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2. Forms of Active and Passive voice
The passive occurs in both spoken and written English, and it is used very frequently in technical writing.
Most verbs that take an object can be used in the passive voice, the primary focus is on the subject the agent or doer of the action
25
Passive verb-forms are made with different tenses of to be, followed by a past participle. The tenses and the rules for their use are the same as for active
verb-forms
26
. Beside that the “by phrase” is used in passive sentences when it
important to know who forms an action. And usually there is no “by phrase”
when it is not important to know who performs an action
27
. Broukal and wisniewska made rules in forming passive voice in their
book “Grammar Form and Function”, they are
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: a.
To form the passive voice, we change the object of an active voice sentence into the subject of a passive one. The subject of the active sentence can
become the agent in a passive sentence. The agent tells who or what did the action in a passive sentence. It is introduced with the preposition by.
Subject
Verb Object
Active voice
The Pilot
flew
the airplane
Passive voice The airplane
was flown by the pilot
b. Form the passive voice with a form of the verb be + a past participle Question
use an auxiliary verb before the subject.
25
Patricia K. Werner, et. Al, interaction 2: Grammar, A venue of America, New York : McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2002, 4
th
Edition, p. 267.
26
Michael Swan, Practical English Usage, New York : Oxford University Press, 1980, p. 458.
27
Betty SchramferAzar, AlihBahasaBudjianto, Fundamental of English Grammar. EdisiDwibahasaInggris-Indonesia, Jakarta :BinarupaAksara, 19832
nd
Edition, p. 28.
28
MiladaBroukal and Ingrid Wisniewska, Grammar form and function, New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, inc., 2005, pp. 212-214.
16
Subject Be
other auxiliary
Past Participle
The great Wall
was built
by the Chinese
The Tourists
are being
shown around by
the guide
YesNo Questions Auxiliary
Verb Subject
Other auxiliary
Past participle
Was the great
wall built
by the Chinese?
Has It
been visited
by many people?
W-H Question Wh-word
Auxiliary verb
Subject other
auxiliary verb
Past participle
When was
the great wall
built How many
people has
It visited by?
c. Form passive voice sentences with transitive verbs, which take objects. We
cannot form passive voice sentences with intransitive verbs. Transitive Verb
: fly Active Sentence
: the pilot flew the plane Passive Voice
: the plane was flown by the pilot Intransitive Verb
: arrive Correct
: the plane arrived on time Incorrect
: the plane was arrived on time
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Some common intransitive verbs are appear, arrive, become. Come, go, happen, occur, rain, and stay. Motion verbs such as go, come, walk, run, and
arrive are often intransitive. Some transitive verbs do not have passive forms. These include stative
verbs such as cost, fit, have, resemble, suit, and, weigh. Correct
: You resemble your father. Incorrect : You are resemble by your father.
d. Use the passive voice in following tenses. Note that the form of is in the same
tenses as the tense of the active verb.
Tense Active Voice
Passive Voice Simple Present
He washes the car The car is washed by
him Present
Progressive He is washing the car The car is being
washed by him Present Perfect
He has washed the car
The car has been washed by him
Simple Past He washed the car
The car was washed by him
Past Progressive He was washing the
car The car was being
washed by him Past Perfect
He had washed the car
The car had been washed by him
Future with will He will wash the car
The car will be washed by him
Future with be going
He is going to wash the car
The car is going to be washed by him
Future perfect He will have washed
the car The car will have
been washed by him
e. Object pronounme, him, her, etc. in the active voice become subject
pronoun I, he, she, etc in the passive voice.
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ACTIVE SENTENCE PASSIVE VOICE
Subject Verb
Object Subject
Verb Thousand
of people elected
Her she
was elected
by thousand people
The Chinese
Built It
it was
built by the Chinese
3. Usage of Active and Passive Voice
Milada Broukal and Ingrid Wisniewska in their book, “Grammar Form
and Function”, mention some of the usage of the passive voice as follows
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:
a. The passive voice is used when the agent is not known or unimportant.
b. The passive voice uses by + an agent, it is usually because the subject of the
sentence is more important than the agent, but we want to express them both. c.
