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Using Passive Voice (#2), by Dennis Oliver
Using Passive Voice
#2:
Can all verbs be made passive?
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In sentences with passive verbs, the subject receives
the action:
it is not the "doer" of the verb's action:
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active: |
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Many
people visit "Dave's ESL Cafe." |
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passive: |
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"Dave's
ESL Cafe" is visited by
many people. |
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active: |
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Someone stole
Bob's car. |
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passive: |
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Bob's car was
stolen. |
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active: |
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Someone will
serve dinner
at
7:00 PM. |
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passive: |
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Dinner will
be served at 7:00 PM. |
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Because subjects of passive
verbs receive the action,
verbs that
cannot have objects (intransitive verbs)
do not have
passive forms. BE
and linking verbs,
for example,
do not have passive forms:
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impossible: |
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*is
been, *am been, *are been,
*was been, *were been,
*has been been, *have been been,
*had been
been, *can be been,
*want to be been, *used to be been |
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impossible: |
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*is appeared,
*are seemed,
*were become, *was looked, etc. |
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Here are a few examples of
other intransitive verbs.
They cannot be used in passive:
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impossible: |
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*is
rained, *are happened,
*was went, *were listened,
*has been lived, *have been stayed,
*had been
belonged, *can be slept,
*to be arisen, *to have been slept |
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Special Notes:
| 1. |
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A few verbs (including the
sensory verbs) have
both transitive
and intransitive meanings. For such
verbs, the
transitive meaning
can be passive, but
the intransitive meaning cannot:
Someone smelled the flower.
(transitive) --->
The flower was smelled.
The flower smelled sweet.
(intransitive) --->
no passive.
Someone tasted the food. (transitive)
--->
The food was tasted..
The food tasted delicious.
(intransitive) --->
no passive.
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| 2. |
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Remember: Only transitive verbs can have
passive forms. Sometimes you may not be sure
if a verb
is transitive or intransitive. When this
happens, check the verb in a dictionary. Most
dictionaries will have vt
(transitive verb) or
vi (intransitive verb) to show this information. |
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Next: more on passive
voice
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