Clause: Passive¶
10% - 20% of the clauses with verbs that take objects.
Definition¶
Reference to the active for subject with “by”, a by-clause
Can drop the “by” from the by clause
If the passive has a by-phrase: long passive
If it doesn’t have a by-phrase: short passive
The verb is always a participle
Structure¶
Missing NP¶
Some NP expected with the VP of that verb is either absent of located somewhere else
Missing NP is often the direct object in the active form, but can be the indirect object
The meaning of the verb is reveresed
They awarded Dylan the Nobel prize (active, Dylan is the indirect object)
Dylan was awarded a Nobel prize (indirect object is missing from awarded)
Missing NP complement of a preposition¶
The missing NP leaves the PP stranded
We’re going to be laughed at [by our competitors]
I’v heard his financial affairs are being looked into [by the auditors]
I don’t want my stuff messed with [by anyone] while I’m not
VP with Be¶
Often the past participle in a passive clause is preceded by a form of Be
But not always
Ethiopia was never colonized by Europeans (with be)
Last night Sally got arrested by the police (no be)
We saw Sally taken away by the police (taken… is the passive, no Be)
Verbal passive¶
CGEL makes a strict distinction between these two structures based on whether the word following be is a verb or an adjective.
They are worried. (state, worried is an adjective; are is copular, adjectival passive).
The participle has become fully adjectival, describing a state. In this case, “be” functions as a copula taking an Adjective Phrase as a predicative complement.
They are told. (event; told is a verb; are is an auxiliary).
Verbal Passive (be aux): The participle remains a true verb, describing a dynamic event. Here, be is a passive auxiliary taking a non-finite, past-participle clause as its complement.
Because “they are told immediately” describes a dynamic event (the act of informing them) rather than a static state of “being told-looking,” it is a verbal passive. Therefore, “are” is an auxiliary, not a copula.
Note
It is possible for passive VPs to have no immediately preceding verb. The voice is a property of the verb phrase. So passive voice can still be present even when the auxiliary is omitted.
Note
The proposal is justified
If justified is a verb, the sentence is passive (proposal is justified by the …). If it’s adjective, this is a canonical clause “The X is Y”.
As modifiers¶
Passive clauses can be and often are modifiers of nouns
The president sits at a desk made out of oak from the ship HMS Resolute
The long passive¶
Express the active from a different perspective
Fit different context
Good for: put spotlight on the person responsible for the act. Save information to the end, to get some empathic stress:
What this means ladies and gentlemen, is that the murder must have been committed by one of the people in this room!
The NP following by should present new information.
Puccini wrote Tosca, yes, but Rigoletto was written by Verdi (new information)
Puccini wrote Tosca, but Verdi wrote Rigoletto (sound less good if the subject is Rigoletto. Verdi is new information)
No new information after the by is grammatically ok, but sounds inept
Pronouns are the opposite of new information, especially 1st and 2nd - they are always refs to the utterer and the intended addressee (both are never new information)
Have you won the lottery? (good)
Has the lottery been won by you (not good, you is not new, it’s the addressee)
Long passives should select the correct topic
Operas were written by Verdi (not good. Specific opera by Verdi, relevant)
Operas were written for centuries (good, consistent with the topic “operas”)
Subjects of passives do not always reference to what the clause is about. Subjects also not always identify the doer, or object the affected. Useful to drop less relevant details, and focus on what is important.
It was believed to be snowing by most of us (nothing about it, who or what believed not important)
Short passives¶
You can not leave the subject out, but you can leave out PPs in the VPs, including “by” phrase
Perfect for saying what happened, when the doer is unknown or irrelevant
Rumors were spread on Twitter
Mistakes were made
Not really clear what active clause could possibly express exactly the right sense
Leave the undetermined agent out
Transitive vs. Intransitive verbs¶
With transitive verbs, the passive construction promotes the object of the active clause to subject position and suppresses or optionally expresses the agent:
The vase was broken. (someone broke the vase → the vase was broken, by someone)
The focus is on the resulting state or event affecting the object, often leaving the cause implicit.
With intransitive verbs, no passive is possible because there is no object to promote.
Instead, the past-participle typically functions as an adjective-like form describing a state resulting from the subject’s own action or change of state:
The leaf has fallen. (a fallen leaf).
The contrast is therefore not passive vs active voice, but externally caused change affecting an entity (broken vase) versus a change of state undergone by the entity itself (fallen leaf).
Important
Transitive passive: externally caused event → affected subject
Intransitive: subject undergoes its own change of state → no object, hence no passive.