- •Contents
- •Identifying what you are talking about: determiners 50
- •3 Making a message 111
- •Indicating possibility 168
- •8 Combining messages 245
- •9 Making texts 272
- •Introduction
- •Note on Examples
- •Guide to the Use of the Grammar
- •Introduction
- •Glossary of grammatical terms
- •Cobuild Grammar Chart
- •Contents of Chapter 1
- •Identifying what you are talking about: determiners 54
- •3 Making a message 115
- •Indicating possibility 172
- •8 Combining messages 250
- •9 Making texts 276
- •Identifying people and things: nouns
- •Things which can be counted: count nouns
- •Things not usually counted: uncount nouns
- •When there is only one of something: singular nouns
- •Referring to more than one thing: plural nouns
- •Referring to groups: collective nouns
- •Referring to people and things by name: proper nouns
- •Nouns which are rarely used alone
- •Sharing the same quality: adjectives as headwords
- •Nouns referring to males or females
- •Referring to activities and processes: '-ing' nouns
- •Specifying more exactly: compound nouns
- •Referring to people and things without naming them: pronouns
- •Referring to people and things: personal pronouns
- •Mentioning possession: possessive pronouns
- •Referring back to the subject: reflexive pronouns
- •Referring to a particular person or thing: demonstrative pronouns
- •Referring to people and things in a general way: indefinite pronouns
- •Showing that two people do the same thing: reciprocal pronouns
- •Joining clauses together: relative pronouns
- •Asking questions: interrogative pronouns
- •Other pronouns
- •Identifying what you are talking about: determiners
- •The specific way: using 'the'
- •The specific way: using 'this', 'that', 'these', and 'those'
- •The specific way: using possessive determiners
- •The general way
- •The general way: using 'a' and 'an'
- •The general way: other determiners
- •Contents of Chapter 2
- •Identifying what you are talking about: determiners 54
- •3 Making a message 120
- •Indicating possibility 176
- •8 Combining messages 254
- •9 Making texts 280
- •Describing things: adjectives
- •Information focusing: adjective structures
- •Identifying qualities: qualitative adjectives
- •Identifying the class that something belongs to: classifying adjectives
- •Identifying colours: colour adjectives
- •Showing strong feelings: emphasizing adjectives
- •Making the reference more precise: postdeterminers
- •Special classes of adjectives
- •Position of adjectives in noun groups
- •Special forms: '-ing' adjectives
- •Special forms: '-ed' adjectives
- •Compound adjectives
- •Comparing things: comparatives
- •Comparing things: superlatives
- •Other ways of comparing things: saying that things are similar
- •Indicating different amounts of a quality: submodifiers
- •Indicating the degree of difference: submodifiers in comparison
- •Modifying using nouns: noun modifiers
- •Indicating possession or association: possessive structures
- •Indicating close connection: apostrophe s ('s)
- •Other structures with apostrophe s ('s)
- •Talking about quantities and amounts
- •Talking about amounts of things: quantifiers
- •Talking about amounts of things: partitives
- •Referring to an exact number of things: numbers
- •Referring to the number of things: cardinal numbers
- •Referring to things in a sequence: ordinal numbers
- •Referring to an exact part of something: fractions
- •Talking about measurements
- •Talking about age
- •Approximate amounts and measurements
- •Expanding the noun group: qualifiers
- •Nouns with prepositional phrases
- •Nouns with adjectives
- •Nouns with non-finite clauses
- •Contents of Chapter 3
- •Identifying what you are talking about: determiners 54
- •3 Making a message 124
- •Indicating possibility 181
- •8 Combining messages 258
- •9 Making texts 284
- •Indicating how many participants are involved: transitivity
- •Talking about events which involve only the subject: intransitive verbs
- •Involving someone or something other than the subject: transitive verbs
- •Verbs where the object refers back to the subject: reflexive verbs
- •Verbs with little meaning: delexical verbs
- •Verbs which can be used in both intransitive and transitive clauses
- •Verbs which can take an object or a prepositional phrase
- •Changing your focus by changing the subject: ergative verbs
