Passive Voice
Passive Voice
Passive Voice
Passive Voice adalah kalimat Passif, yang menjelaskan Subyek yang menderita atau dikenai pekerjaan.
Kalimat Aktif :
I speak English today. (S+ Verb I+ O/ C). Artinya : Saya berbahasa Inggris.
Kalimat Passif :
English is spoken by me. (S+ TO BE (am, is, are)+ Verb III+ O/C).
Artinya : Bahasa Inggris dibicarakan oleh Saya.
The Cake is eaten by her. (S+ TO BE (am, is, are)+ Verb III+ O/ C)
Artinya : Kue dimakan oleh nya / dia wanita.
You was helped by him yesterday. Artinya : Kamu sudah ditolong olehnya/ dia laki-laki kemarin.
(Past Passive Voice karena menggunkan TO BE lampau).
She was loved by her Family. Artinya : Dia sudah dicintai oleh keluarganya.
(S+ TO BE (was/ were)+ Verb III+ O/ C).
As explained in the preceding chapter, the Active Voice of a verb is used when the
subject of the verb refers to the person or thing performing the action described by the
verb.
In contrast, the Passive Voice of a verb is used when the subject of the verb refers to
the person or thing receiving the action described by the verb. Only a verb which can
take an object can be put into the Passive Voice.
The Passive Voice is more commonly used in English than it is in other European
languages such as German or French. As well as being used in everyday English, the
Passive Voice is used extensively in official documents and scientific papers.
In the following examples, the verbs in the Passive Voice are underlined.
e.g. The ball was struck by the boy.
Gold has been found by the explorers.
In these examples, the verbs was struck and has been found are in the Passive Voice.
The subjects ball and gold refer to things receiving the actions described by the verbs.
For every tense in the Active Voice, there is a corresponding tense in the Passive
Voice. In the Passive Voice, the verb to be acts as an auxiliary. The Passive Voice
tenses of an English verb are formed from the corresponding conjugations of to be,
followed by the past participle of the verb.
The verb To Be compared with the Passive Voice of the verb To Show
Present Continuous Present Continuous
I am being I am being shown
you are being you are being shown
he is being he is being shown
she is being she is being shown
it is being it is being shown
we are being we are being shown
they are being they are being shown
* The other modal auxiliaries form conjugations in the same way as shown
for will and shall.
** The Present Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect Continuous, Future Continuous, and
Future Perfect Continuous tenses of the Passive Voice are cumbersome, and are rarely
used. Only the more commonly used tenses of the Passive Voice will be discussed
below.
As is the case for other English conjugations, verbs in the Passive Voice form
questions and negative statements using the first auxiliary.
a. Questions
To form a question, the first auxiliary is placed before the subject. For example:
See Exercise 1.
b. Negative statements
To form a negative statement, the word not is placed after the first auxiliary. For
example:
Negative Statements
You were not shown the sights.
She is not being shown the sights.
He will not have been shown the sights.
We should not be shown the sights.
See Exercise 2.
c. Negative questions
To form a negative question, the first auxiliary is placed before the subject, and the
word not is placed after the subject. However, when contractions are used, the
contracted form of not follows immediately after the auxiliary. Contractions are often
used in spoken English. For example:
Without Contractions
Were you not shown the sights?
Is she not being shown the sights?
Will he not have been shown the sights?
Should we not be shown the sights?
With Contractions
Weren't you shown the sights?
Isn't she being shown the sights?
Won't he have been shown the sights?
Shouldn't we be shown the sights?
See Exercise 3.
When the verb of a sentence is changed from the Active Voice to the Passive Voice
and the other words in the sentence are left unaltered, a change in meaning results. In
the following examples, the verbs are underlined.
e.g. Active Voice: He is driving to the airport.
Passive Voice: He is being driven to the airport.
The person referred to by the subject of the first sentence is behaving actively; the
person is doing the driving. The person referred to by the subject of the second
sentence is behaving passively; someone else is doing the driving.
Using the first person singular of the verb to show as an example, the following table
compares the most commonly used tenses of the Indicative Mood of the Passive
Voice with the corresponding tenses of the Active Voice.
In order to preserve the meaning of a sentence when the Voice of the verb is changed,
it is necessary to alter the order of the words in the sentence.
a. Changing the verb from the active voice to the passive voice
When a verb which takes an object is changed from the Active Voice to the Passive
Voice, in order to preserve the meaning of the sentence, the former object becomes
the subject of the verb, and the former subject may be preceded by the preposition by,
and placed after the verb. In the following examples, the verbs are underlined, and the
direct objects of the verbs are printed in bold type.
In the first pair of examples, the verb ate, in the Active Voice, is changed to was
eaten, in the Passive Voice. In order to preserve the meaning, nut, the object of the
verb in the Active Voice, becomes the subject of the verb in the Passive Voice, and is
placed before the verb; and squirrel, the subject of the verb in the Active Voice,
becomes the object of the preposition by, and is placed after the verb.
