BE can be in any of its forms: The Past Participle followed BE. For regular verbs, the past participle
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.
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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:
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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.
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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
Explanation: -
The sentence use are; to be in Past Tense should be were
Futhermore, Muhammad Yusdi in Magic TOEFL lists common mistake in passive that:
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a. Unable to difference in using adjective participle -ed in passive sentence,
as in -
She was an easily depressed woman with her long, curly hair and
untidy dress. -
Mrs. Yonna was dissapointed by her daugher score of the test
The fist sentence is not passive sentence. It is adjective participle end with
–ed. In the second sentence is passive sentence. It is past
participle and not follow with noun. b.
Mistake in using verb 1 and verb 2 of passive voice Example:
In your system, nine planets, fifty-seven moons, several dozen comtes, several million asteroids, and billion of meterites have so far been
discover .
The verb which follow passive voice is the verb in verb 3 c.
Unable to difference Passive voice and Present Continuous tense Present Continuous’ meaning is the same as Present Perfect Tense. On the
other hand, Present Perfect Tense’s form is more prominent that activity is take place from past until now.
Pattern for Present Continuous Tense is:
Subject + have has been + verb + ing The crafting of five violins has been proceeding for several centuries as a
secret art.
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134
Yusdi, Magic TOEFL 25 Strategi Praktis Menembus 550++, Ciputat: Inspirita, 2010., p.89-90
135
Ibid.
d. Parallelize of the subject and the verb in passive voice
If the subject in the passive voice is plural, the verb will be plural Example:
The favorite song is actually caused by a lot of people like to hear it.
The favorite songs are actually caused by a lot of people like to hear it.
Raymond Murphy points out about the passive voice that: a. Some verbs can have two objects. For example offer :
The passanger didn’t pay the driver cash It is possible to make two different passive sentences :
- The driver
wasn’t payed cash -
The cash wasn’t payed to driver
Other verbs like which can have two object are:
Ask tell give send show teach pay offer
b. Born: remember that be born is a passive verb and is usually past:
- Where were you born?
not „are you born’
- I was born in Chicago
not „I am born’
- How many babies are born in this hospital every day?
–present simple
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Michael Swan adds about passive that: a.
Compare the following two sentences:
Your little boy broke my kitchen window this morning
That window was broken by your little boy
In the first sentences, the person who did the action your little boy in the subject, and comes first; then we say what he did with the verb,broke and
what he did it to the object, my kitchen window. In the second sentence, the opposite happens; we start by talking about the windowthe object of the first
sentences has become the subject of the second; then we say what was done to it, and who this was done by. The first kind of sentence, and the kind of verb-
form used in it, are called
„active’. The second kind of sentence, and the kind of verb-form used, are called
„passive’.
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b. The choice between active and passive constructions often depends on what
has already been said, or on what the listener already knows Example:
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Murphy, English Grammar in Use, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985, p.88
137
Ibid.
John’s just written a play This play
was probably written by Marlowe
In the first sentence, John is somebody that the hearer knows; the news is that he has written a play. The speakers prefers to put this at the end, so he
begins with John and the uses an active verb. In the second sentence, a passive
structure allows the speaker to begin with the play which the hearer already knows about, and to put the news who wrote it at the end.
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c. We often prefer to put longer and „heavier’ expressions at the end of a
sentences, and this can be another reason for choosing a passive structure
Mary’s behaviour annoyed me. or: I was annoyed by Mary’s behaviour. I
was annoyed by Mary wanting to tell everybody else what to do.
Passive structures are also used when we want to talk about an action, but we are not interested in saying who or what did it.
Those pyramids were built around 400 A.D.
Too many books have been written about the second world war.
Passive are very common in scientific writing, and other kinds of expression where we are most interested in events and processes:in things that
happen. Active forms are more common in imaginative writing novels,stories,etc, and in other cases where we want to say a lot about people
who make things happen.
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d. Note that meaning and grammar do not always go together. Not all active verbs
have „active’ meanings; not all passive verbs have „passive’ meanings. If you say that somebody receives something, or suffers, you really mean that he has
something done to him. The verb form is active but the meaning is passive. Some English active verbs might be translated by passive in certain other
languages e.g. She is sitting; some English passives would not be translated by passive in some other languages e.g. I was born in 1936; English is psoken
here.
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e. A few active verbs can sometimes be used with passive meanings, as in
This dress does up at the front. It’s a pretty material, but it doesn’t wash.
Sometimes active and passive infinitives can be used with very similiar menaings, as in
There’s a lot of work to do to be done
After need, want, and require, active –ing forms can be used with passive
meanings, as in
My watch needs cleaning. = . . . to be cleaned
138
Ibid .
139
Ibid.
140
Ibid.
When present participles -ing forms are used as adjective, they usually have active meanings, as in
A crying child
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f. Not all verbs can have passive forms. Intarnsitive verbs like die, arrive
cannot become passive; they have no objects, and so there is nothing to become the subject of a passive sentence.
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g. Students often confuse active and passive verb-forms. This is not surprising,
because: 1. Be is used to make both active and passive verb-forms and active
progressive tenses 2. Past participles are used to make both passive verb-forms and active perfect
tenses. Compare:
He was calling. Active
– past progressive
He was called. Passive
– past simple
He has called. Active
– present perfect simple
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