- •Verbs which involve people doing the same thing to each other: reciprocal verbs
- •Verbs which can have two objects: ditransitive verbs
- •Extending or changing the meaning of a verb: phrasal verbs
- •Verbs which consist of two words: compound verbs
- •Describing and identifying things: complementation
- •Describing things: adjectives as complements of link verbs
- •Saying that one thing is another thing: noun groups as complements of link verbs
- •Commenting: 'to'-infinitive clauses after complements
- •Describing as well as talking about an action: other verbs with complements
- •Describing the object of a verb: object complements
- •Describing something in other ways: adjuncts instead of complements
- •Indicating what role something has or how it is perceived: the preposition 'as'
- •Talking about closely linked actions: using two verbs together in phase
- •Talking about two actions done by the same person: phase verbs together
- •Talking about two actions done by different people: phase verbs separated by an object
- •Contents of Chapter 4
- •Identifying what you are talking about: determiners 54
- •3 Making a message 124
- •Indicating possibility 185
- •8 Combining messages 262
- •9 Making texts 289
- •Statements, questions, orders, and suggestions
- •Making statements: the declarative mood
- •Asking questions: the interrogative mood
- •'Yes/no'-questions
- •'Wh'-questions
- •Telling someone to do something: the imperative mood
- •Other uses of moods
- •Negation Forming negative statements
- •Forming negative statements: negative affixes
- •Forming negative statements: broad negatives
- •Emphasizing the negative aspect of a statement
- •Using modals
- •The main uses of modals
- •Special features of modals
- •Referring to time
- •Indicating possibility
- •Indicating ability
- •Indicating likelihood
- •Indicating permission
- •Indicating unacceptability
- •Interacting with other people
- •Giving instructions and making requests
- •Making an offer or an invitation
- •Making suggestions
- •Stating an intention
- •Indicating unwillingness or refusal
- •Expressing a wish
- •Indicating importance
- •Introducing what you are going to say
- •Expressions used instead of modals
- •Semi-modals
- •Contents of Chapter 5
- •Identifying what you are talking about: determiners 54
- •3 Making a message 124
- •Indicating possibility 185
- •8 Combining messages 266
- •9 Making texts 293
- •The present
- •The present in general: the simple present
- •Accent on the present: the present continuous
- •Emphasizing time in the present: using adjuncts
- •The past
- •Stating a definite time in the past: the simple past
- •Accent on the past: the past continuous
- •The past in relation to the present: the present perfect
- •Events before a particular time in the past: the past perfect
- •Emphasizing time in the past: using adjuncts
- •The future
- •Indicating the future using 'will'
- •Other ways of indicating the future
- •Adjuncts with future tenses
- •Other uses of tenses
- •Vivid narrative
- •Firm plans for the future
- •Forward planning from a time in the past
- •Timing by adjuncts
- •Emphasizing the unexpected: continuing, stopping, or not happening
- •Time expressions and prepositional phrases Specific times
- •Non-specific times
- •Subordinate time clauses
- •Extended uses of time expressions
- •Frequency and duration
- •Adjuncts of frequency
- •Adjuncts of duration
- •Indicating the whole of a period
- •Indicating the start or end of a period
- •Duration expressions as modifiers
- •Contents of Chapter 6
- •Identifying what you are talking about: determiners 54
- •3 Making a message 124
- •Indicating possibility 185
- •8 Combining messages 271
- •9 Making texts 297
- •Position of adjuncts
- •Giving information about manner: adverbs
- •Adverb forms and meanings related to adjectives
- •Comparative and superlative adverbs
- •Adverbs of manner
- •Adverbs of degree
- •Giving information about place: prepositions
- •Position of prepositional phrases
- •Indicating position
- •Indicating direction
- •Prepositional phrases as qualifiers
- •Other ways of giving information about place
- •Destinations and directions
- •Noun groups referring to place: place names
- •Other uses of prepositional phrases
- •Prepositions used with verbs
- •Prepositional phrases after nouns and adjectives
- •Extended meanings of prepositions