Similarly, in the second pair of examples, parcel, the object of the verb in the Active
Voice, becomes the subject of the verb in the Passive Voice and is placed before the
verb; and child, the subject of the verb in the Active Voice, becomes the object of the
preposition by, and is placed after the verb.
See Exercise 6.
It should be noted that, when changing the Voice of a verb in a sentence while
preserving the meaning of the sentence, it is necessary to make sure that the verb
agrees with its new subject.
e.g. Active: The boys are mowing the lawn.
Passive: The lawn is being mowed by the boys.
In the first sentence, the subject boys is plural; therefore a plural auxiliary are is used.
In the second sentence, the subject lawn is singular; therefore a singular auxiliary is is
used. The agreement of verbs with noun subjects is discussed in the next chapter.
b. Changing the verb from the passive voice to the active voice
When a verb is changed from the Passive Voice to the Active Voice, in order to
preserve the meaning of the sentence, the former subject becomes the object of the
verb, and, if the sentence includes a phrase beginning with the preposition by, the
former object of the preposition becomes the subject of the verb.
e.g. Passive: The clover is being eaten by the cow.
Active: The cow is eating the clover.
In this pair of examples, the verb is being eaten, in the Passive Voice, is changed to is
eating, in the Active Voice. In order to preserve the meaning of the sentence, clover,
the subject of the verb in the Passive Voice, becomes the object of the verb in the
Active Voice, and is placed after the verb; and cow, the object of the preposition by,
becomes the subject of the verb in the Active Voice, and is placed before the verb.
See Exercise 7.
c. Changing the voice of a verb which takes both a direct object and an indirect
object
When a verb in the Active Voice takes both a direct object and an indirect object,
either object can become the subject of the verb when the verb is put into the Passive
Voice, and the meaning of the sentence is preserved. The object which does not
become the subject remains as an object. When a verb in the Passive Voice takes an
indirect object, the indirect object is usually preceded by a preposition.
e.g. Active: The guide will show you the museum.
Passive: You will be shown the museum by the guide.
Passive: The museum will be shown to you by the guide.
In the first sentence, the verb will show, in the Active Voice, takes the direct
object museum, and the indirect object you. In the second and third sentences, the
verb will be shown is in the Passive Voice, and the meaning has been preserved by
altering the word order and using the preposition by. In the second sentence, the
former indirect object, you, is the subject of the verb, and the former direct
object, museum, remains the direct object. In the third sentence, the former direct
object, museum, is the subject of the verb, and the former indirect object, you, is
preceded by the preposition to.
In the first sentence, the verb gave, in the Active Voice, takes the direct
object medal and the indirect object you. In the second and third sentences, the
verb was given is in the Passive Voice. In the second sentence, the former indirect
object, you, is the subject of the verb, and the former direct object, medal, remains the
direct object. In the third sentence, the former direct object, medal, is the subject of
the verb, and the former indirect object, you, is preceded by the preposition to.
The Passive Voice tenses discussed so far have all been in the Indicative Mood.
However, verbs in the Passive Voice can also be put into the Subjunctive Mood.
It has been seen that all of the tenses in the Passive Voice are formed using
auxiliaries. As has already been explained, the Subjunctive Mood of tenses using
auxiliaries is formed by putting the first auxiliary into the Subjunctive Mood.
Using the verb to show as an example, the following table illustrates the formation of
the tenses of the Subjunctive Mood of the Passive Voice.
The following table summarizes the formation of the Subjunctive tenses of the Passive
Voice.
As can be seen from the preceding table, the Simple Present Subjunctive of The
Passive Voice is formed from the invariable auxiliary be, followed by the past
participle of the verb. The following sentences are examples of the use of the Simple
Present Subjunctive of the Passive Voice.
e.g. I request that he be invited to speak.
We asked that our suggestions be considered.
They will insist that their colleague be admitted to the association.
See Exercise 8.
In the first example, the Simple Past Subjunctive of the Passive Voice, were allowed,
is used in expressing a wish. In the second example, the Past Perfect Subjunctive of
the Passive Voice, had been invited, is used in expressing the false condition they
had been invited.
In English, verbs may be active or passive. In sentences
with active verbs, the subject performs ("does") the action.
In sentences with passive verbs, the subject receives the
action. (That is, someone or something other than the actual
subject grammatically performs the action.)
Passive verbs always have at least two parts: a form of BE
and a past participle. In the simple present and simple past
tenses, only these two parts are used:
Simple Present
Simple Past
_______________________________________________
Present Progressive
(BE + -ing verb for present progressive, BE + past participle
for passive):
______________________________
Past Progressive
(was / were + -ing verb for present progressive, BE +
past participle for passive):
______________________________
Present Perfect
(has / have + past participle for present perfect, BE +
past participle for passive):
______________________________
Present Perfect Progressive*
(has / have + past participle for present perfect, BE + -ing
verb for progressive, BE + past participle for passive):
______________________________
Past Perfect
(had + past participle for present perfect, BE + past participle
for passive):
______________________________
______________________________
Future Perfect
(will + past participle for present perfect, BE + past participle
for passive):
We're going to be late! Dinner will already have been served
by the time that we get there!
