Using the passive voice

MIND OUR ENGLISH Friday June 15, 2007

Using the passive voice

By GUY PERRING

CONSIDER these three sentences: 1) The Prime Minister opened the Seremban substation on 14 May, 1988.

2) The Seremban substation was opened by the Prime Minister on 14 May, 1988.

3) The Seremban substation was opened on 14 May, 1988.

You will notice that the first sentence has an active structure with the verb opened (past simple), while examples 2 and 3 contain passive structures. In this case, both are simple past passive which is formed with was + past participle.

You will notice in the three examples above that the meaning is essentially the same. The passive, however, can change the emphasis. From the above examples which would you use in the following:

a) in a report entitled ‘Maintenance of Power Supply’

b) in a newspaper article on ‘The hectic life of the Prime Minister’

c) on a commemorative plaque

In a formal report on power supply, it is not important who opened the substation, however important he is, so the information is left out as in 3.

In a newspaper article with a focus on the Prime Minister, he remains the centre of attention and, therefore, we use an active tense with the Prime Minister as the subject (1).

A commemorative plaque celebrates both the actual opening and who opened it (2).

The passive is used when the person who performs the action is unknown, obvious or not the key focus of attention. Passive structures are more common in formal situations such as reports or minutes. The use of the passive leads to an impersonal style that suits this type of writing. It can distance the reader from the subject and is a way to avoid blame, or sometimes, in a more negative sense, evade responsibility.

It was decided to move the office to Batu Pahat.

It was agreed that Azman should leave by the end of the month.

It was determined that legal action should not be taken.

Get something done is another common passive form. It is more informal than the standard passive. For example, compare these two sentences:

The house got badly damaged in the floods.

The house was badly damaged in the floods.

There is no difference in meaning, but you are more likely to use the first example in less formal contexts than the first.

You should note that we do not use this structure “get + past participle” when talking about longer, more planned actions:

The company was founded in 1978. This is fine.

We would not say: The company got founded in 1978.

Newspapers are full of passives. A good way of studying this area is to look at each example and think about why they are being used. Happy hunting!

After reading the above article, I sent to The Editor of MIND OUR ENGLISH on June 23, 2007 my comments (reproduced below) which have yet to receive a response:-

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I refer to the article entitled "Using the passive voice" in MIND OUR ENGLISH of Friday June 15, 2007 and in particular, the sentence reading, "It can distance the reader from the subject and is a way to avoid blame, or sometimes, in a more negative sense, evade responsibility."


Along that line, I consider it expedient to add the following:-


READER'S DIGEST HOW TO WRITE AND SPEAK BETTER (Reprinted in 2005) has stated, "If you can express a particular idea adequately in both the active and the passive voice, you should usually use the active voice, so long as you can do so without impairing the meaning or emphasis. ..... Active verbs also differ from passive verbs in the effect they tend to produce. As the very word suggests, an active verb typically creates a strong and vigorous impression. And a passive verb, as the very word suggests, seems to convey a docile and timid impression“；and


In http://faculty.brownell.edu/~dalarsen/Writing%20Materials%20and%20Graphics/PROOFREADER%20MARKS.html

（MR. LARSEN'S PROOFREADER MARKS

"THE FIRST RESPONSIBILITY OF A WRITER IS CLARITY."
--Dr. John McKenna, Professor of English, the University of Nebraska, Omaha）,this site lists examples of errors excerpted from student papers. The weak sentences are in red text; the corrected/improved sentences, in green.

voice --This indicates that the writer used a passive voice verb (note that passive voice has nothing to do with past tense). The following sentence contains a passive voice verb: "She is given some treatment." The verb phrase is given is in the passive voice. For an explanation of passive voice, see the brief explanation of Voice of Verbs. Revised so that the verb is in the active voice, the sentence might read "She received some treatment."
Here is another example: "He grabs a couple of books before they are burned." The verb phrase are burned is in the passive voice. Revised, the sentence might read like this: "He grabs a couple of books before he sets them on fire," or--if the one who starts the fire is not the He of this sentence--it could read this way: "He grabs a couple of books before the fireman burns them."

Kengt, Penang

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