Passive voice Introduction • Active vs. passive voice: • In active sentences, the subject of a clause is most often the agent of some action: Darwin studied the fauna of the Galapagos Islands. • In passive sentences, it is the receiver which is in subject position: The fauna of the Galapagos Islands was studied by Darwin.Passive voice The passive with tense and aspect: interaction with… • modals: Diamonds can be mined in South Africa. • simple present: Diamonds are mined in South Africa. • present perfect: Diamonds have been mined… • present progressive: Diamonds are being mined… • simple past: Diamonds were mined… • past progressive: Diamonds were being mined… • with be going to for future: Diamonds are going to be mined… • and, more recently in AmE, perfect progressive (though quite rare): Diamonds have been being mined.Passive voice Get-passives • quite common in informal, conversational English Remy got invited to the party. • difference between be-passives and get-passives: • get does not function as a true auxiliary like be does  do must serve as an operator in questions/negation Was Remy arrested? vs. Did Remy get arrested? No, he wasn’t caught. vs. No, he didn’t get caught. • get-passives occur more readily in perfect progressives Anton Ego has been getting sidetracked for years. ?Anton Ego has been being sidetracked for years.Passive voice Meaning differences between be- and get-passives • be-passives are neutral, get-passives often have an adversative connotation Remy’s cousin got killed in a car accident. Remy once got trapped in a really evil mouse trap. Louis got punished for eating all the cheese in storage.Passive voice Complex be-passives • be-passives can combine with complements (that-clauses, infinitives) to produce complex passives It is rumored that his restaurant will win an award. [That mice have labor rights too] has been decided. Mice are thought to be clever little rodents.Passive voice Passive only! • Some English passive sentences have no active counterpart Jan and her twin Mark were born in Wisconsin. ?Her mother bore Jan and Mark in Wisconsin. [but: The lioness bore three cubs.  human birth only?] • Other verbs preferably occurring in passive voice: be deemed, be fined, be hospitalized, be jailed, be scheduled, be shipped, be staffed, be suspended • Complex passives with no active equivalent: It is rumored that Remy forgot the recipe. *Someone rumors that Remy forgot the recipe.Passive voice Semantic constraints using the passive – JUST FYI • the subjects in passives need to be somehow affected by the action denoted by the verb  some transitive stative verbs cannot form the passive • verbs of containing (contain, hold, comprise) *Two gallons of red wine are held by this bottle. • measure verbs (weigh, cost, contain, last) *Five dollars is cost by the appetizer. • reciprocal verbs (resemble, look like, equal) *Remy is resembled by his brother. • verbs of fitting (fit, suit) *He is suited by the menu choices. • verbs of possession (have, belong) *A restaurant is owned by him.Passive voice Past participles: adjective or passive? Consider: “The windows were broken” A. The kitchen was a mess. The paintwork was peeling and the windows were broken. (participle=adjectival) B. The windows were broken by the force of an explosion. (participle=passive)  test: is a by-phrase possible or not?Passive voice The use of the passive • in contexts in which we want to defocus the agent • agent obvious or not important Wine is grown in France. The crystals were dissolved in the solution. • unknown agent The restaurant was broken into yesterday. • avoiding “blaming” agent (tactful or evasive speaker/writer) Remy was given some bad advice about selecting veggies. The soup was peppered too strongly.Passive voice Agented passives can occur… • when the agent is new information While Claudette was walking down the street, her baguette was snatched by a young man. • when the agent is nonhuman All the lights in the cold room are automatically switched off at night by this electrical control. • when the agent is a well-known personage The Mona Lisa was painted by da