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
Present / Future Passive Infinitive
(to + simple verb for infinitive, BE + past participle for passive):
______________________________
* Special Note:
Passives for the progressive forms of perfect tenses are not
very common and are actually rather awkward. They should
be used sparingly and carefully.
THE PASSIVE VOICE
Top of Form
Select from the follow ing
Bottom of Form
The paragraph is clearly about this new policy so it is appropriate that policy move from being
the object in the first sentence to being the subject of the second sentence. The passive voice
allows for this transition.†
Passive Verb Formation
The passive forms of a verb are created by combining a form of the "to be verb" with the
past participle of the main verb. Other helping verbs are also sometimes present: "The
measure could have been killed in committee." The passive can be used, also, in various tenses.
Let's take a look at the passive forms of "design."
Auxiliary
Past
Tense Subject
Participle
Singular Plural
The
Present is are designed.
car/cars
Present The
has been have been designed.
perfect car/cars
The
Past was were designed.
car/cars
The
Past perfect had been had been designed.
car/cars
The
Future will be will be designed.
car/cars
Present The
is being are being designed.
progressive car/cars
Past The
was being were being designed.
progressive car/cars
A sentence cast in the passive voice will not always include an agent of the action. For
instance if a gorilla crushes a tin can, we could say "The tin can was crushed by the gorilla." But
a perfectly good sentence would leave out the gorilla: "The tin can was crushed." Also, when an
active sentence with an indirect object is recast in the passive, the indirect object can take on the
role of subject in the passive sentence:
Activ
Professor Villa gave Jorge an A.
e
Passi
Jorge was given an A.
ve
Only transitive verbs (those that take objects) can be transformed into passive constructions.
Furthermore, active sentences containing certain verbs cannot be transformed into passive
structures. To have is the most important of these verbs. We can say "He has a new car," but we
cannot say "A new car is had by him." We can say "Josefina lacked finesse," but we cannot say
"Finesse was lacked." Here is a brief list of such verbs*:
resembl look equa agree
e like l with
contai
mean hold comprise
n
Kalimat aktif (active voice) adalah kalimat dimana subject-nya melakukan pekerjaan, sebaliknya, kalimat
pasif (passive voice) adalah kalimat dimana subject-nya dikenai pekerjaan oleh object kalimat. Active
voice lebih sering digunakan dalam kehidupan sehari-hari dibandingkan dengan passive voice. Namun
demikian, sering kita temukan passive voice di surat-surat kabar, artikel-artikel di majalah-majalah dan
tulisan-tulisan ilmiah. Passive voice digunakan karena object dari active voice merupakan informasi yang
lebih penting dibandingkan dengan subject-nya.
Contoh :
1. Object dari active voice (the soil) menjadi subject dari passive voice
2. Subject dari active voice (we) menjadi object dari passive voice. Perhatikan pula bahwa terjadi
perubahan dari subject pronoun ‘we’ menjadi object pronoun ‘us’.
3. Verb1 (fertilize) pada active voice menjadi verb3 (fertilized) pada passive voice.
4. Ditambahkannya be ‘is’ di depan verb3. Be yang digunakan adalah tergantung pada subject passive
voice dan tenses yang digunakan. (Perhatikan pola-pola passive voice di bawah).
5. Ditambahkannya kata ‘by’ di belakang verb3. Namun, jika object dari passive voice dianggap tidak
penting atau tidak diketahui, maka object biasanya tidak dikemukakan dan begitu pula kata ‘by’.
6. Khusus untuk kalimat-kalimat progressive (present, past, past perfect, future, past future, dan past
future perfect continuous, perlu menambahkan ‘being’ di depan verb3). Kalau tidak ditambahkan
“being”, tensisnya akan berubah, bukan progressive/continuous lagi. Perhatikan contoh-contoh
pada poin h – o di bawah.
Berdasarkan keenam poin di atas maka passive voice mengikuti pola sebagai berikut:
d. Jika active voice dalam past perfect tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah beenyang diletakkan
setelah auxiliary had, sehingga menjadi had been
Contoh:
i. Jika active voice dalam past continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah (wasatau were)
+ being.
Contoh:
1. Koko’s nose is bleeding. He was punched by his friend right on his nose. (Hidung Koko sedang
berdarah. Dia dipukul oleh temannya tepat di hidungnya).
2. The Indonesian football team was beaten by the Saudi Arabian team. (Team sepakbola Indonesia
dikalahkan oleh team arab Saudi).
3. These plants were watered by my sister a few minutes ago. (Tanaman-tanaman ini disirami oleh
adikku beberapa menit yang lalu).
4. There is no meal left. All has been devoured by Yeyes. (Tidak ada makan yang tersisa. Semuanya
telah dilahap habis oleh Yeyes).
5. English is studied by all high school students. (Bahasa Inggris dipelajari oleh semua murid sekolah
menengah lanjutan (SMP dan SMA).