BAHASA INGGRIS BISNIS 2 #
SUBJECT + TO BE + PAST PART ( VERB III )
Passive : A letter is always written by Husnul every week.
Subject to be verb III
Form of Passive
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)
Example: A letter was written.
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice,
note the following:
- the
object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
- the
finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
- the
subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or
is dropped)
Examples of Passive
Tense
|
Subject
|
Verb
|
Object
|
|
Simple Present
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
writes
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
is written
|
by Rita.
|
|
Simple Past
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
wrote
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
was written
|
by Rita.
|
|
Present Perfect
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
has written
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
has been written
|
by Rita.
|
|
Future I
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
will write
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
will be written
|
by Rita.
|
|
Hilfsverben
|
Active:
|
Rita
|
can write
|
a letter.
|
Passive:
|
A letter
|
can be written
|
by Rita.
|
|
The structure og the passive voice is very simple:
subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle)
The main verb is always in its past participle form.
Look at these examples :
subject
|
auxiliary verb (to be)
|
main verb (past participle)
|
||
Water
|
is
|
drunk
|
by everyone.
|
|
100 people
|
are
|
employed
|
By this company.
|
|
I
|
am
|
paid
|
in euro.
|
|
We
|
are
|
not
|
paid
|
in dollars.
|
Are
|
they
|
paid
|
in yen?
|
Conjugation for the Passive Voice
We can form the passive in any tense. In fact, conjugation of verbs in the passive tense is rather easy, as the main verb is always in past participle form and the auxiliary verb is always be. To form the required tense, we conjugate the auxiliary verb. So, for example :
- present simple: It is made
- present continuous: It is being made
- present perfect: It has been made
infinitive
|
to be washed
|
|
simple
|
present
|
It is washed.
|
past
|
It was washed.
|
|
future
|
It will be washed.
|
|
conditional
|
It would be washed.
|
|
continuous
|
present
|
It is being washed.
|
past
|
It was being washed.
|
|
future
|
It will be being washed.
|
|
conditional
|
It would be being washed.
|
|
perfect simple
|
present
|
It has been washed.
|
past
|
It had been washed.
|
|
future
|
It will have been washed.
|
|
conditional
|
It would have been washed.
|
|
perfect
continuous
|
present
|
It has been being washed.
|
past
|
It had been being washed.
|
|
future
|
It will have been being washed.
|
|
conditional
|
It would have been being washed
|
|
When
do I use passive voice?
In some
sentences, passive voice can be perfectly acceptable. You might use it in the
following cases:
1.
The actor is unknown:
The
cave paintings of Lascaux were made in the Upper Old Stone Age. [We don't know
who made them.]
2.
The actor is irrelevant:
An
experimental solar power plant will be built in the Australian desert. [We are
not interested in who is building it.]
3.
You want to be vague about who is responsible:
Mistakes
were made. [Common in bureaucratic writing!]
4.
You are talking about a general truth:
Rules
are made to be broken. [By whomever, whenever.]
5.
You want to emphasize the person or thing acted on. For
example, it may be your main topic:
Insulin was first discovered in 1921 by
researchers at the University of Toronto. It is still the only treatment
available for diabetes.
6.
You are writing in a scientific genre that
traditionally relies on passive voice. Passive voice is often preferred in lab
reports and scientific research papers, most notably in the Materials and
Methods section:
The
sodium hydroxide was dissolved in water. This solution was then titrated with
hydrochloric acid.
In these
sentences you can count on your reader to know that you are the one who did the
dissolving and the titrating. The passive voice places the emphasis on your
experiment rather than on you.
Note: Over
the past several years, there has been a movement within many science
disciplines away from passive voice. Scientists often now prefer active voice
in most parts of their published reports, even occasionally using the subject
"we" in the Materials and Methods section. Check with your instructor
or TA whether you can use the first person "I" or "we" in
your lab reports to help avoid the passive.
When
should I avoid passive voice?
Passive
sentences can get you into trouble in academic writing because they can be
vague about who is responsible for the action:
Both Othello and Iago desire
Desdemona. She is courted. [Who
courts Desdemona? Othello? Iago? Both of them?]
Academic
writing often focuses on differences between the ideas of different
researchers, or between your own ideas and those of the researchers you are
discussing. Too many passive sentences can create confusion:
Research has been done to discredit this theory. [Who did the
research? You? Your professor? Another author?]
Some students
use passive sentences to hide holes in their research:
The telephone was invented in the nineteenth century. [I couldn't
find out who invented the telephone!]
Finally,
passive sentences often sound wordy and indirect. They can make the reader work
unnecessarily hard. And since they are usually longer than active sentences,
passive sentences take up precious room in your paper:
Since
the car was being driven by Michael at the time of the accident, the damages
should be paid for by him.
SUMBER :
SUMBER BUKU :
P, Rachmat Effendi
Cara mudah menulis dan menerjemahkan / Rachmat Effendi P.: Cover Design. Masrur Chudlori -- Cet.1.1998 (Judul Asli Cetakan I : English for Translating and Interpreting Study).
Cara mudah menulis dan menerjemahkan / Rachmat Effendi P.: Cover Design. Masrur Chudlori -- Cet.1.1998 (Judul Asli Cetakan I : English for Translating and Interpreting Study).