- •Contents of Chapter 7
- •Identifying what you are talking about: determiners 54
- •3 Making a message 124
- •Indicating possibility 185
- •8 Combining messages 275
- •9 Making texts 302
- •Indicating that you are reporting: reporting verbs
- •Reporting someone's actual words: quote structures
- •Reporting in your own words: report structures
- •Reporting statements and thoughts
- •Reporting questions
- •Reporting orders, requests, advice, and intentions
- •Time reference in report structures
- •Making your reference appropriate
- •Using reporting verbs for politeness
- •Avoiding mention of the person speaking or thinking
- •Referring to the speaker and hearer
- •Other ways of indicating what is said
- •Other ways of using reported clauses
- •Contents of Chapter 8
- •Identifying what you are talking about: determiners 54
- •3 Making a message 124
- •Indicating possibility 185
- •8 Combining messages 279
- •9 Making texts 306
- •Adverbial clauses
- •Time clauses
- •Conditional clauses
- •Purpose clauses
- •Reason clauses
- •Result clauses
- •Concessive clauses
- •Place clauses
- •Clauses of manner
- •Relative clauses
- •Using relative pronouns in defining clauses
- •Using relative pronouns in non-defining clauses
- •Using relative pronouns with prepositions
- •Using 'whose'
- •Using other relative pronouns
- •Additional points about non-defining relative clauses
- •Nominal relative clauses
- •Non-finite clauses
- •Using non-defining clauses
- •Using defining clauses
- •Other structures used like non-finite clauses
- •Coordination
- •Linking clauses
- •Linking verbs
- •Linking noun groups
- •Linking adjectives and adverbs
- •Linking other word groups
- •Emphasizing coordinating conjunctions
- •Linking more than two clauses or word groups
- •Contents of Chapter 9
- •Identifying what you are talking about: determiners 54
- •3 Making a message 124
- •Indicating possibility 185
- •8 Combining messages 279
- •9 Making texts 310
- •Referring back
- •Referring back in a specific way
- •Referring back in a general way
- •Substituting for something already mentioned: using 'so' and 'not'
- •Comparing with something already mentioned
- •Referring forward
- •Leaving out words: ellipsis
- •Ellipsis in conversation
- •Contents of Chapter 10
- •Identifying what you are talking about: determiners 54
- •3 Making a message 124
- •Indicating possibility 185
- •8 Combining messages 279
- •9 Making texts 310
- •Focusing on the thing affected: the passive voice
- •Selecting focus: cleft sentences
- •Taking the focus off the subject: using impersonal 'it'
- •Describing a place or situation
- •Talking about the weather and the time
- •Commenting on an action, activity, or experience
- •Commenting on a fact that you are about to mention
- •Introducing something new: 'there' as subject
- •Focusing on clauses or clause elements using adjuncts Commenting on your statement: sentence adjuncts
- •Indicating your attitude to what you are saying
- •Stating your field of reference
- •Showing connections: linking adjuncts
- •Indicating a change in a conversation
- •Emphasizing
- •Indicating the most relevant thing: focusing adverbs
- •Other information structures Putting something first: fronting
- •Introducing your statement: prefacing structures
- •Doing by saying: performative verbs
- •Exclamations
- •Making a statement into a question: question tags
- •Addressing people: vocatives
- •Contents of the Reference Section
- •Identifying what you are talking about: determiners 54
- •3 Making a message 124
- •Indicating possibility 185
- •8 Combining messages 279
- •9 Making texts 310
- •Forming plurals of count nouns
- •Forming comparative and superlative adjectives
- •The spelling and pronunciation of possessives
- •Numbers
- •Cardinal numbers
- •Ordinal numbers
- •Fractions and percentages
- •Verb forms and the formation of verb groups
- •Finite verb groups and the formation of tenses
- •Non-finite verb groups: infinitives and participles
- •Forming adverbs
- •Forming comparative and superlative adverbs
- •Indirect object
- •Inversion
- •Verbal nouns
Focusing on the thing affected: the passive voice
10.8 Many actions involve two people or things-one that performs the action and one that is affected by the action. These actions are typically referred to using transitive verbs. Transitive verbs are explained fully in Chapter 3.
