PASSIVE VOICE

In English, all sentences are in either “active” or “passive” voice:

active: Werner Heisenberg formulated the uncertainty principle in 1927.

passive: The uncertainty principle was formulated by Werner Heisenberg in 1927.

In an active sentence, the person or thing responsible for the action in the sentence comes first. In a passive sentence, the person or thing acted on comes first, and the actor is added at the end, introduced with the preposition “by.” The passive form of the verb is signaled by a form of “to be”: in the sentence above, “was formulated” is in passive voice while “formulated” is in active.

In a passive sentence, we often omit the actor completely:

The uncertainty principle was formulated in 1927.

Rumus Passive Voice

Rumus passive voice dapat dilihat pada tabel sebagai berikut di bawah ini.

s + auxilary verb + past participle

Catatan:

·         Auxiliary verb dapat berupa be (is, are, am, was, were) maupun kombinasi antara dua primary auxiliary(is/are being, was/were being, has/have been) maupun antara primary dengan modal (will be, will have been).

·         Kombinasi auxiliary digunakan pada bentuk pasif pada tenses. Penjelasan lebih lengkap dapat dilihat di bentuk pasif pada tenses , infinitive dan gerund

·         Past participle yang digunakan berupa kata kerja transitive (memiliki direct object).

Contoh:

·         She can’t drive a car. (active voice, transitive), He always come on time. (active voice, intransitive)

·         Perubahan bentuk dari base form ke past tense dan past participle secara regular maupun irreguler

·         Contoh:    play (base form) —> played (past participle), sing (base form) —> sung (past participle)

Example for passive voice

1.      Present Tense

S+V1+O menjadi S+Tobe(is,am,are)+V3+by Object

Ex…           

A : she writes a letter

P : A letter is written by her

Jika active voice dalam simple present tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah is, am atau are.

Contoh:

Active    : He meets them everyday.

Passive  : They are met by him everyday.

Active    : She waters this plant every two days.

Passive  : This plant is watered by her every two days.

2.      Present Continuous Tense

S+Tobe(is,am,are)+Ving+O menjadi S+Tobe(is,am,are)+being+V3+by O

Ex…

A : she is writing a letter for her parents now

P : A letter is being written by her for her parents now

Contoh:
Active    : He is meeting them now.

Passive  : They are being met by him now.

 Active    : She is watering this plant now.

Passive  : This plant is being watered by her now.

3.      Present Perfect Tense

S+has/have+V3+O menjadi S+has/have+been+V3+by O

Ex…

A : He has finished his homework

P : His homework has been finished by him

Contoh :

Active    : He has met them

Passive  : They have been met by him

Active    : She has watered this plant for 5 minutes.

Passive  : This plant has been watered by her for 5 minutes.

4.      Past Tense

S+V2+O menjadi S+Tobe(was/were)+V3+by O

Ex…

A : He repaired my watch yesterday

P : My watch was repaired by him yesterday

Contoh :

Active    : He met them yesterday

Passive  : They were met by him yesterday

Active    : She watered this plant this morning

Passive  : This plant was watered by her this morning

5.      Past Continuous Tense

S+Tobe(was/were)+Ving+O menjadi S+Tobe(was/were)+being+V3+by O

Ex…

A : He was drinking some water

P : Some water was being drunk by him

6.      Past Perfect Tense

S+had+V3+O menjadi S+had+been+V3+by O

Ex…

A : She had written a letter

P : A letter had been written by her

7.      Modals

S+Modals+V1+O menjadi S+Modals+be+V3+by O

Ex…

A : He can paint the house

P : The house can be painted by him

When do I use passive voice?

In some sentences, passive voice can be perfectly acceptable. You might use it in the following cases:

1.      The actor is unknown:

The cave paintings of Lascaux were made in the Upper Old Stone Age. [We don't know who made them.]

2.      The actor is irrelevant:

An experimental solar power plant will be built in the Australian desert. [We are not interested in who is building it.]

3.      You want to be vague about who is responsible:

Mistakes were made. [Common in bureaucratic writing!]

4.      You are talking about a general truth:

Rules are made to be broken. [By whomever, whenever.]

5.      You want to emphasize the person or thing acted on. For example, it may be your main topic:

Insulin was first discovered in 1921 by researchers at the University of Toronto. It is still the only treatment available for diabetes.

6. You are writing in a scientific genre that traditionally relies on passive voice. Passive voice is often preferred in lab reports and scientific research papers, most notably in the Materials and Methods section:

The sodium hydroxide was dissolved in water. This solution was then titrated with hydrochloric acid.

In these sentences you can count on your reader to know that you are the one who did the dissolving and the titrating. The passive voice places the emphasis on your experiment rather than on you.

Note: Over the past several years, there has been a movement within many science disciplines away from passive voice. Scientists often now prefer active voice in most parts of their published reports, even occasionally using the subject "we" in the Materials and Methods section. Check with your instructor or TA whether you can use the first person "I" or "we" in your lab reports to help avoid the passive.

To learn more about the use of passive voice in the sciences, visit our handout on writing in the sciences.

When should I avoid passive voice?

Passive sentences can get you into trouble in academic writing because they can be vague about who is responsible for the action:

Both Othello and Iago desire Desdemona. She is courted. [Who courts Desdemona? Othello? Iago? Both of them?]

Academic writing often focuses on differences between the ideas of different researchers, or between your own ideas and those of the researchers you are discussing. Too many passive sentences can create confusion:

Research has been done to discredit this theory. [Who did the research? You? Your professor? Another author?]

Some students use passive sentences to hide holes in their research:

The telephone was invented in the nineteenth century. [I couldn't find out who invented the telephone!]

Finally, passive sentences often sound wordy and indirect. They can make the reader work unnecessarily hard. And since they are usually longer than active sentences, passive sentences take up precious room in your paper:

Since the car was being driven by Michael at the time of the accident, the damages should be paid for by him.

A story of romantic love

Sweet Valentine: Baker Emily Jones decorates chocolate hearts at the Lake Champlain Chocolates factory in Burlington, Vermont, on Feb. 11.AP/Toby TalbotFor many, February is the month of romance.

Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14th gives people a momentum to celebrate love and express it to their object of affection.

The classic formula to mark the occasion usually includes a romantic dinner for two, red roses, chocolate, candy and a greeting card. For those with more money to spend, a holiday getaway and jewelry might come into the picture.

Those skeptical of the day’s hype might refuse to partake in the consumerist frenzy, saying that love should be celebrated on any day of the year. Romantics, who love the special occasion, meticulously plan their activities on Valentine’s Day. And there are those who don’t mind being given a reason to be romantic.

Penjelasan :

1.       And there are those who don’t mind being given a reason to be romantic

Kalimat Passive Voice di atas masuk kedalam bagian Present Continous.

Daftar Pustaka :

1.      (Hartanto, John .S ,dkk. 2003.Accurate, Brief and Clear English Grammar . Surabaya: IndahSurabaya)

2.      (Hariyono, Rudy dan Andrew Mc. Carthy. 2008. ABC Plus English Grammar. Surabaya: GitaMedia Press)

3.      http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/02/12/.html