Passive voice in english in comparison with that in vietnamese in terms of syntactic and semantic analysis

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N0 2
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY

TONG THI TINH

PASSIVE VOICE IN ENGLISH IN COMPARISON
WITH THAT IN VIETNAMESE IN TERMS OF
SYNTACTIC
AND SEMANTIC ANALYSIS

(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE
DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLISH)

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN VAN DEN, M.A

HANOI, 2013

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to take this chance to express my greatest gratitude to Mr.
Nguyen Van Den, M.A., my supervisor, for his patience in providing continuous
and careful guidance as well as encouragement, indispensable suggestions and
advice.
I wish to thank all the lecturers at Hanoi Pedagogical University Number 2,
especially the lecturers in the Foreign Language Faculty for their dedicated
instructions during my years of university work.
I am particularly grateful to my close friends for their enthusiasm and
kindness in helping me collect valuable reference documents and data for my

research.
Last but not least, I owe a debt of gratitude to my beloved family, for their
whole – hearted encouragement and endless support.

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ABSTRACT

According to researchers, passive meaning exists in almost all languages and
the difference is how to denote this kind of meaning. One of the ways which is
often used to express passive meaning is passive voice. In European languages,
passive voice is a familiar phenomenon while in Vietnamese this is a developing
grammatical phenomenon.
Hence, some viewpoints about passive voice in Vietnamese are very
different: some people say that Vietnamese has no passive voice; some say that
passive voice exists in Vietnamese. Students of English are confused when
learning English or translating these two languages. Therefore, this research work
entails studying and comparing how to denote passive meaning in English and
Vietnamese.
Based on the results, the similarities and differences in this aspect in
Vietnamese and English have been found. Teaching implications of the passive
voice have been suggested.

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Title: Passive voice in English in comparison with that in Vietnamese in terms

of syntactic and semantic analysis
(Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Bachelor
of Arts in English)
I certify that no part of this report has been copied or reproduced by me from
any other person’s work without acknowledgements and that the report is
originally written by me under strict guidance from my supervisor.

Date submitted: May 2013

Student

Supervisor

Tong Thi Tinh

Nguyen Van Den, M.A.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................. i
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... ii
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................... iv
PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
I. Rationale ........................................................................................................... 1
II. Research presupposition ................................................................................. 1

III. Research objectives ........................................................................................ 2
IV. Research scope ............................................................................................... 2
V. Research tasks ................................................................................................. 2
VI. Research methods .......................................................................................... 3
VII. Significance of the proposed research ......................................................... 3
VIII. Design of the research work ....................................................................... 3
PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: PASSIVE VOICE IN ENGLISH
I.1. Literature review in brief .............................................................................. 5
I.2. Discussing the name of the research paper................................................... 7
I.2.1. Definition of voice ........................................................................................ 7
I.2.2. The term “passive” ........................................................................................ 8
I.2.3. Syntactic and semantic analysis .................................................................... 8
I.3. Passive voice in syntactic analysis ............................................................... 10
I.3.1. Be – passive ................................................................................................ 10
I.3.2. Get – passive ............................................................................................... 10
I.3.3. Passive voice with modal verbs ................................................................... 11
I.3.4. Passive voice with to – infinitives and gerunds ........................................... 12
I.3.5. Verbs and objects in passive voice .............................................................. 12
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I.3.5.1. Transitive verbs or intransitive verbs........................................................ 12
I.3.5.2. Transitive verbs ........................................................................................ 15
I.3.5.2.1. Monotransitive verbs ............................................................................. 15
I.3.5.2.2. Ditransitives verbs ................................................................................. 18
I.3.5.2.3. Complex transitive verbs ....................................................................... 19
I.4. Passive voice in semantic analysis ............................................................... 20
I.4.1. Agents and Patients in passives ................................................................... 20

I.4.2. Agents in passives ....................................................................................... 22
I.4.3. Get – passive ............................................................................................... 23
I.4.4. Passive with introductory “it” ..................................................................... 25
I.4.5. Spoken and written usage of passives.......................................................... 25
I.5. Others ........................................................................................................... 26