In English the person or thing you want to talk about is usually put first as subject of the clause. So, when you want to talk about someone or something that is the performer of an action (the agent), you make them the subject of the verb and you use an active form of the verb. The other person or thing is made the object of the verb.
However, you may want to focus on the person or thing affected by an action, which would be the object of an active form of the verb. In that case, you make that person or thing the subject of a passive form of the verb.
For example, you could report the same event by using an active form of a verb, as in 'The dog's eaten our dinner' or by using a passive form of a verb, as in 'Our dinner's been eaten by the dog', depending on whether you wanted to talk about the dog or your dinner.
Clauses which contain an active form of a verb are in the active voice and clauses with a passive form of a verb are in the passive voice.
10.9 Passive forms consist of an appropriate tense of 'be' followed by the past participle of the verb. For example, the passive form of the simple present of 'eat' is the simple present of' be' followed by 'eaten': 'It is eaten'.
She escaped uninjured but her boyfriend was shot in the chest and died.
He was being treated for a stomach ulcer.
He thinks such events could have been avoided.
For details of passive forms of verbs, see the Reference Section.
10.10 Using a passive form of a verb gives you the option of not mentioning the person or thing responsible for the action, often called the agent of the action.
You may want to do this for one of these reasons:
• because you do not know who or what the agent is
He's almost certainly been murdered.
The fence between the two properties had been removed.
• because it is not important who or what the agent is
I had been told that it would be perfectly quiet.
Such items should be carefully packed in tea chests.
• because it is obvious who or what the agent is
She found that she wasn't being paid the same wage as him.
More people have been treated in hospital this year than at any time since the start of the Health Service.
• because the agent was already been mentioned
His pictures of dogs were executed with tremendous humour.
The government responded quickly, and new measures were passed which strengthened their powers.
• because people in general are the agents
Both of these books can be obtained from the public library.
It is very strange and has never been adequately explained.
• because you wish to conceal the agent's identity or to distance yourself from your own action
The original has been destroyed.
She had been given instructions to moderate her tone.
The government was forced to say that the report would be implemented.
10.11 In accounts of processes and scientific experiments, the passive is used and no agent is mentioned because the focus is on what happens and not on who or what makes it happen.
The principle of bottling is very simple. Food is put in jars, the jars and their contents are heated to a temperature which is maintained long enough to ensure that all bacteria, moulds and viruses are destroyed.
10.12 The passive form of reporting verbs is often used in an impersonal 'it' structure, when it is clear whose words or thoughts you are giving or when you are giving the words or thoughts of people in general. See 10.45 in the section on impersonal 'it' structures.
It was agreed that he would come and see us again the next day.
It was rumoured that he had been sentenced to life imprisonment, but had escaped.
USACE NOTE 10.13 When people in general are the agents, an active form of the verb is sometimes used instead, with 'you' or 'they' as the subject. 'One' is used as the subject in this kind of clause in formal speech and writing.
You can't buy iron now, only steel.
They say she's very bright.
It is a matter of personal belief, like the colour of socks one prefers to wear or the television programmes one chooses to watch.
For more information, see the section on personal pronouns beginning at paragraph 1.96.
You can also use the indefinite pronouns 'someone' or 'something'. This allows you to mention an agent, without specifying who or what they are. For more information about indefinite pronouns, see paragraphs 1.127 to 1.140.
I think someone's calling you.
Something has upset him.
