Passive Voice: Morphology, Syntax, and Semantics
Passive Voice
Passive Voice (PV) is a complex linguistic phenomenon that can be defined at several levels:
Morphological Level
At the morphological level, the PV markers are attached to the lexical verb (the auxiliary verb BE and the affix -EN), showing the past participle of the lexical verb.
John wrote the letter. (Active voice) S+V+DO
The letter was written by John. (Passive voice)
Syntactic Level
At the syntactic level, the active Subject (S) and Direct Object (DO) change their position and status. The active DO is moved to the initial sentence position in the PV, where it functions as a Subject (S). The active S is converted into a Prepositional Object (PO), which is placed in a post-verb position, and it can be omitted in certain contexts.
Semantic Level
At the semantic level, there is a change in the relation between the two participants and their thematic roles (TR). The Agent (A) is no longer “the hero” in the passive sentence; the Patient (P) becomes the protagonist of the PV.
Verb Types and Passivization
- Transitive Verbs:
- Simple (V + DO)
- Ditransitive (V + DO + IO)
- Complex (V + DO + PO/Predicative)
- Intransitive Verbs (+PO)
Simple Transitive Verbs
Example: They decorated the house (S+V+DO)
Ditransitive Verbs
Example: John gave a book to Mary. OOC (S+V+DO+IO)
John gave Mary a book. DOC (S+V+IO+DO)
A book was given to Mary by John.
Mary was given a book by John.
Ditransitive verbs allow passivization only when the Object following the verb is moved to Subject position: the DO from OOC (Object-Object-Complement) can be a passive S; the IO from DOC (Direct Object-Complement) can be moved to S position.
Example: The teacher explained the rule to the students. OOC (S+V+DO+IO)
The rule was explained to the students by the teacher.
Both give and explain are ditransitive verbs (they take a DO and an IO). The verb give allows the two Objects to change positions, and as a result, it has two passive versions. In contrast, with the ditransitive verb explain, only the DO can appear directly after the verb, resulting in only one passive version.
Idiomatic Phrases with DO
Idiomatic phrases with DO also allow two passive versions: to take notice of something, to make an example of somebody, to take advantage of something, to pin one’s faith on something, to make too much of something, to keep tabs on something. (V+DO+PO)
Example: He took careful notice of your remarks (PO).
Careful notice was taken of your remarks.
Your remarks were taken careful notice of.
Example: He took advantage (DO) of the situation (PO).
Advantage was taken of the situation.
The situation was taken advantage of.
Idiomatic constructions with an obligatory DO and PO allow two passive versions: either the DO or the object of the preposition becomes the passive S, while the preposition remains in situ.
Complex Transitive Verbs
Example: They accused him of cheating. (V+DO+PO)
He was accused of cheating.
Example: Mary shot him dead. (V+DO+Predicative)
He was shot dead by Mary.
CTV allows only one passive version in which the S is derived from the active DO.
Passivizable Intransitives
Only a few groups of intransitive verbs can be passivized. These are Intransitive Verbs with a Prepositional Object (PO).
Example: The chairman ran through the main points of the report. (S+V+PO)
Prepositional Intransitive Verbs
The main points of the report were run through by the chairman.
Prepositional Intransitive Verbs can be passivized by moving the PO to the initial position in the passive sentence.
Example: They put up with these interruptions carefully. (S+V+Particle+PO)
Prepositional Phrasal Intransitive Verbs
These interruptions were put up with carefully by them.
With such Intransitive Verbs, the particle and the preposition remain in situ; what is moved is only the PO.
Classes of Transitive Verbs that Resist Passivization
Several groups of Transitive Verbs cannot be passivized because of their meaning.
Reciprocal Verbs
Example: John resembles Harry. (S+V+DO)
Verbs like to resemble and to marry express a reciprocal relation between the Subject-Noun Phrase and Object-Noun Phrase. Such verbs cannot be passivized; they only allow their S and O to change positions.
Relational Verbs of Possession
Example: He has got a car. (S+TV+DO)
Verbs like to have, to have got, to possess, to own resist passivization because they express a unidirectional relation of possession. The human participant having the Thematic Role of Beneficiary can only appear in the Subject position.
Stative Verbs
Example: She knew the poem. (Active voice) (S+V+DO)
The poem was known by/to her.
Example: Everybody knew that Bill was clever (clausal DO).
That Bill was clever was known by everybody.
Stative verbs express mental processes (to know, to believe, to consider, to think) or perception (to see, to hear, to perceive). These verbs can be easily passivized when the DO is clausal.
The Deletion of the Agentive By-Phrase
The agentive by-phrase can be omitted in the following contexts:
- John was killed this morning. (When the identity of the Agent is unknown to the speaker).
- Pets are rarely well-treated. (When the Agent is indefinite).
- The doctor has been sent for. (When the Agent is not relevant to the topic of discussion).
- Eventually, the thieves were punished. (The speaker feels no need to name the Agent because the Agent is well known).
- A confidential plan was entrusted to me. (The identity of the Agent cannot be revealed).
- The Agent-less passive is frequently used in scientific and technical texts.