Agentless Passives and Diagramming the Passive Ed Mc

slide 2: definition of an agentless passive “agentless” passives – sentences in the passive

slide 3: examples of passive sentences without expressed agents exx Nuclear weapons are made

slide 4: difference between “normal” passive sentences and agentless passives Therefore, unlike the “normal”

slide 5: derivation of a passive sentence with an expressed agent (a by phrase)

slide 6: derivation of an agentless passive cf. active (with indefinite subject): Somebody/A lackey

slide 7: how by phrases are handled in Reed-Kellogg diagrams In Reed-Kellogg diagrams of

slide 5: derivation of another passive sentence with an expressed agent (a by phrase)

slide 9: Reed-Kellogg of the active sentence in slide 8 Reed-Kellogg diagram of The

slide 10: Reed-Kellogg of the passive sentence in slide 8 Reed-Kellogg diagram of The

slide 11: review of how to make passives of Pattern VIII sentences Recall from

slide 12: alternative active and passive versions of a Pattern VIII sentence active: Virgil

slide 13: Reed-Kellogg diagram of one of the passives in slide 12 Here is

slide 14: Reed-Kellogg diagram of a passive derived from a Pattern IX sentence Here

slide 15: Reed-Kellogg diagram of an agentless passive sentence Finally, here is the Reed-Kellogg

Slides: 15

Download presentation

Agentless Passives and Diagramming the Passive Ed Mc. Corduck English 402 --Grammar SUNY Cortland http: //mccorduck. cortland. edu

slide 2: definition of an agentless passive “agentless” passives – sentences in the passive voice that don’t have a by phrase, hence in which the subject of the activevoice equivalent (i. e. , the “agent”) is not given English 402: Grammar

slide 3: examples of passive sentences without expressed agents exx Nuclear weapons are made from fissible materials. = (Scientists) make nuclear weapons from fissible materials. My pet scorpion has been stolen. = (Someone/somebody/a crook) has stolen my pet scorpion. Saddam was acclaimed a Sunni national hero. = (People/They) acclaimed Saddam a national hero. English 402: Grammar

slide 4: difference between “normal” passive sentences and agentless passives Therefore, unlike the “normal” derivation of a passive sentence from an active-voice one as we saw in “The Passive Voice” lecture, in the derivation of an agentless passive we must assume that there always is an actual, indefinite agent, i. e. , a subject of the active sentence, even if this is not expressed through a by phrase in the passive: English 402: Grammar

slide 5: derivation of a passive sentence with an expressed agent (a by phrase) active: The cut-rate hospital subj discards pres + MV (discard) the body parts every evening. dir obj ADV ⇒ passive: The body parts are dir obj discarded pres + be + -en +MV (discard) English 402: Grammar by the cut-rate hospital every evening. subj ADV

slide 6: derivation of an agentless passive cf. active (with indefinite subject): Somebody/A lackey subj discards pres + MV (discard) the body parts every evening. dir obj ADV ⇒ agentless passive: The body parts are dir obj discarded pres + be + -en +MV (discard) English 402: Grammar every evening. ADV

slide 7: how by phrases are handled in Reed-Kellogg diagrams In Reed-Kellogg diagrams of passive sentences, since by is a preposition a by phrase is diagrammed like any other prepositional phrase, that is, the head preposition by is given on a slanted line connected to the predicate on the main horizontal line and the slanted line connects to a horizontal line parallel with the main horizontal line on which is the head of the NP that corresponds to the agent in the active. English 402: Grammar

slide 5: derivation of another passive sentence with an expressed agent (a by phrase) ex active: The girl decked subj the boy. past + MV (deck) (Pattern VII) dir obj ⇒ passive: The boy was dir obj decked past + be + -en + MV (deck) English 402: Grammar by the girl. subj

slide 9: Reed-Kellogg of the active sentence in slide 8 Reed-Kellogg diagram of The girl decked the boy: English 402: Grammar

slide 10: Reed-Kellogg of the passive sentence in slide 8 Reed-Kellogg diagram of The boy was decked by the girl: English 402: Grammar

slide 11: review of how to make passives of Pattern VIII sentences Recall from slide 19 of “The Passive Voice” lecture that in passive sentences derived from Pattern VIII active sentences, i. e. , ones in which there is both a direct and an indirect object, either the direct object of the active equivalent (the “patient”) or the indirect object in the active can be made the subject of the passive sentence: English 402: Grammar

slide 12: alternative active and passive versions of a Pattern VIII sentence active: Virgil shows Dante Hell and Purgatory. indir obj Virgil shows Hell and Purgatory to Dante. dir obj indir obj passive: Hell and Purgatory are shown to Dante by Virgil. Dante is shown Hell and Purgatory by Virgil. English 402: Grammar

slide 13: Reed-Kellogg diagram of one of the passives in slide 12 Here is the Reed-Kellogg diagram of the first of these passive equivalents, Hell and Purgatory are shown to Dante by Virgil: English 402: Grammar

slide 14: Reed-Kellogg diagram of a passive derived from a Pattern IX sentence Here is the Reed-Kellogg diagram of the passive sentence Throckmorton had been thought totally incorrigible by the townsfolk which is derived from the Pattern IX active sentence The townsfolk thought Throckmorton totally incorrigible which contains an adjectival object complement (the adjective phrase totally incorrigible): English 402: Grammar

slide 15: Reed-Kellogg diagram of an agentless passive sentence Finally, here is the Reed-Kellogg diagram of the agentless passive sentence My pet scorpion has been stolen given in slide 3 above : Note of course that the diagram does not contain a by phrase since, as in the sentence itself, the agent is not expressed. English 402: Grammar