TEMA 27: LA VOZ PASIVA. FORMAS Y FUNCIONES.

First of all, I will provide a brief overview of the topc below which will be
elaborated on in further detail:
1. INTRODUCTION.
2. THE PASSIVE VOICE. FORMS AND FUNCTIONS.
1.1. Forms of the passive.
1.2. Functions of the passive.
3. THE PASSIVE AUXILIARY.
4. TYPES OF PASSIVES.
4.1. Central Passives.
4.2. Semi-passives or (Quasi passives).
4.3. Pseudo-passives (or agentless passives).
4.4. Notional passive.
5. COMPARISON OF THE PASSIVE IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
6. CONCLUSION.
7. LEGISLATIVE ACTS, BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBLINKS.
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1. INTRODUCTION.
2. THE PASSIVE VOICE. FORMS AND FUNCTIONS.
Voice is a grammatical category which makes it possible to view the action of a
sentence in two ways, without change in the facts reported (Quirk et al.)
Ex: “The butler murdered the detective.” (ACTIVE)
“The detective was murdered by the butler.” (PASSIVE)
Thus, the same idea can often be expressed in two different ways. Although each
sentence means essentially the same thing, they are not synonymous in every respect.
According to Jespersen, as a rule the person or thing that is the centre of interest at the
moment is made the subject of the sentence and therefore the verb is in some cases put in
the active, in others in the passive. A verbal construction in the passive normally denotes
an action undergone by the subject of the sentence.
2.1. Forms of the passive.
The opposition between the active and the passive is exemplified by sentences like
the following:
e.g. John opened the letter /The letter was opened by John.

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 Somebody has washed my plate / My plate has been washed.
The sentences in the second column are often said to be derived from the
sentences in the first column by a process of transformation in structural terms. This
transformation involves the following changes:
1. The noun or nominal which in the active sentence functions as the direct
object becomes the subject in the passive.
2. The verbal form of the active sentence is replaced by the appropriate form of
the auxiliary “be” plus the past participle of the verb.
3. The noun or nominal which in the active sentence functions as the subject
may be added in a prepositional phrase with “by”, which is called the agent.
But the old preposition was “of”, which is still found, chiefly after verbs
denoting mental states:
“Of all forsaken, and forsaking all.” ( Dryden)
The process of active-passive transformation for a transitive sentence with nominal
object can be represented diagrammatically in this way:
SOME EXAMPLES OF INFINITIVE COMBINATIONS
Verbs of liking/loving/wanting/wishing, etc + object + inf. form their passive with the
passive inf.:
ACTIVE: He wants someone to take photographs- PASSIVE: He wants photographs to
be taken.

With verbs of command/request/advise/invitation + indirect object + infinitive, we

form the passive by using the passive form of the main verb:
ACTIVE: He invited me to go. PASSIVE: I was invited to go.
But with advise/beg/order/recommend/urge + indirect object + infinitive, we can
form the passive in two ways: by making the main verb passive, as above, or by advise…+
that…., should + passive infinitive.
ACTIVE: He urged the Council to reduce the rates.
PASSIVE: The Council was urged to reduce the rate or He urged that the rate should be
reduced.
Agree/ be anxious/ arrange/ be determined / determine / decide / demand + infinitive +
object are usually expressed in the passive by that…. Should, as above:

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ACTIVE: He decided to sell the house.- PASSIVE: He decided that the house should be
sold
Gerund combinations: advise / insist / propose / recommend / suggest + gerund + object
are usually expressed in the passive by that…should, as above:
ACTIVE: He recommended using bullet-proof glass
PASSIVE: He recommended that bullet-proof glass should be used.
It / They + need + gerund can also be expressed by it/ they + need + passive infinitive. Both
forms are passive in meaning, s.g., My shoes want cleaning / to be cleaned.
Other gerund combinations are expressed in the passive by the passive gerund:
ACTIVE: I remember them taking me to the zoo.
PASSIVE: I remember being taken to the zoo.
Questions about the identity of the subject of an active verb are usually expresed by an
affirmative:
What delayed you? Which team won?
Questions about the subject of a passive verb are also expressed by an affirmative:
Something was done What was done?
One of them was sold Which one was sold?
Interrogative verbs in active questions may become affirmative verbs in passive questions:
What did they steal? Interrogative
What was stolen? Affirmative
Note, however that, when the question refers to the agent, an interrogative verb is
necessary:
Who painted it? Affirmative
Who was it painted by? Interrogative
A verbal construction in the passive denotes an action undergone by the subject of the
sentence.
2.2. Functions fo the passive.
The function of the passive fulfilled in this respect can be summarized as follows:
➢ When it is not necessary to mention the doer of the action as it is obvious who
he/she/it is.
e.g. The rubbish hasn’t been collected.
➢ When the agent is unknown or it is referred to in a vague, general way, such as they,
people, someone, one, you.

