The choice of the Passive and Active Construction

The choice of the Passive and Active Construction in Literary English Done by Vira Zakernychna EPh group 13

The aim of this presentation is to tell what voices of the verb there are in English language and to show the cases of choosing the active and passive constructions in literary English. Urgency of the explored theme is to avoid difficulties with mentioned structures perception reading the literary text translations.

Main tasks 1. To submit theme in the next way: • to give the nominalization for active and passive voice • to tell about the formation of the active and passive constructions in English language • to compare them and show the sphere of their usage • to mention the peculiarities of usage and translation the passive constructions 2. To make the conclusion 3. To give a short test for checking the attention of the audience

Voice is the form of the verb which shows the relation between the action and its subject, indicating whether the action is performed by the subject or passes on to it. Accordingly there are two voices in English: the active and the passive. The Active voice shows that the action is performed by its subject, that the subject is the doer of the action. The passive voice shows that the subject is acted upon, that it is the recipient of the action: Active She hated narrow, deprived life. (p. 546) Passive The minister was murdered.

When We Use Active and Passive? Active • Is less awkward and clearly states relationship between subject and action Bessie had closed the nursery-door upon me… • It is shorter and more direct He drew the heavy curtains. (not The heavy curtains were drew by him. ) Passive • The agent (doer) of the action is unimportant Your hand will be X-rayed. • The agent is common knowledge, and mentioning it would be redundant The rubbish hasn’t been collected. • The agent is unknown I am told she has left Moscow.

• The writer desires to control focus of sentence He finished the book. • To avoid an awkward or ungrammatical sentence When he arrived home (a detective arrested him) he was arrested. • When the subject of the verb would be ‘people’ He is suspected of receiving stolen goods (People suspect him…)

The Formation of the Passive voice to be + Participle II The passive voice is an analytical form in Modern English: it is formed by means of a corresponding tense of the auxiliary verb to be and the past participle of the given verb. He was arrested. When the agent is mentioned, it is preceded by by : This picture was painted by Duffy. When we are dealing with materials used, not with agents, we use with: The room was filled with smoke. When a verb+preposition+object combination is put into the passive the preposition will remain immediately after the

Tense Forms Used in the Passive Present Past Future Indefinite The best gifts are never wrapped. (p. 384) She […] drew out the card where these words were printed. . . (p. 548) The letter will be written tomorrow. Continious The letter is being written now. The letters was being written at 5 o’clock. The letter had already been written. The letter had been written by 5 o’clock. Perfect ----- The letter will have been written by 5 o’clock.

There are two more passive forms which are not used so often: Future in-the-past indefinite He hoped she would be delighted…(p. 548) Future in-the-past perfect She was one of those lovely, charming young women who should have been born into a rich family. (p. 546) Infinitive constructions after the passive verbs are possible in sentences of the type People consider/know/think/believe/ suppose/say etc. He said to be… jealous for her. (=People said he was jealous for her. )

Verbs Used in the Passive Voice Transitive verbs: to write – to be written to take - to be taken …they were joined by the sister… Intransitive (objective) verbs: to look (at…) – to be looked at to rely (on…) – to be relied on to laugh (at…) – to be laughed at The doctor was sent for. Phraseological units (verb+adverb), (verb+noun): to do away (with…) – to be done away with to look up (to…) – to be looked up to

to loose sight (of…) – to be lost sight of He has always been looked up to as a high authority… Modal verbs: can/could, may/might, must/have to, should/would, needn’t + be done/have been done also are possible to use in passive constructions It must be done. A few active verbs ( to clean, to wash, to show) are sometimes used with the passive meaning: This surface cleans easily. (=is cleaned easily) This clothes wash well. (= are washed well)

The verb to get is sometimes used in Modern English as an auxiliary of the passive: He got thrown against the tree. He got struck by a stone. But when the participle II indicates the state In which the subject is, serving as a predicative, the verb to be is a link-verb and they both form the nominal predicate (not the passive voice!)

Ways of translating the Passive Voice into Ukrainian 1. By the verb бути + predicative. In the Present the verb бути is not used. 2. By verbs in –ся 3. By means of indefinite-personal constructions. The last way of translating is possible only if the doer of the action is not mentioned. Houses are built of stone. Будинки будують(ся) з каменю.

Conclusion In dependence of the situation in which the action goes on there are two types of constructions in Literary English to express this action - active and passive. The Active voice shows that the action is performed by its subject, that the subject is the doer of the action. It is shorter and more direct. It is also less awkward and clearly states relationship between subject and action. The passive voice shows that the subject is acted upon, that it is the recipient of the action. This voice has a lot of peculiarities of usage.

Test Think you understand active and passive constructions? 1. In an active construction, • the subject is concrete. • the direct object is active. • the subject is the doer of the action. • the agent is expressed by the indirect object. 2. In a passive construction, • the subject is usually plural. • the subject is the receiver of the action. • the subject is indefinite. • the subject is understood.

3. Select the sentences that are active. • The olives were eaten by the hungry patrons. • John opened the can. • The date was set for the wedding. • He lost the bet. 4. Select the sentences that are passive. • The cat caught the mouse. • The window was shattered by the bullet. • A letter is written whenever there is a problem. • Sam bought a sports car. Decide whether the sentences are written in Active or Passive 1. The museum may be visited by crowd this weekend. 2. Has this house been sold yet?

3. Susan has not been understood. 4. Lots of houses were destroyed by the earthquake. 5. She is reading an e-mail. Which voice should be used in next situations? 1. The agent (doer) of the action is unimportant. 2. Less awkward and clearly states relationship between subject and action. 3. The writer desires to control focus of sentence. 4. The agent is common knowledge, and mentioning it would be redundant. 5. It is shorter and more direct. 6. The agent is unknown.

• M. A. Ganshina, N. M. Vasilevskaya. English Grammar. – Ninth edition revised, -Moscow: Higher School Publishing House, 1964 [p. 187 -198] • Larsen – Freeman Diane, Marianne Celse- Murica. The Grammar Book: an ESL/ EFL Teacher’s Course. Heinle & Heinle Publishers. Boston, 1983 [p. 221234] • Thomson A. J. , Martinet A. V. A Practical English Grammar. – Fourth Edition, - Oxford University Press, 1999 [p. 263 -268] • http: //www. unc. edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/passivevo ice. html • http: //legacy. lclark. edu/~writing/handouts/Active%20 Voice. pdf