Ergative verbs can also enable you to avoid mentioning the performer of an action. For example, instead of saying 'She opened the door', you can say 'The door opened'. See the section on ergative verbs in paragraphs 3.60 to 3.68.
mentioning the agent with 'by' 10.14 When you use the passive, you can of course mention the agent at the end of the clause by using 'by'. But this puts emphasis on the agent, because the end of the clause is an important position, and so you often do this when you want to refer back to the agent in the next clause.
His best friend was killed by a grenade, which exploded under his car.
The defending champion, John Pritchard, was beaten by Chris Boardman.
This view was been challenged by a number of workers.
mentioning things or methods used 10.15 As with active forms of verbs, you can mention something that the agent used to perform the action after the preposition 'with'.
A circle was drawn in the dirt with a stick.
Moisture must be drawn out first with salt.
You can mention the method using an '-ing' form after 'by'.
Much of their strong taste can be removed by changing the cooking water.
passive of verbs referring to states 10.16 A few transitive verbs refer to states rather than actions. When some of these verbs are used in the passive, the agent is put after the preposition 'with'.
The room was filled with pleasant furniture.
The railings were decorated with thousands of bouquets.
Here is a list of transitive verbs referring to states which are used with 'with' in the passive:
cram crowd |
decorate fill |
ornament throng |
However, 'by' is used with some verbs which describe a state.
The Melbourne meeting is likely to be overshadowed by the implications of the recent Ottawa economic summit.
Here is a list of transitive verbs referring to states which are used with 'by' in the passive:
conceal exceed |
illuminate inhabit |
occupy overshadow |
Some verbs, such as 'adorn' and 'surround' can be used with 'with' or 'by' after them.
Her right hand was covered with blood.
One entire wall was covered by a gigantic chart of the English Channel.
The house was surrounded with tanks and policemen with dog.
The building was surrounded by a deep green lawn.
Here is a list of transitive verbs which can be used with either 'with' or 'by' in the passive:
adorn besiege |
cover encircle |
overrun surround |
There are also several verbs which are used with 'in'.
Douglas Hamilton's recommendations are contained in the report of a survey of African elephants carried out under his direction.
Free transport was not included in the contract.
The walls of her flat are covered in dirt.
Here is a list of transitive verbs which can be used with 'in' in the passive:
contain cover |
include |
involve subsume |
Note that 'cover' can be used with 'in', 'by' or 'with'.
10.17 Phrasal verbs which consist of a transitive verb followed by an adverb or preposition, or by an adverb and a preposition, can be used in the passive. Lists of phrasal verbs are given in paragraphs 3.84 to 3.117.
Two totally opposing views have been put forward to explain this phenomenon.
Millions of tons of good earth are being washed away each year.
I was talked into meeting Norman Granz at a posh London restaurant.
Such expectations are drummed into every growing child.
10.18 Because of their meaning, some transitive verbs are usually used in the passive. The agent of the action is usually thought to be not worth mentioning or is not known.
He was deemed to be the guardian of the child.
The meeting is scheduled for February 14.
Drunken airmen were alleged to have rampaged through the hotel.
The following transitive verbs are usually used in the passive:
be acclaimed be alleged be annihilated be baffled be born be compressed be conditioned be construed be couched be cremated be dazed be deafened be debased be deemed |
be disconcerted be dubbed be dwarfed be earmarked be empowered be fined be gutted be headed be horrified be hospitalized be indicted be inundated be jailed be mesmerized |
be misdirected be overcome be paralysed be penalized be perpetrated be pilloried be populated be prized be punctuated be rationed be reconciled be reprieved be reunited be rumoured |
be scheduled be shipped be shipwrecked be short-listed be shrouded be staffed be stranded be strewn be subsumed be suspended be swamped be wounded |
The following phrasal verbs are usually used in the passive:
be bowled over be caught up be handed down |
be pensioned off be ploughed up be rained off |
be scaled down be struck off be sworn in |
be taken aback be written into |
They were bowled over by the number of visitors who came to the show.