The passive voice is used to make a sentence more impersonal, in situations involving rules, instruction, announcements, advertisement, or processes.
d. The passive voice is used when the agent is obvious from the meaning of the
sentence.
D. Simple Past Tense 1.
Definition of Simple Past Tense
Many experts have explained about simple past tense, one of them is from Patricia K. Werner, that the simple past tense is used to talk about action or
situation in the past
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. Another assumption come from Sidney Greenbaum and Randolph Quirk
that the simple past tense is used to refer a situation set a definite time in the past. a.
The event past is used with dynamic verb sense to refer to a single definite event in the past. The event may take place over an extended period The
29
Broukal and Winslewska, Grammar form and Function, New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, inc., 2005, pp. 214-215.
30
Patricia K. Werner, Interaction Access: Grammar, New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2002, 4
th
edition. p. 114.
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Normans invaded England in 1006 or at a point of time The plane left at. 9.am
b. The habitual past is used with dynamic verb senses to refer to past events that
repeatedly occur :We spent our holidays in Spain when we were children. c.
The state past is used with stative verb sense to refer to a single unbroken state of affairs in the past : I once liked reading novels
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. From the statements above, the writer concludes that simple past tense is a
tense that tell something happened in the past, sometimes at habitual past.
2. Form of Simple Past Tense
Use the simple past tense to talk about completed past events and activities.
Example Note
Affirmative He helped her paint.
I stayed up last night. We listened to music
after dinner. The children played
games in the living room.
All regular
verbs take an-end ending in
the past tense. This form is used for all
subject, both singular and plural.
Negative Her roommate didn’t
like that restaurant. We didn’t order a
pizza last night. My family didn’t own
a computer
until recently.
I didn’t live in a dorm last year.
For negative past tense verbs, use did not
before the simple past form of the main verb.
The contraction for did
not is didn’t.
Simple past tense yesno question include didn‟t before the subject. Note that the main verb in the question is in the simple form. There is no final
–ed ending in the question form.
31
Sidney Greenbaum and Randolph Quirk, a student’s grammar of the English Language,
England: Pearson Education Limited Press, 1990, p. 50.
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YesNo Question and Short Answer Possible Answer
Example Affirmative
Negative Affirmative
Question Did your mother
cook last night? Did you move to a
new apartment? Did the
neighbors visit last night
Yes, she did Yes, I did
Yes, they did No, she didn’t
No, I didn’t No, they didn’t
Negative Question
Didn’t she rent a video last night?
Didn’t he call you at home?
Didn’t they paint their house a
few years ago? Yes, she did
Yes, I did Yes, they did
No, she didn’t No, I didn’t
No, they didn’t
3. Usage of Simple Past Tense
Here are some usages of simple past tense declared by wishon and burksin their book, “Let‟s write English”.
a. The simple past tense is used to report a state or activity which can be
ascribed to a definite past time. A past adverbial is either expressed or else understood from the context in which the past tense used.
The airplane arrived at noon. She finished her university studies at the age of twenty.
I had a busy yesterday; I wrote many letters. b.
The past tense is also used for activities that occurred over a period of time in the past, but are mow finished, or that occurred at intervals in the past, but
don‟t occur now. Before the war, I worked for an insurance company.
Last week, I worked until midnight. I lived there for five years before 1985
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c. The past tense of the verb use combines with to form an auxiliary which is
used to described customary or habitual action in the pat. I used to be a boy scout
I used to get up at 05.30 every morning. d.
The past form of do as an auxiliary is used with the simple past form of the verb to express emphasis.
I did study for the examination. No matter what Lisa said, he did finish the work
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. As we know from the explanation above simple past tense is telling situation
and event in the past.
E. Passive Voice of Simple Past Tense 1.