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 e.g. The minister was murdered.
He is suspected of receiving stolen goods (People suspect him of…)
➢ When the active subject is self-evident from the context:
e.g. He was elected member of Parliament for Leeds.
➢ When it is not necessary to mention the agent because it has already been
mentioned:
e.g. The government responded quickly, and new measures were passed.
➢ Because you wish to conceal the agent’s identity or to distance yourself from your
own action:
e.g. The original has been destroyed.
➢ When the agent is not important/ relevant to the meaning of the sentence.
e.g. I was advised to obtain a visa in advance.
➢ To describe processes.
e.g. Then the packets are packed into boxes of twenty-four.
➢ Change of focus; the passive can change the emphasis of a sentence.
e.g. Jack won the prize. Vs. The prize was won by Jack.
➢ When the speaker may know who performed the action but wish to avoid giving the
name.
e.g. This letter has been opened! Instead of You’ ve opened this letter!
It has been decided to reduce all salaries by 10%.
Over 70% of passive sentences in English do no mention the active subject.
The passive is preferred when the action seems more important than the person who
does it. The agent, when mentioned, is placed after the subject and the verb and preceded
by the preposition “by”.
e.g. The house next door has been bought (by mr Jones)
If, however, we know Mr Jones, we would use the active:
Your father’s friend, Mr Jones, has bought the house next door.
Because an agent is mentioned in these sentences the preposition “by” is used, but if
something is mentioned, other prepositions may be used:
e.g. Gas filled the cellar /The cellar was filled with gas.
In conclusion, the passive is especially associated with impersonal style, that is, in
scientific and official writing.

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 3. THE PASSIVE AUXILIARY.
The verbs “to be” and “to get”.
The passive auxiliary is normally formed with the verb “to be”. However, “to get”
may occur as an auxiliary of the passive; it expresses the getting into a state or situation
denoted by the participle, e.g. How many people got killed?
This use of “to get” is avoided in formal style. Even in informal English, it is far less
frequent than the “be passive”.
To become
It is ocassionally followed by a past participle denoting action and may then be said to be
a kind of auxiliary of the passive. The combination expresses change from one condition to
another.
e.g. We became acquainted.
To have
The passive is also used with the verb to have and the past participle of the main verb.
This form is used when someone has the action done by another person instead of doing it
himself. It can be used with all tenses of “to have”.
e.g. I am having my house painted at the moment
The have + object + past participle construction can also be used colloquially to replace a
passive verb, usually one concerning an accident or misfortune:
His fruit was stolen before he had a chaance to pick it.

4. TYPES OF PASSIVES.
According to QUIRK, there are four possible kinds of passives. The purely formal
definition of passive sentences according to form, e.e. auxiliary be (or get) + -ed participle, is
very broad, and would include, for example, all the following sentences:
This violin was made by my father (1)
This conclusion is hardly justified by the results (2)
Coal has been replaced by oil (3)
This difficulty can be avoided in several ways (4)
_______________________________________________
We are encouraged to go on with the project (5)
Leonard was interested in Linguistic (6)
The building is already demolished (7)

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 The modern world is getting (becoming) more (8)
Highly industrialized and mechanized

