21
2.2 The Classification of Passive Voice
Voice is grammatical category which makes it possible to view the action of a sentence in two ways without change.
a. A hired assassin murdered the minister.
b. The minister was murdered by a hired assassin.
In the verb phrase, the difference between the two ways categories is the passive adds a form auxiliary “be” and the past participle of the main verb.
At the clause level, passivitation involves rearrangement of two clause element and one addition.
a. The active subject becomes the passive agent, b. The active object becomes the passive subject, and
c. The preposition “by” is introduced before agent. The process of active – passive transformation can be presented diagrammatically.
The term “subject”, “object”, and “agent” are useful labels for describing phenomenon such as subject – verb concord, but the structure of sentence changes
under voice transformation, its meaning remain the same. In “Andrew kissed Maggie” and Maggie was kissed by Andrew”, Andrew is in both voices the “former
of the action”. In the sentence structure, the active subject corresponds to the passive agent. English passive sentences can be classified into two, they are :
1 Agentive Passive.
2 Non – Agentive passives.
Universitas Sumatera Utara
22
A. Agentive Passives
Agentive Passives are the passives may be used with the “by phrase” instead of the active, when the speaker or writer wants to focus attention on the subject of a
sentence. For example :
Active : Mr. Affandi made this painting.
Passive : This painting was made by Mr. Affandi.
B. Non – Agentive Passives
The Passive are usually used without a “by phrase” are called non – agentive passives. The passive are most frequently used when it is not known or not important
to know exactly who performs an action. For example :
Active : Rice grows in Indonesia.
Passive : Rice is grown in Indonesia.
In the sentence : Rice is grown in Indonesia, the action can be performed by people, by farmers, by someone. In this sentence, it is not known or not important to
know exactly who grows rice in Indonesia.
Universitas Sumatera Utara
23
2.3 Patterns of Passive Voice
Kategori