Passive Voice (Chart 2)

Passive Voice (Chart 2)

Specific uses of Passive Voice

1. Passive Voice used as impersonal sentences = verbs with to objects: For us, Spaniards it rather odd not to be able to hide the subject using impersonal sentences. It is being shown in Chart 1, how using passive voice you can omit the subject. But, what about what is called in Spanish “passive refleja”? Also, “Impersonals” are simple sentence structures starting with “SE (dice/piensa…)” in Spanish. We can find an equivalent in passive voice sentences whose verb has two objects (direct and indirect)

Structure: Indirect object + passive verb + direct object + etc. Meaning: These sentences give priority to the person/thing… which receives the action from the verb. At the same time hides who is responsible of the action.

Examples: Active Voice: Somebody gave the books to the teacher Passive Voice: The teacher was given the books

2. Verbs/structures with passive meaning or passive structure: Certain actions in English require the verb “to be” or “get”

A)    to be born: I was born in March

B)    Get: sometimes get is used instead of “be”: He doesn’t often get to choose first, that’s why he is so happy about it.

C)    Get married / get divorced / get dressed: this passive structure doesn’t have a passive meaning.

D)    To borrow: this verb is rather peculiar for Spaniards because “the lender” is not the subject but the person who is taking the thing from the lender.

3. Causative verbs/structure: In Spanish we distinguish when someone does an action for themselves (so the subject and the recipient of the action are the same) and when somebody else is doing an action promoted by the subject. We just simply use “reflexives pronouns” or “reflexive verbs” in the first case, and omit the reflexive in the second case. In English it is different, “reflexive verbs” don’t exist. Example: I have cut my hair (the subject cut it him/herself)/ I have my hair cut (somebody cut the subjects hair because the subject put the action in motion)

The most common causative verbs structures are:

a) Have/get something done = have/get + object + past participle	Examples: She always has her food delivered                           Object
b) Have/get someone do something = have+ agent + base verb form without to	Example: I had the mechanic check my car               Agent