By taking account of the verbs function and meaning, we prefer to consider only those
above the broken line as passive. Those below the line, (5-8), do not have a clear
correspondence with an active verb phrase or active clause, and are increasingly remote
from “ideal passive” (1), which can be placed in direct correspondence with a unique active
counterpart. The variety of relationships displayed by (1-8) may well be regarded as points
on a scale running from (1) to a sentence such as (9), which is clearly to be analysed as
having an adjectival complement following a copular verb.
4.1. Central passives.
Examples (1-4) can be called “central” or “true” passives. Sentences (1) and (2) have
a direct active-passive relation. The difference between the two is that the former has a
personal, and the latter a nonpersonal agent.
My father made this violin.
Sentence (3) brings some unclarity about the nature of the active counterpart. There are
two possible counterparts, depending on the interpretation of the by-phrase:
Oil has replaced coal.
(People in many countries) have replaced coal by oil.
In the former case, the by-phrase has been interpreted as an agent phrase
corresponding to the active subject, but in the latter case, the by-phrase has been given an
instrumental interpretation (by = with).
Sentence (4) exemplifies the most common type of passive, that which has no
expressed “agent” (agentless passive), and so leaves the subject of the active counterpart
undetermined.
4.2. Semi-passive (or quasi passives).
Sentences (5) and (6) represent a “mixed” or semi-passive class whose members have
both verbal and adjectival properties.
They are verbs like in having active analogues:
We are encouraged to go on with the project (5)
(The results) encourage us tog go on with the project (5 a)
On the other hand, their adjectival properties include the possibility of:
(a) coordinating the participle with an adjective

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 (b) modifying the participle with very, quite, more, rather
(c) replacing by a lexical copular verb such as feel or seem.
Evidently the ability to take an agent “by-phrase” cannot be regarded as diagnostic of
the passive construction. There are, in fact, several prepositions which can introduce agent-
like phrase, notably about, at, over, to, with.
4.3. Pseudo-passives (or agentless passives).
Finally (7) and (8) have neither an active transformation nor a possibility of agent
addition. These examples may be called “pseudo-passives” since it is chiefly only their
superficial form of ver + -ed participle that recommends them for consideration as passives.
In (7) demolished denotes a resultant state. Thus, such a construction has been
termed a “statal passive”.
Similarly, the participles in (8) have adjectival values: compare industrialized with
mechanical and note that these –ed words can be used adjectivally in phrases like the
industrialized world.
4.4. Notional passive.
It is not passive in form, only in meaning. Transitive verbs change into intransitive
often with compulsory adverbial and their meaning is passive:
e.g. This shirt washes well.
My room needs tidying.
They usually appear with some verbs followed by a gerund and with some
intransitive uses of verbs.
5. COMPARISON OF THE PASSIVE IN ENGLISH AND IN SPANISH.
The passive in English is generated in the same way as in Spanish, with be + past
participle and transposition of subject and object, with optional omission of the by phrase
that carries the agent:
La policía fue atacada por los estudiantes. /Police were attacked by the students
Construction differences
Constructionally the Spanish passive differs from the English passive primarily in that
the participle agrees in number and gender with the subject whereas English does not make
this distinction: La casa es terminada / Las casas son terminadas
Frequency of use
Although the passive in English is frequent and highly productive (especially in more
formal style and in writing), the passive in Spanish is relatively rarer and less productive.

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Spanish make use of the active more often than English does in sentences which could be
expressed in the passive too, especially when the agent is not expressed: Mataron a su
padre en la guerra.
The construction estar + adjective (including past participles) is used in Spanish if an
event is over and only its results are being noted. Compare the difference between:
El ídolo fue roto / The idol was broken (imagine the picture of someone breaking the idol)
El ídolo está roto / The idol was broken (imagine the picture of the shattered idol lying on the
ground).
Usual auxiliary verbs in the passive
We have seen that the usual auxiliary verb to form the English passive is be. But get
and become may in some cases be used as auxiliares too. In Spanish, ser is the only auxiliary
of the passive.
Transitive verbs
Only transitive verbs can be used in the passive voice in Spanish; it rules out
constructions as:
Cheap trains will be run on Sundays
Where the English passive is used with a number of verbs, which, while being
primarily intransitives, may be used as causatives.

6. CONCLUSION
7. LEGISLATIVE ACTS, BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBLINKS.