A study on translation methods of passive voice from english into vietnamese in the thorn birds

ABSTRACT
This research focuses on analyzing passive voices found in the novel-The
Thorn Birds and its Vietnamese translation version. The objectives are to identify
the translation method of passive voice applied in The Thorn Birds, to describe how
these methods is used in the specific circumstances in translation version of Pham
Manh Hung and suggest some solutions for students to enhance the translation skill.
This research applies the quantitative method and qualitative descriptive method to
collect data of passive voice in the novel and analyze the method being used. The
data sources include the passive sentences from chapter one to chapter five of The
Thorn Birds by COLLEEN McCULLOUGH in 1977 and its translation by Pham
Manh Hung in 2010. The results of the study show that there are three main
methods of translating passive voice from English into Vietnamese. The passive
sentences are translated from English into Vietnamese in the form of the passive
sentence, the active sentence and the de-transitive sentence. From 53 data of passive
voice in the Thorn Birds, there are 13 English passive sentences (23%) is translated
into the passive sentence, 17 of the total (32%) is transferred into the active
sentences and the rest translated into the de-transitive sentences, accounts for 53%.
The survey shows that the most dominant method which is used by the translator is
translating English passive sentence into the de-transitive sentence.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the process of completing this Graduation Paper, I have received a great
deal of help, guidance and encouragement from my teachers and friends.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Ms. Nguyen Thi
Lan Phuong, M.A who has generously given me valuable and constructive
comments, advices as well as correction of my research paper.

I would also like to express my special thanks to other teachers of Foreign
Language Department for their supportive lectures during four years that have
provided me with good background to do effectively my Graduation Paper.
Last but not least, my wholehearted thanks are presented to my family, my
friends for their encouragement and assistance in the process of doing this research.
Ha Noi, April 2018

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

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LIST OF ABBREVIATION
MA
Ph.D
PP

SL
TL

5

Master of Arts
Doctor of Philosophy
Past Participle
Source Language
Target Language

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CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
1.1.

Rationale
Nowadays, English has become more dominant around the world and is
considered as the key instrument of globalization. In many countries, English is
used in many fields such as economy, commerce, medicine, technology, tourism,
ect. Thus, it is chosen for being taught in almost schools, universities or institutes.
However, it is not easy to become master in English because the language barriers
can sometimes cause a lot of trouble for learning English, esspecially in translation
aspect. As a student at Thuongmai university, I find that it is a big reason why
many students have more difficulties in understanding English documents relating
to their subjects. In my graduation paper, I would like to mention to translation of
passive voices in documents relating to literary works in general and English
stories or novel in particular. Reading foreign books is always useful for everyone
to broaden their knowledges. A novel, for instance, is one of the literary works

which is very popular. It is used to express feeling or stories written in a book.
Sometimes, the difference of language becomes a big problem for the readers to
understand the content of a novel. Here is the role of translator needed. Tranlation is
the useful tool to transfer the messages in those books. Nevertheless, Translating a
novel or a book is more difficult than translating academic texts. In this case,
Translators usually have problems in translating figurative languages (metaphors,
similes, personifications, etc.) or idiomatic expressions and speacially in transfering
passive voice from English to Vietnames because they should reproduce in the
target language (TL) the closest natural equivalence of the source language (ST)
message. Although translation of passive voice still remains more dificulties, there
has not been any official study on this issue before. Realizing and thinking highly of
the importance of this problem, I decided to pick out “A study on translation
methods of passive voice from English into Vietnamese in The Thorn Birds.” as the
study of my graduation paper. Moreover, being interested in translation and reading
novel are also the main reasons which inspire me to carry out this study.

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1.2. Previous studies
Linguistic typology of the English and Vietnamese languages is different. As a
result, there are some ways of rendering English passive voice into Vietnamese.
And the question is how to transfer English passive sentences into appropriate and
natural Vietnamese version.
That is the reason why some people have conducted studies or reports on this
issue. These studies have shown common ways of translating passive voice from
English into other languages. Therefore, I would like to refer to these studies as
reference materials for my graduation paper.

