CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A. Passive Voice
Passives are used for a variety of reasons in everyday world. One important reason is that people frequently feel the need to use
a sentence form that does not require them to identify the subject.
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As it was stated in chapter one, that passive voice is used when it is known or not important to know who exactly performs the
action. In this section, the writer will give more explanation about passive voice which is divided into the meaning of passive voice, the
use of passive voice, the form of passive voice.
1. The Meaning of Passive Voice
A verb is in the active voice when it expresses an action performed by its subject and a verb is in the passive voice when the
action it expresses is performed upon its subject.
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In line with the definition above, it can be said that in an active sentence, the subject performs the action. In a passive sentence,
the subject receives the action.
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In passive constructions, the subject of the verb does not perform the action. Instead, the subject
“receives” the action. In other words, something happens to the subject. Something or someone else is responsible for forming the
action.
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Stanley J. Cook and Richard W. Suter, The Scope of Grammar: A Study of Modern English, USA: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1980, p.77
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David A. Conlin, George R. Herman and Jerome Martin, Our Language Today, Level H, New York: Litton Educational Publishing Inc., 1978, p.169
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Jean Praninskas, Rapid Review of English Grammar: For Students of English as a Second Language, USA: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1959, p.241
According to Marianne Celce-Murcia, the passive is a focus construction that exist to put the patient, i.e., the receiver or
undergoer of an action, is a subject position. The subject is acted upon and is thus “passive”. Indeed, Shibitani 1985 has shown that
the passive “defocus” the agent.
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Passive voice is a voice that indicates that the subject is the patient or recipient of the action denoted by the verb.
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The following is the example of an active sentence where the agent or
the subject performs the action: John studied only his Algebra course that year.
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In the sentence above, John is the subject who performs the action which is studied. It will be different if the active sentence
above is changed into the passive voice. John as the subject of active sentence will become an object who receives the action or in
the other word, it can be said that the action it expresses which is studied is performed upon its subject which is John. Thus, the
passive voice from the sentence above is: Algebra was the only course studied by John.
2. The Use of Passive Voice
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