The passive voice

- is used to show that the person or thing denoted by the subject of the sentence is not the agent (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 acted upon.

The Passive Voice is built up by means of the auxiliary verb to be in the required form and the participle of the notional verb.

	Indefinite (Simple)	Continuous (Progressive)	Perfect	Perfect Continuous
Present	am/is/are invited	am/is/are being invited	has/have been invited	–
Past	was/were invited	was/were being invited	had been invited	–
Future	will be invited	–	will have been invited	–
Future-in-the-Past	would be invited	–	would have been invited	–

I. Cases when no passive construction is possible.

1. Some one-object verbs denoting a state or a relation are never used in the passive voice (PV). They are to have (=possess), to become (подходить (о предмете одежды), быть к лицу), to fit (быть впору, быть в самый раз, подходить по размеру), to suit (подходить, удовлетворять требованиям, устраивать; идти, быть к лицу), to resemble, to last, to lack.

e.g.: She has many good qualities. John resembles his father. The hat becomes you. These shoes don’t fit me.

The money will last me the whole month. He lacks confidence. This time will suit me.

2. Some double-object verbs are never used in the PV. They are to bear, to cost, to envy, to spare.

e.g.: She bears him no grudge. (Она не держит на него зла.) It will cost Della $50.

I don’t envy you your journey in this bad weather. I can spare you some minutes.

3. No passive construction is also possible when the object is expressed by:

1. an infinitive e.g.: We agreed to meet at 5 p.m.

2. a gerund/gerundial phrase e.g.: John enjoyed seeing his native town.

3. a reflexive pronoun or a noun with a possessive pronoun referring to the same person as the subject of the sentence e.g.: He hurt himself. He cut his finger.

4. an object clause (introduced by the conjunction that) e.g.: Helen said that everything was all right.

In this case however we can use either the passive construction with anticipatory it or Complex Subject.

e.g.: It was said that that everything was all right. OR Everything was said to be all right.

II. Uses of the pv peculiar to the English language.

There are cases in English when the use of the PV seems very peculiar because we find no analogous constructions in Russian. In Russian only the direct object (прямое дополнение; кого?что?) can become the subject of the passive construction, whereas in English not only the direct object but also the indirect object (беспредложное косвенное дополнение; кому?) and the prepositional object (предложное косвенное дополнение; кому?) can assume this function. It means that not only transitive but also intransitive verbs can have passive constructions.

e.g.: They showed us (the indirect object) a new price-list (the direct object). (AV)

We were shown a new price-list. (PV) – Нам показали новый прейскурант.

A new price-list was shown (to) us. (PV) – Нам был показан новый прейскурант.

1. The Passive of the Indefinite Tenses vs the Passive of the Perfect Tenses

The Passive of the Indefinite Tenses denotes only a state, whereas the Passive of the Perfect Tenses denotes an action+ a state.

e.g.: The steamer was already unloaded when the agent arrived at the port. (state) – был разгружен

e.g.: The steamer had already been unloaded when the agent arrived at the port.(action + state) – разгрузили

Note: when we need to denote a state of mind, only the Passive of the Indefinite Tenses can be used, even if there is by-object, as this object does not denote the doer of an action but the cause of the state

e.g.: He was frightened by the remark. (a state of mind)

2. Sometimes we use get instead of be in the PV. It is informal and is used for something happening by chance or unexpectedly. In negative and interrogative sentences the auxiliary verb do is used.

e.g.: There was a fight at the party but nobody got hurt. The windows don’t get cleaned very often. How did the painting get damaged?

We also use get in the following expressions: get dressed/changed, get washed (=wash oneself), get engaged/married/divorced, get started (=start), get lost (=lose one’s way).

3. We use the structure to have something done to say that we arranged for somebody else to do something for us. In negative and interrogative sentences the auxiliary verb do is used.

e.g.: Claire decorated the room. (= she decorated it herself)

Claire had the room decorated. (= she arranged for a decorator to do it)

We didn’t have new windows put in because it was too expensive.

Do you have your car serviced regularly?

We can also use the construction to get something done in the same meaning but it is more informal.

e.g.: We’re getting the carpet cleaned. Where did you get your hair cut?

4. The structure to have something done can be used with the meaning ‘to experience something’, often something unpleasant.

e.g.: The car had its mirrors pulled off. Have you ever had your passport stolen?

III. By-object vs with-object

1. By-object denotes the agent of an action, e.g. a thing, a notion, a living being (a team, a group of people, an organization, etc.) which can be expressed by a noun, a pronoun, a gerundial phrase, a clause.

e.g.: The whole scene was enacted by the puppets. How much was she influenced by that fake idea?

I was then awakened by knocking on the window.

2. With-object denotes the instrument used to perform an action, a material, a component, an ingredient.

e.g.: The window was broken with a ball. (instrument) The room was filled with smoke. (material)

Irish coffee is made with whisky. (ingredient)