The Form of Past Tense in Passive Voice

- Cry - Go - Sleep - Get up 128 d. 1. The “by-phrase” is used in passive sentences when it is important to know who performs an actoin, as in This sweater was made by my aunt 2 The passive is used when it is not known or not important to know exactly who performs an action, as in That sweater was made in Korea by someone 129 Khorn notes comments about tha passive that: a. The object of an active sentence is the subject of the corresponding passive voice. b. In a passive voice sentence, a form of be appears before the main verb. c. In the active form, the tense is shown by the main verb present write, past wrote. In the passive form, the tense is shown by the form of be: present am, is, are; past was, were. d. The main verb of a passive sentence is the past participle form. 130 Krohn adds that the rule of be in corresponding passive sentence: Table 2.5 The Verb that can be Followed by Object If the main verb of the active sentence is Then be of the corresponding passive sentence is: Active Passive a. Present tense: am, is, are They write letters every day. Letters are written every day. b. Past tense: was, were They wrote yesterday. Letters were written yesterday. c. Infinitive: be They are going to write letters tomorow. Letters are going to be written tommorow. 128 Riyanto, 99,99 Sukses TOEFL, Yogyakarta: Pustaka Widyatama, 2010, p.149 129 Azar, Fundamentals of English Grammar 2nd Edition, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1992, p.276-283 130 Krohn, English Sentence Structure, Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 1971, p.206-207 future with will modal should have to They will write letters tomorrow. They should write letters. They have to write letters. Letters will be written tomorrow. Letters should be written. Letters have to be written. d. –ing: being They are writing letters. They were writing letters. Letters are being written. Letters were being written. e. Past participle: been They have written letters. They had written letters. Letters have been written. Leters had been written. Dullay also proposes that a sample linguistic category taxonomy and error type in passive voice area. The writer tries to analyze the error made by student based on Heidi Dullay’s category. The error type in passive voice area based on Dullay are: a. the problem with formation of passive that: 1. Misformation of passive verb : Each cushion given by our priest 2. Active order but passive form : The traffic jam was held up by my brother 3. Absent or wrong preposition before : She is not allowed to her parents to go 4. Passive order but active form : Everything covered insurance against fire c. Inappropriate use of passive 1. Making intransitive verbs passive : He was arrived early 2. Misusing passive in complex sentence : Mark was hoped to become a football player 131 131 Ibid. Pamela J. Sharpe, Ph.D. in Barron’s How to Prepare for the TOEFL test points out that missing auxiliary verb in passive is the problem number 16 th that common mistake in TOEFL. Sharpe advices that avoid using a passive without a form of BE. 132 Example: Incorrect : The phone answered automatically Correct : The phone is answered automatically In addition, Silvester Goridus Sukur notes common mistake conversation in passive past tense that: 133 Table 2.6 Common Mistake in Conversation in Passive Simple Present Past Tense Wrong Conversation Right Conversation Rini: Did Jack was the car yesterday? Nita: Yes. The car is washed by Jack yesterday Rini: Pardon? Nita: The car washed by Jack yesterday Rini: Did Jack was the car yesterday? Nita: Yes. The car was washed by Jack yesterday Rini: Pardon? Nita: The car was washed by Jack yesterday Explanation: - „The car is washed’ is not passive sentence in past tense - „The car washed by Jack’ is unacceptable because the sentence need BE „was’. The sentence should be: „the car was washed by Jack yesterday’ Nita: Did Joe send letters? Rini: Yes. The letters are sent by John last night. Nita: Did Joe send the letters? Rini: Yes. The letters were sent by John last night. 132 Sharpe, Barron’s How to prepare for the TOEFL test 11th edition, Ciputat: Bina Rupa Aksara, 2005, p.130 133 Sukur, Common Mistake in English Conversations, Sleman: Kalarana Press, 2011, p.155