CHAPTER TWO: PASSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS IN VIETNAMESE
II.1. Passive constructions in syntactic analysis................................................ 28
II.1.1. Passive constructions with “bị” and “được” ............................................... 29
II.1.2. Passive constructions without “bị” and “được” .......................................... 34
II.1.2.1. Absence of“bị/được” as function words .................................................. 34
II.1.2.2. Predicates with “chịu”, “mắc”, “phải”..................................................... 35
II.2. Passive constructions in semantic analysis................................................ 36
II.2.1. Meanings of “bị” and “được”..................................................................... 36
II.2.2. Subjects in passives ................................................................................... 37
II.2.3. Transitive verb – object inversion .............................................................. 38
II.2.4. “do/của” + subject – verb ........................................................................... 40
II.3. Spoken and written usage of passive constructions .................................. 40

CHAPTER THREE: PASSIVE VOICE IN ENGLISH IN
COMPARISON WITH THAT IN VIETNAMESE
III.1. Similarities ................................................................................................ 43
III.1.1. In terms of syntax ..................................................................................... 43
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III.1.1.1. Agents used in passives ......................................................................... 43
III.1.1.2. Verbs used in passives ........................................................................... 44
III.1.2. In terms of semantics ................................................................................ 45
III.2. Differences ................................................................................................. 46

III.2.1. In terms of syntax ..................................................................................... 46
III.2.2. In terms of semantics ................................................................................ 47
III.2.2.1. Modal meaning of Vietnamese passive sentences with “bị” and “được” 47
III.2.2.2. Lexical meaning of subjects in Vietnamese passive sentences ............... 47
III.2.2.3. Lexical meaning cautioning in translation.............................................. 48
III.3. Teaching implications ............................................................................... 50

PART THREE
CONCLUSION
I. Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 52
II. References ...................................................................................................... 55

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PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
I. Rationale
Since Vietnam is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the
world can now be compared to a global village, English plays an essential role in
all economic sectors as well as in daily life. No one can deny the importance of
English in Vietnam at present. Therefore, English is being taught at every
educational level.
Of all the grammatical items, the concept of voice in general and passive
voice in particular, seems to be one of the most challenging issues. In English
passive voice is expressed with syntactic constructions, involving a combination of
the auxiliary verb “be” and the past participle form of the verb. In Vietnamese - a
non flectional language, on the other hand, there are many arguments over whether
passive voice is a grammar category or not. Passive meaning in Vietnamese is
expressed by functional words and syntactic and semantic structures.

Besides, passive voice is one of the language categories that students at high
school have to learn. Although passive voice is very common in writing and
speaking but the amount of passive voice in high school English text is limited. In
fact, many students confess that passive voice is the one of the problems of English
grammar which they are unaware of and confuse with Vietnamese passive voice.
Within the framework of this graduation paper, English passive structures
will be studied through contrastive analysis with Vietnamese with the intent of
systematically providing an overview of English passive structures and Vietnamese
equivalents to help learners improve their translation. Moreover, as a prospective
teacher, I would like to make a contribution to English teaching in Vietnam. For
the reasons above, this study is conducted, which is focused on passive voice in
English in comparison with that in Vietnamese.
II. Research presupposition
For the achievement of those mentioned issues, the study seeks the answers
to the following questions:
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 What are the perspectives on passive voice in English and that in Vietnamese?
 What are the syntactic and semantic similarities and differences between
passive voice in English and that in Vietnamese?
Based on the questions above, I am eager to learn about the problems and
make a comparative analysis of passive voice in English and in Vietnamese so that
the major similarities and differences may be found.
III. Research objectives
The study is aimed at following goals:
1. To find out the formation, characteristics and usage of English passive voice.
2. To find out the formation, characteristics and usage of Vietnamese
passive voice.
3. To find out the similarities and differences in passive voice between

English and Vietnamese in semantic and syntactic terms.
IV. Research scope
The general research area of this study is grammar. The phenomenon is
passive voice in English in comparison with that in Vietnamese. Others relating to
passive voice are also briefly mentioned.
Because of time constraints, my study cannot cover all the aspects of passive
voice including syntax, semantics, pragmatics and morphology. Within the
framework of a graduation paper, I focus on finding out the similarities and
differences in English and Vietnamese passive structures in terms of syntax and
semantics. Regarding passive meaning in Vietnamese, I will contrast it with that in
English.
V. Research tasks
The study involves fulfilling the following tasks:
 To study the formation, usage and characteristics of English passive
voice.
 To study the formation, usage and characteristics of Vietnamese passive
voice.

