English Grammar and Composition chapter 8: Voice

UNIT 8 Voice

Lesson 1: An Introduction

Read the following question and the answer:

Figure

Labels: What happened?; My bicycle has been stolen Description: Two men stand together, one speaking to the other who is in uniform; a speech bubble reads "What happened?". Below, a boy with a backpack stands beside a speech bubble reading "My bicycle has been stolen".

Read the sentences in column A and compare each of them with column B. Discuss in pairs what differences you can see in the two sentences of the same row.

Printed page 151

Although the two sentences in the same row express the same meaning, their structures are different. Have you noticed that once the doer is focused and once the action? There are two types of voice in English active and passive. When the doer is focused, we use active voice and when the action is focused, we use passive voice.

There are some rules for active and passive voices. Look at them:

1. The subject (e.g. I, he, Bashir, we, the mother in the previous activity) of the verbs in column A become the objects (me, him, Bashir, us, the mother) in column B.

Figure

Labels: Subject; Object; Past participle; Past participle of the principal verbs Description: A circular arrow runs from "Subject" over the top to "Object", and a second arc runs from "Subject" under the bottom to "Object"; a box labelled "Past participle" has an arrow pointing down to a box labelled "Past participle of the principal verbs".

2. The main verbs (e.g. compose, eat, help, know, feed) become past participle (composed, eaten, helped, known, fed)

3. Auxiliary verb 'be' (am, is, are, was, were) is used before the past participles in each sentence according to the tense of the verbs. You will see later that auxiliary verbs such as have, has, had, has been, have been, had been, is being, am being, are being, was being, were being, will be, can be, will be being, etc. are used before the past participle.

4. Usually 'by' is used before the object of the passive sentences.

Printed page 152

Read the text and underline the passive sentences.

Bangla is our mother tongue. We take pride in it. On 21$^{st}$ February, 1952, our valiant sons laid down their lives for the cause of establishing our mother tongue as state language. To commemorate their sacrifice, the day was declared as international Mother Language Day in 1999 by UNESCO.

International Mother Language Day is celebrated worldwide every year of 21$^{st}$ February. The main purpose of celebrating this day is to promote the awareness of language and cultural diversity all over the world.

International Mother Language Day is celebrated to remember the martyrs who were killed for our mother language. The day is also celebrated to convey the message of their sacrifice to the next generation.

Now, compare your underlined sentences and discuss their uses with your partner.

Change the following sentences to passive. Follow the structure: Subject + be verb + past participle + by + object. One is done for you.

1. I did the work (The work was done by me)
2. The girl is singing a song.
3. We ate our meal.
4. The boys are playing tennis.
5. They draw pictures.

Read the following sentences and think if the sentences can be transformed into passives. Discuss with your friend why it is possible or not possible to change them into passive:

1. He is a student.
2. I have a pencil.
3. Sonargaon is an old city.

Printed page 153

Note: Only sentences with 'action verbs' (verbs which indicate some work or action) can be changed to passives. But sentences with stative verbs which indicate some condition like be, have, cannot be changed into passive form.

Lesson 2: Voice of Present Tenses

Active: I write an application.

Passive: An application is written by me.

Structure: Subject + be verbs (am, is, are)+ past participle of the main verb + by + object

Now, change the following sentences into passive:

a) We read novels.

b) Najibur pulls the cart.

c) My mother tells me a story.

d) We love our country.

e) The fisherman catches fish in the river.

Present indefinite questions & negatives

Look at the table below to understand the change of active to passive:

Work in pairs to change the following questions to passives. Follow the passive structure Do/does/what/why/ --- + auxiliary verb + not (if the sentence is negative) + past participle + by + object.

Printed page 154

a) Do you like tea?

b) Doesn't mother cook rice pudding?

c) Why do they like you?

d) When does your father read newspaper?

e) What do you say?

f) Doesn't your sister teach you English?

Voice of Present Continuous

Active: I am eating an apple.

Passive: An apple is being eaten by me.

Structure: Subject + be verb+ being + past participle + by + object

Present Continuous questions & negatives

Look at the table below to understand the change of active to passive:

Now, change the following questions to passives in pairs:

a) Is she watching television?

b) Are they playing chess?

c) Is Mr Samir teaching you English?

d) Is the mother feeding the baby?

e) Is the head teacher calling me?

Printed page 155

Present Perfect Tense

Active: I have eaten a banana.

Passive: A banana has been eaten by me.

Passive structure: Subject + have/has + been + past participle + by + object

Change the following sentences into passive and compare your answers with those of your friend:

a) Alim has opened the window.

b) I have read the news.

c) We have won the match.

d) The hungry boy has eaten all the mangoes.

e) Have they done the work?

Present Perfect Questions

Structure: Have/has + subject + been + past participle + by + object

Active: Have you made it?

Passive: Has it been made by you?

Active: Has he not read the novel? (Hasn’t he read the novel?)

Passive: Has the novel not been read by him? (Hasn’t the novel been read by him?)

Printed page 156

Lesson 3: Voice of Past Indefinite

Active: I called you.

Passive: You were called by me.

Structure: Subject + be + past participle + by + object

Change the following sentences into passive:

Past Simple questions

Structure: Be + subject + past participle + by + object; if there are two objects, one becomes the subject and the other is put just after the past participle. See the example below

Active: Did you show me the picture? (Here the objects are : me, picture)

Passive: Was the picture shown me by you?/ Was I shown the picture by you?

Active: Didn't I give you the book?

Passive: Wasn't the book given you by me?/ Weren't you given the book by me?

Active: What did you say?

Passive: What was said by you?

Change the following sentences into passive:

a) Did the farmer grow onions?

b) When did you do that?

c) Which house did you buy?

d) What did he write?

e) Did she not eat mangoes?

Printed page 157