PASSIVE  AND ACTIVE VOICE

The “passive voice” is a grammatical construction in which the subject of a sentence or clause denotes the recipient of the action rather than the perfomer. Active voice is a more reguler used in life everyday rather than passive voice. Passive voice is used because the object of active voice is more important rather than the subject. Many language critics and language-usage manuals discourage use of the passive voice. In English this advice is not usually found in older guides, emerging only in the first half of the twentieth century.

Example:

·         Active : we fertilize the plants every 3 months

·         Passive : the plants is fertilized by us every 3 months

·         Transitive verbs have both active and passive forms:

active		passive
The hunter killed the lion.	>>	The lion was killed by the hunter.
Someone has cleaned the windows	>>	The windows have been cleaned

·        
The passive forms are made up of the verb be with a past participle:

	be	past participle
English	is	Spoken	all over the world
The windows	have been	Cleaned
Lunch	was being	Served
The work	will be	Finished	Soon
They	might have been	Invited	to the party

·        
We sometimes use the verb get to form the passive:

·         Be careful with the glass. It might get broken.
Peter got hurt in a crash.

·         If we want to show the person or thing doing the action we use by:

·         She was attacked by a dangerous dog.
The money was stolen by her husband.

·         We can use the indirect object as the subject of a passive verb:

·          

active		passive
I gave him a book for his birthday	>>	He was given a book for his birthday.
Someone sent her a cheque for a thousand euros	>>	She was sent a cheque for a thousand euros.

·        
We can use phrasal verbs in the passive:

·          

active		passive
They called off the meeting.	>>	The meeting was called off.
His grandmother looked after him.	>>	He was looked after by his grandmother.
They will send him away to school.	>>	He will be sent away to school.

·         Some verbs very frequently used in the passive are followed by the to-infinitive:

·          

be supposed to	be expected to	be asked to
be scheduled to	be allowed to	be told to

·         John has been asked to make a speech at the meeting.
You are supposed to wear a uniform.
The meeting is scheduled to start at seven. 

According to the example above, we can see that:

1. The object in active voice (the plants) become subject in passive voice.

2. The subject in active voice (we) become object in passive voice. And there is change from subject pronoun ‘we’ become object pronoun ‘us’.

3. Verb1 (fertilize) in active voice become verb3 (fertilized) in passive voice.

4. Added tobe ‘is’ in front of verb3. Tobe that used depend on the subject in passive voice and tenses that used.

5. Added ‘by’ after verb3. but, if the object in passive voice assumed unimportant or not known, so the object is usually not used and so is ‘by’.

6. Special for progressive sentences (all continuous tenses) necessary add ‘being’ in front of verb3, if not added “being”, the tenses will change, not progressive/continuous anymore.

According to the six above, the pattern of passive voice is:

Subject + to be + Verb3 + by + Object + modifier

* Pattern of passive voice in tenses

1. Simple Present Tense, use tobe: ‘am’, ‘is’ or ‘are’.

Example:

·         Active : He meets them everyday.

·         Passive : They are met by him everyday.

·         Active : She waters this plant every two days.

·         Passive : This plant is watered by her every two days.

2. Present Continuous Tense, use ‘tobe (am, is or are)’ + ‘being’.

Example:

·         Active : He is meeting them now.

·         Passive : They are being met by him now.

·         Active : She is watering this plant now.

·         Passive : This plant is being watered by her now.

3. Present Perfect Tense, use ‘has been’ or ‘have been’.

Example:

·         Active : He has met them.

·         Passive : They have been met by him.

·         Active : She has watered this plant 5 minutes ago.

·         Passive : This plant has been watered by her 5 minutes ago.

4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense, use ‘has been’ or ‘have been’ + being.

Example:

·         Active : He has been meeting them.

·         Passive : They have been being met by him.

·         Active : She has been watering this plant.

·         Passive : This plant has been being watered by her.

5. Simple Past Tense, use tobe: ‘was’ or ‘were’.

Example:

·         Active : He met them yesterday.

·         Passive : They were met by him yesterday.

·         Active : She watered this plant every two days.

·         Passive : This plant was watered by her every two days.

6. Past Continuous Tense, use ‘tobe (was or were)’ + ‘being’.

Example:

·         Active : He was meeting them.

·         Passive : They were being met by him.

·         Active : She was watering this plant.

·         Passive : This plant was being watered by her.

7. Past Perfect Tense, use ‘had been’.

Example:

·         Active : He had met them before I came.

·         Passive : They had been met by him before I came.

·         Active : She had watered this plant for 5 minutes when I got here.

·         Passive : This plant had been watered by her for 5 minutes when I got here.