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 To compare the passive in English with that in Vietnamese, on the basis
of the findings, teaching implications to this category are sought to clear
the students’ questions.
VI. Research methods
To achieve the objectives of the study, the following methods have been
applied including synthetic, descriptive, analytical and contrastive methods.
Firstly, synthetic methods are used to select the most useful information
collected from some grammar books, reference theses as well as other sources
available and put them in order comprehensively and logically.

Secondly, descriptive methods and analytical methods are applied in the
study to provide an overview of passive structures in English and Vietnamese in
terms of syntax and semantics.
The last one is the contrastive method to find out the similarities and
differences between English passive structures and Vietnamese equivalents.
During the process of conducting the study, it is a “must” to consult the
supervisor, experience teachers and friends.
VII. Significance of the proposed research
The same category of grammar in two languages may have similarities and
differences. It will mislead learners if they cannot distinguish the differences in
functions and uses of that category. It is, therefore, essential for teachers to have
better treatment. After the research, it is hoped that the result will be helpful to
provide:
1. Input for learners of English in order to clearly describe passive voice.
2. Input for teachers of English with teaching implications of passive voice.
This study is also beneficial to anyone who is interested in passive voice in
English.
VIII. Design of the research work
The research work has three main parts, namely: Introduction, Development,
and Conclusion. The part “Development” consists three chapters.

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Chapter 1 deals with the theoretical background of English passive voice
including definitions, forms, characteristics of passive voice and its uses in detail.
Chapter 2 deals with passive voice in Vietnamese including the existence of
passive voice, characteristics and its uses in detail.
Chapter 3 compares and contrasts the similarities and differences between
English passive voice and that in Vietnamese to find out the similarities and

differences.

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PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: PASSIVE VOICE IN ENGLISH
I.1. Literature review in brief
Passive voice, as well as passive sentences, is a typically grammatical
phenomenon of Indo–European languages. In the functional respect, this definition
is directly referred to the grammatical relationship between verbs and other key
grammatical elements, namely subjects and objects. However, according to
European traditional grammar, passive voice is usually attributed to the
morphological category of verbs basing on its modality of expression, called voice.
Passive voice in English has been described by many grammarians like
Vince (1993), Eastwood (1992), Fuchs and Bonner (2008), Close (1975), etc.
They each have their own way to describe passive voice. Generally, they focus
their attention on passive formations and uses.
Eastwood (1992) in the book Oxford Practice Grammar deals with the
formation of the passive voice. He also compares active with passive voice and
gives some special passive structures.
Fuchs and Bonner (2006) in the book Focus on Grammar 4: An Integrated
Skills Approach only refer to the form of verbs and uses of passive sentences.
Close (1975) in the book A Reference Grammar for Students of English
mentions the form of passive voice. He focuses on the classification of verbs in the
passive sentence.
In the books Advanced Language Practice and First Certificate Language
Practice, Vince (1993) gives the passive forms and uses. He also mentions agents
in passive sentences and verbs linking with objects, prepositions and complements.

Moreover, he pays his attention to transitive and intransitive verbs in passive
voice. Besides, he concentrates on some special cases in which verbs are used.
To some Vietnamese grammarians dealing with passive voice, different
criteria have been proposed in different research works for a common formula of
the passive construction in Vietnamese. Some researchers (Cardier, Emeneau, Li
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& Thompson, Kim…) believe that Vietnamese does not have passive voice
because of its typology. Meanwhile, researchers such as Cổn and Diên (2004),
Hòa (1980), Ban (1992), Vân (2002), etc. argue that Vietnamese has passive
constructions or passive sentences despite of not having the term “passive” as a
morphological term. They also give evidence for their opinions.
Cổn and Diên (2004) in the study Dạng bị động và Vấn đề câu bị động
trong Tiếng Việt pressed in Linguistics Magazine Vol. 7 give a quite full
grammatical theory of passive voice in general and Vietnamese passive sentences
in particular. They also discuss a controversial issue about the existence of passive
sentences in Vietnamese. By an agreement on this issue, they define Vietnamese
passive sentences and draw a distinction between passive sentences and other
types of sentences in Vietnamese, but not in comparison with English.
In the book Ngữ pháp Kinh nghiệm của Cú pháp Tiếng Việt: Mô tả theo
Quan điểm của Chức năng Hệ thống, Vân (2002) focuses on ‘voice’ and the term
‘voice’ in Vietnamese.
Hòa (1980) in the book Ngôn ngữ học Đối chiếu: Cú pháp đối sánh Việt
Anh compares passive sentences in English and Vietnamese in semantic and
syntactic terms. However, he does not mention to the implication for teaching and
learning of passive voice to ESL teachers and students. Besides, some contrasts
and terms in the research are intricate, which makes readers confusing.
Ban (1992) in the book Ngữ pháp Tiếng Việt 2 gives a general grammar
structure of Vietnamese passive sentences. He also deals with “bị/ được” in terms

of auxiliary verbs, modal verbs and lexical verbs.
In short, much research has been done on the passive voice both in English
and Vietnamese but not much research has been conducted to deal with
comparisons of passive voice in these two languages. Considering the importance
of this issue, it is essential to have a comprehensive study of passive voice in
comparison with Vietnamese.

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I.2. Discussing the name of the research paper
I.2.1. Definition of voice
Nowadays, there is little consensus of what voice is. Therefore, a large
number of definitions of voice have been offered in many grammar books and
dictionaries. However, it is always a controversial issue to choose the best
definition. These are some typical definitions that are usually used in learning
English to help learners understand and grasp clearly about voice.
In the book A Grammar of Present Day English, Gordon (1995, p. 85) notes:
“Voice is the form of the verb, which serves to show whether the subject of the
sentence is the agent or the object of the action expressed by the predicate verb”
In the book Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1995, p. 1932), voice is
also defined as “a form or set of forms of a verb in which either person or thing
that does something is the subject of the verb (the active voice) or the person or
thing that is affected by the action of the verb is the object (the passive voice)”.
Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech & Svartvik (1972, p. 801) in the book A Grammar of
Contemporary English claim that voice is a grammatical category through which
we can see it in two ways but the meaning in fact does not change.
According to Wikipedia, the term voice refers to the relationship between
the subject and the verb in a sentence. In passive voice constructions, the subject
receives the action of the verb rather than act on it.

In the book Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, Crystal (1997) defines:
“Voice is a category used to describe sentence structures or clauses, which mainly
relate to verbs, to show the selection between subject and object for a sentence
without changing its meaning”
To sum up, voice is a grammatical category in which the subject of a
sentence or clause takes the role as a recipient of the action rather than the
performer. This will be illustrated by the following example:
Nam painted the house yesterday.
→ The house was painted by Nam yesterday.

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In the former sentence the subject “Nam” performs the action indicated by
the verb “painted”. In the latter sentence, “the house” does not do the action. “The
house” is affected by the action of painting.
I.2.2. The term “passive”
The term “passive” derives from the Latin term passivium (from pati, i.e. to
suffer) from the original Greek term pathos ‘anything that befalls one, a suffering,
affection’ (Anderson, 1989.) Passive constructions signify the state of ‘being acted
upon’ or ‘suffering the effects of the action’ (Lyons, 1968, cited in Anderson,
1989.) Anderson (ibid.) further notes that in passive constructions, the subject does
nothing, and is affected in consequence of action.
In his article entitled Passive in the World’s Language, Keenan (1985)
presents three general properties of the basic passive, i.e. (i) no agent phrase (e.g.
by Tom) is present, (ii) the main verb (in its non – passive form) is transitive, and
(iii) the main verb expresses an activity, taking agent subjects and patient objects.
He also notes that generally languages can express passive expressions, e.g. ‘John
was slapped,’ without committal as to who the agent was, but they usually use
fully active means to do so. However, he emphasizes that even languages without

passives, in terms of changes in morphology, have somewhat more
grammaticalized means for expressing functional equivalents of basic passives.
I.2.3. Syntactic and semantic analysis
According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, syntax is defined the
way that words and phrases are put together to form sentences in a language.
Cobbett (1818) in A Grammar of the English Language in a Series of
Letters: Intended for the Use of Schools and of Young Persons in General, but
More Especially for the Use of Soldiers, Sailors, Apprentices, and Plough-Boys
said that: "Syntax is a word which comes from the Greek. It means, in that
language, the joining of several things together; and, as used by grammarians, it
means those principles and rules which teach us how to put words together so as to
form sentences. It means, in short, sentence-making. Syntax will teach you how to

8


give all your words their proper situations or places, when you come to put them
together into sentences."
In the book Syntactic Structures, Chomsky (1971) states that: “Syntax is the
study of the principles and processes by which sentences are constructed in
particular languages. Syntactic investigation of a given language has as its goal,
the grammatical construction of a language that can be viewed as a device of some
sort for producing the sentences of the language under analysis."
Regarding what is semantics, in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary,
it is the study of the meanings of words and phrases. The two main areas are
logical semantics, concerned with matters such as sense and reference and
presupposition and implication, and lexical semantics, concerned with the analysis
of word meanings and relations between them.
According to Saeed (2003) in the book Semantics, “As our original
definition of semantics suggests, it is a very broad field of inquiry, and we find

scholars writing on very different topics and using quite different methods, though
sharing the general aim of describing semantic knowledge. As a result, semantics
is the most diverse field within linguistics. In addition, semanticists have to have at
least a nodding acquaintance with other disciplines, like philosophy and
psychology, which also investigate the creation and transmission of meaning.
Some of the questions raised in these neighboring disciplines have important
effects on the way linguists do semantics."
Pulman (1997, p. 105 – 138) in the chapter “Language Analysis and
Understanding” of the book Survey of the State of the Art in Human Language
Technology indicated that a perennial problem in semantics is the delineation of its
subject matter. The term meaning can be used in a variety of ways, and only some
of these correspond to the usual understanding of the scope of linguistic or
computational semantics.
In this paper, the author would like to put passive voice on the view point of
syntactic and semantic analysis to provide deeply this category in English and

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Vietnamese. After that the contrast is made to find out similarities and differences
of passive voice in both languages.
I.3. Passive voice in syntactic analysis
I.3.1. Be - passive
Passive voice is known to be expressed by the combination of the auxiliary
verb “be” with the verb in past participle (Vpp). The tenses of “be” in passive
structures are presented as the following:
Table 1:
Tenses of “be” in passive structures
Tenses

Simple

Structures

Examples

Present

S + am/is/are + Vpp

English is spoken in Canada.

Past

S + was/were + Vpp

The vase was broken.

Future

S + shall/will + be + A new commercial center will be
Vpp

Present

built in the city next year.

S + am/is/are + being The march is being televised now.
+ Vpp

Progressive
Past

S + was/were + being + My computer was being used by
Vpp

Present

him when I went to get it back.

S + have/has + been Papers have been used for ages.
+ Vpp

Perfect

Past

S + had + been + Vpp

simple

The bag had been left at home
when I went to school.

Future

S + will + have + been The dishes will have been washed
+Vpp

by then.

The other tenses are not mentioned because they are hardly ever used in the
passive.
I.3.2. Get – passive
In English, a passive sentence is formed with “get” and a past participle.
The verb “get” can function in a manner very similar with “be”. In Oxford Guide
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to English Grammar, Eastwood (1994, p. 136) notes: “We sometimes form the
passive with get rather than be”.
He got bitten by mosquitoes.
The example above has get – passive structure used without a by – phrase.
If the sentence lacks a by – phrase, it is easy to make confusion between a get –
passive with get before a past participle and a get preceding adjectives and
meaning “become”. Considering this point, let’s look at these examples as
following:
1. He got irritated at his stupid dog.
2. He got frightened by his stupid dog.
In the two examples above, it causes ambiguity to distinguish between a
past participle and an adjective. To identify the past participle we can insert “very”
before irritated. Adjectives admit “very” but participles do not. Besides, by –
phrase is also used to identify the passive in this case.
The Get – passive is also used to express an action or change not a state,
whereas passive sentences with “be” usually denote a state. In other words, the
verbs in get – passives are often dynamic. According to Carter and McCarthy, get
– passives cannot replace be – passives with non – dynamic verbs. For example:
The bed had not been slept in.
but not * The bed had not got slept in.
I.3.3. Passive voice with modal verbs

According to John Eastwood in Oxford Guide to English Grammar (1994,
p. 136), the passive is also known to be expressed by combination of modal verbs
followed by be with past participles:
Modal + Be + Past Participle
The problem can be solved immediately.
Violent actions should be banned in schools.
A modal verb can combine with the perfective and passive together:
Modal + have been + Past Participle
The window should have been cleaned yesterday.
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My bicycle must have been stolen.
There are modal verbs in modern English: will/would, shall/should, can/could,
may/might, ought to, must, have to, used to, dare, let, need. Especially, need forms
a passive sentence by preceding an active – ing form of verb or a passive
infinitive.
The table needs repairing/ The table needs to be repaired.
Fishes in the bow need feeding/ Fishes in the bow need to be fed.
I.3.4. Passive voice with to - infinitives and gerunds
To – infinitives and gerunds usually appear in the passive and come in the
same pattern as the active form. For example:
I expected to be invited to the party.
It is terrible to be bitten by dogs.
In the second example, we can rewrite it by using a gerund phrase without
changing the passive form of the verb “bite”.
Being bitten by dogs is terrible.
Sometimes, the passive meaning is remained while the active is used in a
sentence like this:
You are not to blame for what happened. (= no one should blame you).

