How is the passive voice constructed?
Auxiliary be + ed-particle
auxiliary get + ed-particle
What is the difference between short and long passives?
short = agentless—> focus on the action (The ice-cream was eaten)
long = contains a by phrase, agent is named in an adverbial clause (The ice-cream was eaten by the children.)
Why are long passives used (2 examples)
information flow- new information at the end of sentence
end weight
List three verbs commonly used in the passive voice
Aligned with, based on, born, coupled with, deemed effected, entitled to, flattened, inclined, obliged, positioned, situated, stained, subjected to
List three verbs infrequently used in the passive voice:
agree, exlaim, guess, hate, have, hesitate, joke, lack, let, like, love, mind, pretend, quit, reply, resemble, try, want, watch, wish, wonder
Name a verb phrase type which is rarely used in conjunction with the passive voice. Provide an example in a full sentence.
Progressive aspect: the cat was being chased
What is a reduced passive? And when is it used?
removes the auxiliary and has no agent
anti-passive constructions
future progressive
future progressive verp phrases
(intransitive and stative verbs)
exapmles for the “get”-passive
some verbs that exclusively occur in the passive voice
get married, get hit, get involved. get left, get stuck
passive + ditransitive verbs
Either the direct or indirect object of a ditransitive verb can become the subject of a passive construction.
ACTIVE: Tom sent her an email.
PASSIVE: She was sent an email by Tom. (indirect object of the active sentence is the subject)
PASSIVE: An email was sent to her by Tom. (direct object of the active sentence is the subject)
True or false?
Subject predicatives/complements (predicative adjectives) are sometimes mistaken for passive verb phrases.
How can you tell whether a word is a participle adjective?
To-infinitives and the ing-participles can co-ccur with the passive voice.
In ditransitive verb phrases either the direct object of the verb phrase or the indirect object of the active verb phrase can become the subject of a passive construction.
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