8. Past Perfect Continuous Tense, use ‘had been’ + ‘being’.

Example:

·         Active : He had been meeting them.

·         Passive : They had been being met by him.

·         Active : She had been watering this plant.

·         Passive : This plant had been being watered by her.

9. Simple Future Tense, use ‘be’.

Example:

·         Active : He will meet them tomorrow.

·         Passive : They will be met by him tomorrow.

·         Active : She will water this plant this afternoon.

·         Passive : This plant will be watered by her this afternoon.

·         Active : The farmers are going to harvest the crops next week.

·         Passive : The crops are going to be harvested by the farmers next week.

10. Future Continuous Tense, use ‘will be’ + ‘being’.

Example:

·         Active : He will be meeting them.

·         Passive : They will be being met by him.

·         Active : She will be watering this plant.

·         Passive : This plant will be being watered by her.

11. Future Perfect Tense, use ‘will have been’.

Example:

·         Active : He will have met them before I get there tomorrow.

·         Passive : They will have been met by him before I get there tomorrow.

·         Active : She will have watered this plant before I get here this afternoon.

·         Passive : This plant will have been watered by her before I get here this afternoon.

12. Future Perfect Continuous Tense, use ‘will have been’ + ‘being’.

Example:

·         Active : He will have been meeting them.

·         Passive : They will have been being met by him.

·         Active : She will have been watering this plant.

·         Passive : This plant will have been being watered by her.

13. Past Future Tense, use ‘would be’.

Example:

·         Active : He would meet them.

·         Passive : They would be met by him.

·         Active : She would water this plant.

·         Passive : This plant would be watered by her.

14. Past Future Continuous Tense, use ‘would be’ + ‘being’.

Example:

·         Active : He would be meeting them.

·         Passive : They would be being met by him.

·         Active : She would be watering this plant.

·         Passive : This plant would be being watered by her.

15. Past Future Perfect Tense, use ‘would have been’.

Example:

·         Active : He would have met them.

·         Passive : They would have been met by him.

·         Active : She would have watered this plant.

·         Passive : This plant would have been watered by her.

16. Past Future Perfect Continuous Tense, use ‘would have been’ + ‘being’.

Example:

·         Active : He would be meeting them.

·         Passive : They would be being met by him.

·         Active : She would be watering this plant.

·         Passive : This plant would be being watered by her.

*Exceptions to the Rule

Not every passive verb can or should be made active. Sometimes you simply don’t know who or what performed an action, or you deliberately want to obscure who performed an action. Sometimes you want the focus of a sentence to be the recipient, such as when who did an action is unimportant or less important than to whom it was done. A passive verb puts the recipient right up front in the sentence where it gets attention:

Examples:

·         Ten people were killed in the plane crash.

·         Tracy was featured on the TV nightly news.

·         George was born on April 27th.

The passive is also customary in many expressions where a writer or speaker may choose to be vague about assigning responsibility:

Examples:

·         Flight 107 has been cancelled.

·         Mistakes were made.

·         The check was lost in the mail.

*So when is it OK to use the passive?

Sometimes the passive voice is the best choice. Here are a few instances

when the passive voice is quite useful:

1. To emphasize an object. Take a look at this example:

100 votes are required to pass the bill.

This passive sentence emphasizes the number of votes required. An active version of the sentence ("The bill requires 100 votes to pass") would put the emphasis on the bill, which may be less dramatic.

2. To deemphasize an unknown subject. Consider this example:

Over 120 different contaminants have been dumped into the river.

If you don't know who the subject is—in this case, if you don't actually know who dumped all of those contaminants in the river—then you may need to write in the passive.

3. If your readers don't need to know who's responsible for the action.

Here's where your choice can be difficult; some instances are less clear than others. Try to put yourself in your reader's position to anticipate how he/shewill react to the way you have phrased your thoughts. Here are two examples:

·         Baby Sophia was delivered at 3:30 a.m. yesterday.(passive)

·         Dr. Susan Jones delivered baby Sophia at 3:30 a.m. yesterday.

(active)

The first sentence might be more appropriate in a birth announcement sent to family and friends—they are not likely to know Dr. Jones and are much more interested in the "object"(the baby) than in the actor (the doctor). A hospital report of yesterday's events might be more likely to focus on Dr. Jones' role.

Soal Passive Voice

Pilihlah jawaban passive voice yang tepat bagi kalimat aktif yang ada pada soal.