The reason for this case is that “to blame” is used in a passive sense with the
meaning of responsibility for something bad happened.
We also have perfect tenses of to – infinitives and gerunds. Let us see two
examples below:
He is said to have been sacked for a week.
I am annoyed at having been made a fool of.
I.3.5. Verbs and objects in passive voice.
I.3.5.1. Transitive verbs or intransitive verbs
In so many research works about passive voice, grammarians affirm that in
passive voice, all verbs are transitive. Why do they say so? Why intransitive verbs
do not appear in passive sentences? They are related to objects. When we use

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the passive, the subject is hidden there is always an object, which means the verb
is always transitive.
Transitive verbs always take objects and answer a question beginning with
'what' or 'whom'. When the writer uses the passive, the subject is hidden and the
focus is on the object.
I paid the bill last week. - What did you pay?- The bill.
→The bill was paid last week.
The object of a transitive verb can be:
1. a noun: Tom sold his house.
2. a pronoun: He sold it.
3. a clause: He asked his friend to help him.
A transitive verb usually takes a direct object; that is, the verb transmits
action to an object.
He sent the letter. (letter is direct object of sent)
She gave the lecture. (lecture is direct object of gave)

A transitive verb can also have an indirect object that precedes the direct
object. The indirect object tells to or for whom the action is done, although the
words to and for are not used. In the following examples, there is a difference
between the direct and indirect objects. The direct object “letter” receives the
action “sent”. The indirect object “Robert” is the person to whom the letter is sent:
He sent Robert the letter.
The direct object “lecture” receives the action “gave”. The indirect object
“class” is the group to whom the lecture is given:
She gave her class the lecture.
There are 3 kinds of transitive verb: monotransitive, ditransitive and
complex transitive verbs.
 Monotransitive verbs are verbs that take only one object.
She studies Russian.
 Ditransitive are verbs that take two objects.
My mother gave me a pen.
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 Complex transitive verbs are verbs that take an object and an object
complement or an object and an obligatory adverbial.
Her son painted the floor red.
Each kind of transitive verbs will be specific presented in next sections.
In contrast, an intransitive verb is simply defined as a verb that does not
take a direct object. There’s no word in the sentence that tells who or what
receives the action. While there may be a word or phrase following an intransitive
verb. Such words and phrases typically answer the question “how”, “when” and
“where”. Most intransitive verbs are complete without a direct object. For
instance:
She grew up.
It rained.

Intransitive verbs can be followed by a prepositional phrase or an adverb to
add to the thought being expressed, but they can never be followed by a noun,
which would act as the object of the sentence. For instance:
He grew up on a ranch.
She grew up to be a farmer.
“On a ranch” is a prepositional phrase, not a direct object. The word “on” is
a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase adding to the sentence
meaning by answering the question “Where did he grow up?” The same can be
said of “to be a farmer”, which is yet another phrase.
We can recognize an intransitive verb because it never has a passive form.
For example, ‘bite’, which is transitive, can be used passively. The intransitive
verb ‘fall’, however, cannot:
The dog bit me.
→ I was bitten by the dog.
I fell off my bike. (prepositional phrase: ‘off my bike’)
* The bike was fallen off.
There are some transitive verbs which cannot be made passive, which
generally are called middle verbs. For example:
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The shirt costs 20 dollars.
* Twenty dollars are cost by the shirt.
I like this place.
* The place is liked by me.
Some verbs have multiple meanings and can be transitive or intransitive,
depending on the context in which they are used. Here are some examples:
He grows his own fruit and vegetables. (transitive)
My son is growing. (intransitive)
The truck runs on diesel gasoline. (intransitive)

