing | an old cat.

• The actress kissed | her children in front of the crowd.

• He hugged | his dog.

3 Ways to Locate the Object 1

• In English, an object of the verb (usually) comes to the right of the verb.

– The dog bit > the man. – The man bit > the dog.

3 Ways to Locate the Object 2

• Try asking the question “who” or “what” with the subject and the verb phrase.

• The answer is often the object.– The dog bit the man. Who did the dog

bite? (The man).– The man bit the dog. Who did the man

bite? (The dog).– The man bit the ice cream cone. What did

the man bite? (The ice cream cone).

3 Ways to Locate the Object 3

• Try replacing the object with an object pronoun.

• The dog bit the man > The dog bit him.

• The man bit the ice cream cone > The man bit it.

• Object Pronouns

Singular plural

1st person Me Us

2nd person You you

3rd person Him/her/it them

Examples

• I teach English daily.• I teach it daily.• My dog is chasing an old tom cat.• My dog is chasing it. My dog is chasing him.• The actress kissed her children in front of the

crowd.• The actress kissed them in front of the crowd.• He kissed his wife on the cheek. • He kissed her on the cheek.

CRITICAL PASSIVE POINT!

• Only verb phrases in which the lexical verb is transitive can be made passive.

• In other words, for a clause to be made passive, its original form (called “the active”) has to have a transitive verb phrase followed by an object of the verb.

Forming the Passive - 1

• Find the subject, the verb phrase, and the object.

Sub Vb Phr. Obj.

|The doctor| was examining |the patient|.

Forming the Passive - 2

• Determine the tense and aspect of the verb phrase.

• The doctor |was examining |the patient.

• Was examining = past tense, progressive aspect.

Forming the Passive - 3

• Insert the correct form of TO BE right before the lexical verb.

• The “be” should be in the same tense and aspect as the original verb phrase.

• The doctor was examining the patient > The doctor was being examining the patient.

Forming the Passive - 4

• Change the lexical verb to the past participle.

• The doctor was examining the patient.>

• The doctor was being examining the patient. >

• The doctor was being examined the patient.

Forming the Passive - 5

• Reverse the positions of the subject and the object.

• The doctor was examining the patient.>• The doctor was being examining the patient.>• The doctor was being examined the patient.>• The patient was being examined the doctor.

Forming the Passive - 6

• Stick the word “by” in front of the former subject.

• The doctor was examining the patient.>• The doctor was being examining the patient>• The doctor was being examined the patient.>• The patient was being examined the doctor.> • The patient was being examined by the

doctor

Intransitive Verbs

• Intransitives are verbs that do not take objects. There are basically two types:– (A) Those that are always intransitive.– (B) Those that are sometimes intransitive

and sometimes not.

Examples

Example (A): (Always intransitive) The accident happened. The man disappeared from the scene of the accident. The woman died at the scene.Example (B): (Sometimes intransitive) TRANSITIVE: He kissed his wife. INTRANSITIVE: They kissed quickly.

AGENT (whodunnit)

• The concept of “agent” is very important to understand.

• In active sentences, the “agent” is that which brings about the event or the state described by the verb.

Clear Agents

• Sometimes, the “agent” of an active English sentence is transparently clear and is actually the same as the subject.

• Example: The woman taught a grammar lesson. – “The woman” is the subject --- and clearly the

“agent” -- that which is bringing about the teaching.

• Example: The cat chased a mouse. – Who or what “did” the verb, the chasing? The cat.

The cat is the subject and the agent.

Unclear Agents

• Sometimes agents aren’t very clear.• They are implied or “understood” but very

obviously not the subject of the verb and very obviously NOT in the sentence.

Unclear Agents: Examples

• Example: The accident happened. • So who exactly did what? Did this accident just sort

of spontaneously combust or did someone DO something?

• Example: A review of Spanish colonial literature finds four major shipwreck narratives

• So who exactly did this finding of literature? Reviews don’t find themselves. Clearly someone did this finding.

More on Agents

• Some verbs can be both transitive and intransitive.

• Sometimes the subject of the transitive version is clearly the agent.

• However, the subject of the intransitive version is NOT the agent.John broke the plate. (John did it!)The plate broke. (Who did it?)

The Agentive Phrase• The “by phrase” in a passive is called the agentive

by-phrase. • Frequently it contains the agent -- BUT NOT

ALWAYS. • If the agent isn’t the subject in the active, the

agentive phrase is not the agent either!

Active: A review of Spanish colonial literature finds four major shipwreck narratives

Passive: Four major shipwreck narratives are found by a review of Spanish colonial literature.

Who does the finding?