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. |
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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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