A practical english grammar - Vyssaja skola 1978
Chapter 9 - The passive voice
Sound symbols
The passive voice consists of a form of the verb be, or sometimes get, and the past participle.
John was praised for his skill.
Are the books being distributed?
Have you been vaccinated?
Peter got scolded yesterday.
Infinitives and gerunds can also be passive.
being invited
to be called
These may be used as subjects of sentences.
Being invited to the party pleased Mary immensely.
To be called a baby is an insult to a ten-year-old boy.
The position after the verb is more common, however.
It’s nice to be invited to parties.
He doesn’t like to be called a baby.
He doesn’t remember being told.
She deserves to be praised.
Meaning of the passive voice. In the passive voice, the grammatical subject of the verb is the target or “receiver” of the action of the verb- the same meaning that is expressed by the object in active constructions. The doer of the action (the agent) is not always expressed with passive verbs. When it is, it is usually in a phrase introduced by the preposition by.
John was praised by the teacher.
Peter got scolded by his father.
The books are being distributed by one of the students.
The passive voice is used a great deal when the speaker can not identify the agent, or does not want or need to identify the agent.
We were told that you had taken a book from the library.
My car has been stolen.
A lot of corn is grown in Iowa.
These sentences could all be turned into active construction with a vague, unidentified subject.
Somebody told us that you had taken a book from the library. Somebody has stolen my car.
They grow a lot of corn in Iowa.
GET and BE. The auxiliary verb be can always be used to form the passive voice, and in formal style is the only one that is normally used. In informal style, however, get is often combined with a past participle to make a vivid expression with passive meaning that emphasizes the action involved.
The criminal got caught.
Be careful so that you won’t get hurt.
Sometimes get is used to avoid the ambiguity of be. The combination of get and a past participle always expresses an action, while be with a following past participle occasionally expresses the condition of the subject as the result of an action.
Charles got married.
Charles was married.
The auxiliary be can always replace get, but not the other way around. For the puristic avoidance of get, see Chapter 10.
Types of verbs used in the passive.. Since the passive voice places the object of an action in the grammatical position of subject of the verb, it follows that only those verbs that have objects can be put into the passive voice. Thus, work (in its ordinary meaning), seem, die, and similar verbs (which do not have objects) are not ever used in the passive, while find, see, hit, build, etc. (which can, and usually do, have objects) are readily put into the passive voice.
The money was found. The dog was hit by the car.
The ship was seen. The bridge is being built.
In addition, two-word verbs that are followed by objects, as well as many (but not all) verb-preposition combinations can be used in the passive voice. Study these examples:
You will be called for at the station.
He is much sought after as a public speaker.
The child is being looked after by her grandmother.
Her costume is so elaborate that it can’t be sat down in.
This matter will be gone into later.
No one likes to be talked about, or to be looked down on.
The professor is looked up to by everybody.