The journalists were taken aback by the ferocity of the language.
verbs rarely used in the passive 10.19 A few transitive verbs because the thing affected by the action they describe is rarely the thing you are interested in.
The following are rarely used in the passive:
elude escape flee |
get have let |
like race resemble |
suit survive |
The following phrasal verbs containing a transitive verb are rarely used in the passive:
band together bite back boom out brush up call down on cast back chuck in |
cry out ease off eke out flick over get back get down give over |
have on have out heave up hunt up jab at jack in jerk out |
let through pace out phone back ring back ring out sit out sob out |
stand off tide over wait out walk off while away |
ditransitive verbs 10.20 In the case of ditransitive verbs such as 'give', 'teach', and 'show', which can have an indirect object as well as a direct object in an active clause, either object can be the subject of a passive clause.
For example, instead of 'He gave the receptionist the key', you can say 'The receptionist was given the key', where the indirect object of the active clause is the subject of the passive clause. Note that the direct object is still mentioned after the verb.
They were given a pint of water every day.
She had been taught logic by an uncle.
But you can also say 'The key was given to the receptionist', where the direct object of the active clause is the subject of the passive clause. The indirect object can be mentioned after 'to' or 'for'.
The building had been given to the town in the late 1920s by an investment banker.
Shelter had been found for most of those still wandering the streets.
Sometimes it is unnecessary to mention the indirect object at all.
The vaccine can be given at the same time as injections against diphtheria and tetanus.
Interest is charged at 2 per cent a month.
For lists of ditransitive verbs, see paragraphs 3.74 to 3.83.
10.21 There is a group of transitive verbs which can have a complement after their object. They are listed and described in paragraphs 3.162 to 3.172. When these verbs are used in the passive, the complement is put directly after the verb.
In August he was elected Vice President of the Senate.
If a person today talks about ghosts, he is considered ignorant or nutty.
10.22 Reflexive verbs, whose object is a reflexive pronoun referring to the subject of the verb, are not used in the passive. For more information on reflexive verbs, see the section beginning at paragraph 3.27.
10.23 Many intransitive phrasal verbs can be used in the passive. The verbs are followed by a preposition and a noun group referring to the thing affected by the action the verb describes. The object of the preposition can be made the subject of the passive form of the verb. The preposition remains after the verb, with no object after it.
In some households, the man was referred to as 'the master'.
Two people at the head of the line were being dealt with by a couple of clerks.
The performance had been paid for by a local cultural society.
Sanders asked if such men could be relied on to keep their mouths shut.
The following is a list of intransitive phrasal verbs which are quite often used in the passive:
accede to account for act on adhere to aim at allow for allude to approve of ask for aspire to attend to bargain for bite into break into budget for build on call for call on care for cater for count on |
deal with decide on despair of dictate to dispense with dispose of enter into frown upon fuss over get at get round gloss over guess at hear of hint at hope for impose on improve on indulge in inquire into insist on |
jump on keep to laugh at lean on leap on light upon listen to long for look after look at look into look through look to meddle with minister to mourn for object to operate on pander to paper over pay for |
pick on plan for plan on play with plot against point to pore over pounce on preside over prevail on prey on provide for put upon puzzle over reason with refer to rely on remark on resort to rush into see through |
see to seize on send for set on settle on shoot at skate over stamp on stare at subscribe to talk about talk to tamper with tinker with touch on trample on trifle with wait on watch over wonder at work on |
A few phrasal verbs which consist of an intransitive verb, an adverb, and a preposition are used in the passive.
The farm labourer used to be looked down on.
I was afraid of being done away with.
The following list contains three-word phrasal verbs used in the passive:
do away with live up to |
took down on took forward to |
look out for look up to |
play around with talk down to |
USAGE NOTE 10.24 Note that in informal English, 'get' is sometimes used instead of 'be' to form the passive. The agent is not usually mentioned.
Our car gets cleaned about once every two months.
My husband got fined in Germany for crossed a road.