1.      Mommy cleans the room every day.

Passive voice is :

a.       The room was clean by mommy every day

b.      The room is clean by mommy every day

c.       The room is cleaned by mommy every day

d.      Mommy is cleaned the room every day

e.       The room was being cleaned by mommy every day

Answer : C

            Kalimat aktif menunjukkan jenis kalimat Simple Present Tense (cleans, everyday), maka struktur passive voice nya adalah To Be (is/am/are) + V₃. Jawaban paling tepat untuk struktur ini adalah pilihan C.

2.      My uncle fixed the toy yesterday.

Passive voice is:

a.       My uncle was fixed the toy yesterday

b.      The toy was fixed by my uncle yesterday

c.       The toy was fix by my uncle yesterday

d.      My uncle was being fixed the toy yesterday

e.       The toy had been fixed by my uncle yesterday

Answer : B

Kalimat aktifnya menunjukkan Simple Past Tense (fixed, yesterday), maka struktur passive voice nya adalah To be (was/were) + V₃. Jawaban yang paling tepat untuk struktur ini adalah pilihan B.

3.      Joe has taken a Mandarin course.

Passive voice is :

a.       Joe has been taken a Mandarin course

b.      A Mandarin course taken by Joe

c.       A Mandarin course has been taken by Joe

d.      Mandarin courses have taken by Joe

e.       Mandarin course will be taken by Joe

Answer : C

Kalimat aktifnya menunjukkan jenis kalimat Present Perfect Tense (has taken), maka struktur passive voice nya adalah To be (has/have been) + V₃). Jawaban yang tepat untuk struktur ini adalah pilihan C.

4.      In the 1920’s this TV ______________

a.       Is manufactured

b.      Was manufactured

c.       Will be manufactured

Answer : B

Struktur kalimat merupakan Simple Past Tense (1920 = masa lampau), maka jawaban paling tepat adalah To be (was/were) + V₃.

5.      She ________________ to my wedding party.

a.       Are invited

b.      Have been invited

c.       Has been invited

Answer : C

Cara mudah untuk menjawab pertanyaan di atas adalah pelihat subjek kalimat, yaitu “She”, maka cara cepatnya carilah To be yang sesuai dengan subjek She.

6.      Her first novel _________________ tommorow morning.

a.       Is launched

b.      Was launched

c.       Will be launched

Answer : C

Struktur kalimat merupakan Simple Future ( tommorow morning), maka jawaban yang paling tepat adalah will be + V₃.

7.      Pilihlah jawaban yang tepat untuk melengkapi percakapan berikut ini!
A: I would like to book one VIP room for tomorrow, please!
B: I am so sorry Sir, The rooms . . . until the end of the week.

a. Have already booked fully
b. Has already booked fully
c. Booking it fully
d. To be booked fully
e. Is booked fully

Answer : A

8.      George doesn’t want to clean the room. He doesn’t want to . . . .
a. Ordered
b. Be Ordered
c. Order
d. Ordering
e. Is ordering

Answer : B

9.      Pilihlah jawaban yang tepat untuk melengkapi percakapan berikut ini!
A: Why can’t I find my script files on this laptop?
B: It already gone because the laptop . . . . yesterday.

a. Be fixed
b. Fixed
c. Was fixed
d. Are fixed
e. Were fixed

Answer : C

10.  Pilihlah jawaban yang tepat untuk melengkapi percakapan berikut ini!
A: Why are you so hurry?
B: I have arrive there on time because I . . . by my fiends there.

a. Waited
b. To be waited
c. Am waiting
d. Am waited
e. Waits

            Answer : D

ESSAY

1.      My father fixed the car yesterday

The car was fixed by my father yesterday.

2.      He fixes the broken bike everyday

The broken bike is fixed by him everyday.

3.      The students are using the computers now.

The computers are being used by the students now.

4.      Ella has taken an English verb.

An English ver has been taken by Ella.

Fill in the blank !

5.      In the 70’s, this car…

a.       Is manufacturing               b. was manufactured               c. was manufacturing

6.      Her first book … tomorrow morning.

a.       Will be launched               b. is launched                          c. has been launched

Change these sentences into active !

7.      The class room is cleaned by the janitor everyday.

The janitor cleans the class room everyday.

8.      Our grandmother will be being visited by us next week.

We will be visiting our grandmother next week.

9.      Some old documents were translated by them last month.

They translated some old documents last month.

10.  The important email has been sent by my secretary.

My secretary has sent the important email.

Sources

A.R., Nina. 2010. Hafalan Luar Kepala 16 Tenses. Yogyakarta: Pustaka

Widyatama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice%28grammar%29

http://swarabhaskara.com/miscellaneous/activeandpassivevoice/

http://projects.uwc.utexas.edu/handouts/?q=node/24

http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/passivevoice.html

http://biarmiakbar.blogspot.com/