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2.9 Passives

The document provides information about using passive and active voice. It discusses how the passive voice is used more in academic writing to make it more impersonal and formal. It then provides examples of active and passive sentences and exercises for the reader to practice transforming sentences between active and passive voice.

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Ayesha Rehman
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101 views4 pages

2.9 Passives

The document provides information about using passive and active voice. It discusses how the passive voice is used more in academic writing to make it more impersonal and formal. It then provides examples of active and passive sentences and exercises for the reader to practice transforming sentences between active and passive voice.

Uploaded by

Ayesha Rehman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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UNIT

2.9
Passives

The passive form is a feature of much academic writing, making it more impersonal
and formal, but the passive should not be overused. This unit provides practice in
developing a balanced style.

1 Active and passive

The passive is used when the writer wants to focus on the result, not on the cause:
The college was founded in 1925 by Walter Trimble. (passive)
Walter Trimble founded the college in 1925. (active)
In the first sentence, the emphasis is on the college, in the second on Trimble. So the passive
is often used in written English when the cause (a person or thing) is less important or unknown.
Aluminium was first produced in the nineteenth century. (by someone)
The colony was abandoned in the 1630s. (due to something)
The cause of the action can be shown by adding ‘by . . .’:
The city was flooded by a severe hurricane.
The passive is also used in written work to provide a more impersonal style:
The findings were evaluated. (not ‘I evaluated the findings’)

䉴 See Unit 2.13 Style


122 Part 2: Elements of Writing

2 Structure

All passive structures have two parts:

Form of the verb to be Past participle


is constructed
was developed
will be reorganised

䊏 Change the following into the passive.

(a) We collected the data and compared the two groups.


(b) I interviewed 120 people in three social classes.
(c) They checked the results and found several errors.
(d) We will make an analysis of the findings.
(e) He asked four doctors to give their opinions.
(f) She wrote the report and distributed ten copies.

3 Using adverbs

An adverb can be inserted in a passive form to add information:


This process is commonly called ‘networking’.

䊏 Change the following sentences from active to passive and insert a suitable adverb
from the box below. Decide if it is necessary to show a cause.

optimistically helpfully punctually accurately


eventually carefully profitably

Example: The recession forced half the companies to go out of business.


Half the companies were eventually forced to go out of business by
the recession.

(a) The Connors family ran the company until 1981.


(b) Dr Weber has predicted that prisons will be unnecessary in the future.
2.9: Passives 123

(c) They provided pencils for all students in the exam.


(d) The researchers calculated the percentages to three decimal places.
(e) The students handed in the essays on Tuesday morning.
(f) She researched the life cycle of over 15 types of mice.

4 Practice A
In most texts, the active and the passive are mixed.

䊏 Read the following and underline the passive forms.

BOOTS

When John Boot died at 45, he was worn out by the effort of establishing his herbal
medicine business. He had spent his early years as a farm labourer but had worked
his way up to be the owner of a substantial business. He was born in 1815, became a
member of a Methodist chapel in Nottingham, and later moved to the town. John
was concerned by the situation of the poor, who could not afford a doctor, and in
1849 he opened a herbal medicine shop which was called the British and American
Botanic Establishment. In the early stages John was helped financially by his father
in law, while his mother provided herbal knowledge.

On his death in 1860 the business was taken over by his wife, and she was soon
assisted by their 10-year-old son, Jesse. He quickly showed the business ability that
transformed his father’s shop into a national business. Jesse opened more shops in
poor districts and pioneered advertising methods. He also insisted on doing
business in cash, rather than offering his customers credit.

5 Practice B
䊏 List the passives from the text above in the table below. Decide if the active could be
used instead, and rewrite it if so.

Active
Passive Active
possible?

He was worn out Yes The effort . . . had worn him


out
124 Part 2: Elements of Writing

Active
Passive Active
possible?

䊏 What would be the effect of using the passive throughout the text?

6 Practice C

The passive is used more in written than in spoken English, but should not be overused, as
it can give a very formal tone.

䊏 In the following text, which continues the history of the Boots company, passives are
used throughout. Change some of them into the active.

In 1889 he was introduced to Florence Rowe, the daughter of a bookseller, while on


holiday, and they became engaged. After they were married the business was
affected by her ideas: the product range was enlarged to include stationery and
books. The Boots subscription library and in-store cafes were also introduced due to
Florence’s influence. During the First World War the Boots factories were used to
make a variety of products, from sterilizers to gas masks. But after the war Jesse was
attacked by arthritis and, worried by the economic prospects, the company was sold
to an American rival for £2m. This, however, was made bankrupt during the
Depression and Boots was then bought by a British group for £6m, and Jesse’s son,
John, was made chairman. The famous No.7 cosmetics range was launched in the
1930s and in the Second World War both saccharin and penicillin were produced in
the factories. However, recently the company has been threatened by intense
competition from supermarkets in its core pharmaceutical business.

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