My uncle runs a restaurant. (transitive)
I'm reading. (intransitive)
I'm reading an article in the TIME magazine about sharks. (transitive)
I.3.5.2. Transitive verbs
I.3.5.2.1. Monotransitive verbs
Monotransitive verbs are verbs that take only one object. There are some
kinds of objects: noun phrase objects, prepositional objects, finite clause objects,
non – finite clause objects…
a) Noun phrase objects:
 Animate/inanimate subject + verb + concrete object
He drank a cup of coffee.
The verb may be a phrasal verb: verb + adverbial particle + object. When
the object of these verbs is a noun, it is placed either before or after the adverbial
particle. If it is pronoun, it is only placed before the particle.
The revolution swept away feudalism.
The revolution swept feudalism away.
 Animate/ inanimate subject + verb + abstract object
I understood the problem.
→ The problem was understood.
 Animate subject + verb + animate object
The police have arrested one protester.
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→ One protester has been arrested.
 Inanimate, abstract subject + verb + animate object
The results of the competition shocked the candidates.
→ The candidates were shocked by the results of the competition.
b) Prepositional objects:
The prepositional object may be a noun, pronoun, gerund, or a (w)h – clause.

Look at these examples in active voice:
the prime minister’s speech
People shouted at

him
speaking
what the prime minister spoke

And in passive voice, the subjects may be:
The prime minister’s speech
He

was shouted at

Speaking
What the prime minister
spoke
There are some constructions which are so – called prepositional passives.
The subject of the passive construction corresponds to the prepositional object.
A new project is suggested to us.
The prepositional passive does not very frequently occur. It is limited in
numbers of verbs which take only one object such as:
 Verbs of saying: speak about/of, comment on, suggest to, talk about/ of
The quote was much commented on.
 Verbs of contempt: laugh at, sneer at, jeer at, mock at, frown at.
My behavior is laughed at.
 Other groups of verbs: look for/at/upon/after, approve of, account for, reply
on/for, think of/about, send for.
It was such an important thing to be thought of.

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c) Finite clause objects:
Finite clauses typically begin with “(w)h” or “that”. There are subtypes of
verb phrases in “(w)h” or “that” clauses:
 Indicative verbs: I think that he won’t come.
→It is thought that he will not come.
 Putative “should”: I recommend Peter that he should be confident.
→Peter is recommended to be confident.
 Subjunctive verbs: Laura agreed that the cat was dirty.
→It is agreed that the cat was dirty.
Verbs that take putative “should” and subjunctive verbs are: command,
demand, regret, request, ask, authorize, decree, permit, urge, require …
d) Non – finite clause objects:
Non – finite clause objects have two types: with subjects and without subjects.
 Non – finite clauses without subject contain several classes of verbs, either
participles or infinitives (deserve, need, require …) It is rare to see these
verbs in passives. Sometimes introductory it with certain verbs (agree,
decide, feel) to form the passive:
I agree to join this event.
→ It is agreed (by me) to join this event.
 Non – finite clauses with subjects have two subtypes: to-infinitive with
subject and bare infinitive with subject.
+ To-infinitive with subject: Clara was seen to do it
+ Bare infinitive with subject:
(i) Verbs of perception: hear, see, watch, help, let, make
He was heard to do this task.
(ii) Verb + object + V-ing:
Someone saw her waiting.

→ She was seen waiting.
(iii) Verb + object + ed-participle:
The old man found the chair occupied.
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→ The chair was found occupied by the old man.
I.3.5.2.2. Ditransitive verbs
Ditransitive verbs are verbs taking two objects. The category of ditransitive
verbs depends on types of object.
a) Indirect + direct noun phrase object:
There are a number of verbs which take two objects: a direct and an indirect
object. Either direct object or indirect object may become a subject of a passive
sentence.
He passed Paul the ball.
→Paul was passed the ball.
The verbs have two objects which can be replaced by prepositional
constructions “to” or “for”. Thus, ditransitive verbs have two ways to express:
He gave Mary ten dollars.
or He gave ten dollars to Mary.
→ Ten dollars was given to Mary.
or Mary was given ten dollars.
These verbs include: give, bring, hand, grant, offer, owe, promise, show,
teach, tell
b) Verb + noun phrase + preposition phrase + object:
This construction constitutes a special type of complex object: the verb and
the two phrases form a very idiomatic unit.
Pretty girls are always taken notice of.
There are some common idioms: put an end to, set fire to, do away with,
take note of, keep an eye on, keep face with, catch/ lose sight of…

c) Noun phrase + finite clause object:
 “That” – clause: sometimes “that” is omitted.
They found that they had gone wrong side.
→ It was found that they had gone wrong side.
 “(W)h” – clause:
He did not ask me whether they were coming.
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