4. Place t he main verb form t he act ive sent ence af t er t he auxiliaries
and be in t he past part iciple. 5.
Place t he subject of t he act ive sent ence aft er t he verb in t he passive sent ence preceded by t he preposit ion by.t his can be eliminat ed
complet ely if it is not import ant or underst ood.
22
4. Difficulty in Learning Passive Voice
As it ment ioned in t he chapt er one, t he st udent s usually find t he difficult ies w hen t hey learn passive voice. M art in Parrot in his book
Grammar for English Language Teachers said t hat , “ Teaching mat erials
oft en concent rat e on t he form of st andard passive const ruct ion int o passive ones. Learners somet imes end up w it h t he impression t hat passive
const ruct ion are some kind of opt ional, deviant version of act ive const ruct ion.
23
Because t he form of passive const ruct ion is quit e complex, t he most st udent s usually find t he difficult ies t o underst anding about t he
using of auxiliary verb “ be” and dist inguishing t he past t ense form and t he past part iciple.
24
Based on t he descript ion above, t he w rit er concludes t hat t here are t w o main difficult ies in learning and const ruct ing passive voice, t hey are: t he
difficult y in using of verb “ be” auxiliary verb and dist inguishing t he past t ense form and t he past part iciple.
a. Difficult y in Using of Auxiliary Verb Be
The verb is t he most complex part of speech. It s varying arrangement s w it h noun det ermine t he different kinds of sentences – st at ement s,
22
Michael A.Pyle. M.A, op.,cit. P. 167
23
Martin Parrot, Grammar for English Language Teachers; UK:The Press syndicate of the University of Cambridge,2004. P. 294
24
Martin Parrot, op., cit, P.294-295
quest ion, command, exelamat ions.
25
A verb is w ord that assert s somet hing about person, t hings or ideas and is essent ial t o sent ence meaning.
26
Indonesian st udent s are exposed t o t he form of t he verb “ be” almost immidiat ely in t heir earliest English classes t he forms are easy t o describe
and underst and yet t he post problems for learners at all levels. The special verb “ be” is, am, are, w as, w ere,, been can be used as verb
it self and as auxiliary verb. Auxiliary verb forms are arranged in cert ain posit ion w it h verbs signal t he t ime t ense an event t ake place.
Be funct ion as an auxiliary verb as w ell as a copula, t he copula, links
nonverbal predicat es i.e., nouns, adject ives and cert ain adverbials, w it h t heir subject s and serves as a carier for t ense and subject -verb agreement .
27
M any st udent s oft en confused in using act ive and passive verb forms. This is no suprising. Because:
1.
Be is used t o make bot h passive verb – forms and act ive progressive t enses.
2.
Past part iciple are used t o make bot h passive verb-forms act ive perfect t enses.
Compare: He w as calling Act ive – Past Progressive
He w as Called Act ive – Simple Past
He is Called Act ive – Simple Present
The most commont problem in t he use of auxiliary verb be is t hat st udent s have a t endency t o omit it . Second language learners have been
observed t o omit t he copula regardless of w het her or not t heir nat ive
25
Marcella Frank, Modern English; A Practical Reference Guide, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Inc.,1972. P.47
26
John J. De Boer, Basic Language: Message and Meaning Teachers annotated Edition, New York: Harper and Row Publisher, Inc., 1982. P.69
27
Marianne celce Murcia, op., Cit, P.53
language has an equivalent form. The ot her problem involves use of w rong form of be. The mult iplicit y of form explain w hy learners somet imes use t he
w rong form of t he verb be in t heir speech or w rit ing.
28
b. Dist inguishing t he Past Tense Form and t he Past Part iciple.
Ot her difficult y in learning passive for st udent s is t he dist inguishing simple past and past part iciple bot h in regular or irregular verbs.
The passive voice is form of t he verb be be, am, is, are, w as, w ere, being, been. And past part iciple usually a past t ense verb. If t he verb
w orks w it h “ have” as in “ have” t hen it is past part iciple. English verbs have t w o part iciples. One called variously t he present ,
act ive, imperfect or progressive part iciple , is ident ical in form t o t he
gerund, and indeed t he t erm present part iciple is somet imes used t o include t he gerund. The t erm gerund participle is also used t he ot her
part iciple, called variously t he past , passive or perfect part iciple, is usually ident ical t o t he verbs pret erit e past t ense form, t hough in
irregular verbs t he t w o usually differ.
29
According t o L.G Alexander, “ For regular verbs t he past part iciple has t he same form as t he simple past t ense: e.g., arrive, arrived and
arrived. For irregular verbs t he simple past and t he past part iciple can
be formed in a variet y of w ays e.g drink, drank, drunk.
30
In anot her sources st at ed t hat ” most verbs in English from t heir various t enses consist enly: add-ed t o t he base of averb t o creat e t he
simple past and past part iciple. He w alked; he w as w alked t here are, how ever, a number of so – called irregular verbs, including,
unfort unat ely some very common verbs such as t o be and t o have w hose various forms must be memorized.
31
28
Marianne Celce Murcia, Op., Cit, P. 47
29
http:en.wikipedia.orgwiki.past . participle.
30
L.G. alexander, Longman English Grammar, London:Longman, Group UK Limited, 1980. P.171
31
http:grammar.ccc.commnet.edugrammarverbs.htmirregular.
Lindsay Clandfield in one sit e defined t hat ” ... memorizing t he list act ually w orks. I have lost count of t he numberof st udent s I have met
w ho can recall past t ense verbs by saying t hem along wit h t heir infinit ive forms. Nevert heless, I also know st udent s w ho could recit e t he
list of all t he past t ense irregular verbs off by heart and yet have great difficult y put t ing t oget her in a sent ence, at least verbally.
32
Because irregular verbs more difficult t han regular verbs, t hat is w ay t here are many st udent s w ho st ill get difficult y in dist inguishing simple
past and past part iciple in learning passive voice.
D. Simple Present
