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Pertemuan 24Forming the Passive

Matakuliah : G0134 – Grammar IIITahun : 2005Versi : revisi 1

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Learning Outcomes

Pada akhir pertemuan ini, diharapkan mahasiswa akan mampu :• Menuliskan kalimat-kalimat pasif dengan

benar.

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Outline Materi

• Passive Form• Reasons for using the passive• The agent

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The Passive

• The passive is formed by using the verb to be + past participle:

• Active: The police officer saw the robber at the airport.

• Passive: The robber was seen at the airport.

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The Passive

• When the passive is used ? The passive is used quite often in

English, both in speech and writing.• We use passive when:1. We don’t know who or what did

something: My bicycle’s been stolen. (Someone has stolen my bicycle)

2. The action is more important that who did it: Income tax was introduced in England in 1798.

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The Passive

3. it is obvious who or what did something:

The thief’s been arrested.• We can use by + person / thing to show

who does the action if this information is important: The robber was seen by the police officer. (=The police officer saw the robber)/

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The Passive

• Verbs with two objects• Sometimes an active verb (e.g. give) has two

objects: A witness gave the police some information or A witness gave some information to the police.

• Either object can be the subject of a passive sentence:

1. The police were given some information by a witness. Or

2. Some information was given to the police by a witness.

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The Passive

• We follow verbs such as cover with by, in or with: Its body was covered by / in / with flies.

• In particular, we mention the agent when we add information about it in the next part of the sentence: The car had been driven by my younger brother who didn’t have a driving licence.

• We do not mention the agent when we want to hide the information or we want to avoid taking responsibility for an action: I’ve been told not to say anything.