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The Active Voice

§ 62. The Active Voice shows that the person or thing denoted by the subject of the sentence is the agent (the doer) of the action expressed by the predicate verb, that it acts.

e.g. "I deny that," said Joan.

We know you've been cheating us.

Why have you done it?

George walked over to the window but did not open it.

The formation of the finite forms of the Active Voice and the use of these forms have already been described in "Verbs", § 7-60.

Note. In a vast majority of instances the Active Voice has the meaning de- scribed above. Yet there are cases when, owing to the lexical character of the verb,

the thing denoted by the subject of the sentence cannot be regarded as the doer of the action. This becomes obvious if we compare the following examples:

a) The maid who opened the door for b) The door opened and Mrs Knight me told me that Mr March was appeared with a tea tray,

waiting for me.

She closed the door softly and went The door closed and there was

straight to the telephone. silence in the large room.

In the examples under (a) the subject of the sentence is the doer of the action but in the sentences under (b) it becomes the object — the door cannot actually open or close by itself, the action is performed by someone else. Yet examples of the second kind are also treated in grammar as the Active Voice since the form of the verb is active.

The Passive Voice

§ 63. The Passive Voice serves to show that the person or thing denoted by the subject of the sentence is not the agent (the doer) of the action expressed by the predicate verb but the object of this action. The subject of a passive verb does not act but is act- ed upon, it undergoes an action.

e.g. She was woken from her sleep by his singing.

They were received with great frankness and charm. The child knew that she was being praised. The news will be announced after dinner.

Note. There are a few cases when, owing to the lexical character of the verb, the subject of the sentence cannot be regarded as the object undergoing the action expressed by the predicate verb. Yet examples of this kind are treated in grammar as the Passive Voice since the form of the verb is passive.

e.g. All of a sudden I realized that I was lost in the wild open country. After Jacobs was drowned his farm was sold to MacMartin.

§ 64. The Passive Voice is an analytical form which is built up by means of the auxiliary verb to be in the required finite form and the participle of the notional verb (on the formation of the participle see "Verbs", § 5 and Appendix):

the Present Indefinite — is (am, are) done the Past Indefinite — was (were) done the Future Indefinite — will (shall) be done the Present Perfect — has (have) been done the Past Perfect — had been done

the Future Perfect — will (shall) have been done the Present Continuous — is (am, are) being done the Past Continuous — was (were) being done The interrogative form is built up by placing the (first) auxilia- ry verb before the subject of the sentence (e.g. When was it done? Has the work been done?, etc.). The negative form is built up by placing the particle not after the (first) auxiliary (e.g. The work was not done yesterday. The work will not be done tomorrow, etc.).

Note. The Passive Voice may also be formed by means of the auxiliary verb to get and the participle of the notional verb. But instances of this kind are infre- quent {even in informal English) and restricted mainly to situations and contexts dealing with accidental or unpleasant happenings.

e.g. The boy got hurt on his way home.

The table was turned over sideways and the china lamp got broken. Somebody pushed Jane's elbow and her drink got spilt. Don't make such a noise. You'll get turned out.

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