Form
To Be + Past Participle
Use
1) when attention
is focused on the
action
and not on the person
who has performed
the
action;
Ex: My car has already
been repaired (*"The
mechanic has already
repaired my car"
focuses the attention
on the action of
the
mechanic).
2) in scientific
and technical books
or articles;
Ex: The machine was
worked by a steam
engine.
3) in newspapers,
where attention is
focused
on the events and
not on the people
(generally
unknown) performing
the events;
Ex: A woman was murdered
before midnight.
4) in notices, instructions
and official
communication, so
the tone is more
impersonal;
Ex: Any information
will be treated as
strictly
confidential.
5) with "double
object" verbs,
the personal object
is taken as the subject
of the passive sentence;
Ex: He gave her a
bunch of flowers.
--->
She was given a bunch
of flowers.
6) with the verbs
"think"
and "say"
with two constructions:
the personal and
the impersonal.
Ex: People say that
these jewels are
the
most beautiful in
the collection. (that
clause)
Passive:
a) These jewels are
said to be the most
beautiful
in the collection.
(personal passive
construction)
b) It is said that
these jewels are
the most
beautiful in the
collection. (impersonal
passive construction)
Ex: People thought
that he was jealous
of
her.
Passive:
a) He was thought
to be jealous of
her.
b) It was thought
that he was jealous
of
her.
Special Use Of The
Passive
Believe, consider,
expect, imagine,
judge,
know, prove, show,
understand = verbs
of
mental state or opinion.
These verbs have
got two constructions
in
the active form and
two constructions
in
the passive.
1) I know that he
is a stupid person.
- I
know him to be a
stupid person.
Passive:
He is known to be
a stupid person.
(personal
passive)
It is known that
he is a stupid person.
(impersonal
passive)
2) People believe
that he was a liar.
- People
believe him to have
been a liar.
Passive:
He is believed to
have been a liar.
(personal
passive)
It is believed that
he was a liar. (impersonal
passive)
By Prof. Alessandra Potenza, © 2005, per
ClaNCla Library. |
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