Structure of Passive voice.
To form the passive voice, use a form of be + past participle.
Here is the table of verbs in Passive voice in terms of 12 tenses.
PASSIVE VOICE WITH 12 TENSES
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Tenses
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Structures
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Examples
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Simple present
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am/ is/ are + P.P
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This cake is made by my mother.
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Present continuous
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am/ is/ are + being + P.P
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This cake is being made by my mother.
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Simple past
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was/ were + P.P
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This cake was made by my mother.
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Past continuous
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was/ were + being + P.P
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This cake was being made by my mother.
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Present perfect
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has/ have + been + P.P
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This cake has been made by my mother.
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Perfect continuous
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has/ have + been+ being + P.P
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This cake has been being made by my mother.
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Past perfect
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had + been + P.P
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This cake had been made by my mother.
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Past perfect continuous
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had + been+ being + P.P
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This cake had been being made by my mother.
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Simple future
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will + be + P.P
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This cake will be made by my mother.
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Future continuous
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will + be + being + P.P
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This cake will be being made by my mother.
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Future perfect
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will + have been + P.P
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This cake will have been made by my mother.
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Future perfect continuous
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Will + have been being + P.P
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This cake will have been being made by my mother.
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Present: I can be misunderstood.
Future: I could be misunderstood.
Past: I could have been misunderstood.
Passive voice with causative forms: HAVE, GET
Active: S+ have/ get + O (person) + bare infinitive + O
Passive: S + have/ get + O (thing) + P.P (+by +O [person])
I get her to make some coffee.
→ I get some coffee made.
Passive voice with verbs of perception: SEE, WATCH, HEAR….
Active: S + V+ O + bare infinitive/ V-ing…
Passive: S + be + P.P + to infinitive/ V-ing…
They saw her come in.
→ She was seen to come in.
Passive voice with verbs of opinion: SAY, THINK, BELIEVE, REPORT, RUMOR…
Active: S + V + (that) + clause (S2 + V2 + O2…)
Passive: S2 + be + P.P + to-infinitive…..
+ to have + P.P…..
People say that he is a famous doctor.
→ It is said that he is a famous doctor.
→ He is said to be a famous doctor.
They thought that Mary had gone away.
→ It was thought that Mary had gone away.
→ Mary was thought to have gone away.
Passive voice in imperative sentence.
Active: V + O + Adjunct
Passive: Let + O + be + P.P + Adjunct.
For example:
He let me go out.
→ I was let to go.
→ I was allowed to go out.
Remember to use the passive voice only with verbs that are transitive in English (that is, they can be followed by a direct object). Intransitive verbs such as happen, occur, and try (to) are not used in the passive voice.
The ceremony was happened yesterday.
Morality is an issue that was tried to explain by many philosophers.
In contrast with English, Vietnamese is an austral and Asiatic language, its basic grammar is the word order. Vietnamese words do not change form, even the verbs. So we cannot base on the form of the verb or grammar to determine whether a sentence is active or passive. We also cannot base on grammar structure because there are some cases in which the structure of an active sentence cannot be recognized.
According to Palmer (1994), passive constructions do not exist, and passive meanings are expressed through verbs of experiencing and becoming, as well as subject or topic markers. However, Nguyen (1987) pointed out that the passive voice in Vietnamese can be also expressed by means of clause subordination that depend on whether the action of the clause has adversative outcomes to the clause subject or topic.
1. When to use Passive Voice in Vietnamese.
Like English, Vietnamese use passive voice in these cases:
- When the speaker does not want to mention or not know the agent (Ex: Một sai lầm đã được thực hiện: A mistake was made)
- When the speaker just want to pay attention to the result of the action. (Ex: Tiếng Anh được sử dụng khắp thế giới: English is spoken all over the world)
- When the speaker wants to have a smoother sentence by keeping the same subject for the two or more verbs. For example, Cô ấy thường hay giúp đỡ người nghèo và được mọi người quý mến vì việc làm đó: She often helps the poor and is respected for these kind things)
2. Structure of Vietnamese Passive Voice.
The general structure of a Vietnamese passive sentence are formed by the formula: ĐƯỢC/ BỊ + VERB
Object + bị/ được + agent +V
Object + bị/ được + V (+ bởi + agent)
For example:
Tôi được anh ấy tặng một món quà. (I was given a gift by him).
Sữa được dùng để làm bơ và phô mai. (Milk is used for making butter and cheese).
As Dinh Hong Van (2007) said in Ha Noi National University science magazine, these are some basic types of Vietnamese passive voice:
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