Firstly, this is “a study on modes of translating English passive sentences into
Vietnamese” conducted by MA, Bui Thi Dien-Department of Foreign Languages,
College of Science- VNU. During this study, the researcher uses collecting data and
statistical method of the passive sentences in English data for computer science.
According to the surveyed data, one English passive sentence can be translated
into Vietnamese in the form of three following sentences: a passive sentence, an
active sentence and a de- transitive sentence.
The passive sentence ranks first with 65% and followed by the active sentence
and the de-transitive sentence with 26% and 9% respectively.
Translating an English passive sentence into a Vietnamese passive sentence is
the easiest way because we don’t need to transfer the structure of English sentence.
In this method, we use some Vietnamese words such as “bị” with negative meaning
and “được” with positive meaning.
Translating an English passive sentence into a Vietnamese active sentence is
the method which the translators must determine the cause of the action to transfer
into the active sentence. In case the agent is not mentioned, the translator must
create them by repeating the agent in the previous sentence or creating another
structure.
Translating an English passive sentence into a de-transitive sentence is a
combination between active sentence and passive sentence structure. It is another
choice for translators if they are not able to translate the passive sentences according
to two ways which are mentioned in above paragraphs because they can avoid the
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errors when they don’t understand that the passive sentences have positive meaning
or negative meaning.
The second study-“Strategies of translating English passive sentences into

Vietnamese sentences” is conducted by Ph.D Hoang Cong Binh-Graduate Academy
of Social Sciences.
This study takes a survey of collected data about passive sentences from
variable books and gives comments on the alternatives of translating English
passive sentences into Vietnamese under the comparability of translation
equivalence. According to the survey, the result of this study is quite similar to the
research findings of MA. Bui Thi Dien. It also shows three ways of translating
passive voice from English into Vietnamese: translating English passive structure
into a passive sentence; an active sentence and a de - transitive sentence in
Vietnamese.
Moreover, the researcher mentions to the concept of translation, translation
equivalence and give comments on the methods translation of passive sentences
from English into Vietnamese according to the aspect of translation equivalence. In
general, the percentage of English passive sentences which are translated into
Vietnamese in different types of fields (Administration - Public Affairs, Science and
Literature) are quite different because converting English sentences into Vietnamese
ones depends on many factors, in which the semantic factor plays a leading role.
The last one is “a study of passive voice in English and Vietnamese in
practical translation condition” by MA. Nguyen Thi Hong Yen. This research
chooses the research subject about English passive voice and the translation
methods from English to Vietnamese. The researcher applies the quantitative
method and qualitative descriptive method to collect data of passive voice in the
novel and analyze the methods being used. The data source includes the source text
and the target text about passive sentences in other fields to create the common
results for almost types of documents. The results in this study point out that there
are three popular ways in translating passive voice from English into Vietnamese in
the form of three types of sentences: the passive sentences, the active sentence and
the de-transitive sentences. The frequency of using each method is a bit different
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with two above studies. The passive structure ranks first with 45%, the de-transitive
structure ranks second with 33% and is followed by the active structure accounting
for 22%. The research findings also present the typical differences about the
structure between two languages and the factors affecting to choosing translation
methods such as context, grammar, semantics, word order or vocabulary of the
sentences. In addition, the study conducts the survey on the common errors of the
translators and give some suggestions improve the quality of practical translation.
1.3. Aims of the study
The study - “A study on translation methods of passive voice from English
into Vietnamese in The Thorn Birds.” attempts to:
- Introduce the concept of passive voice, translation, translation equivalence
and the methods to transfer English passive sentences into Vietnamese.
- Preliminarily analyze translation methods of passive sentences from English
into Vietnamese.
- Figure out the advantages, disadvantages of each translation method and
point out the effective ways in translation.
- Suggest some suggestion with the hope to avoid the errors or confusion
during translating passive voice and improve the quality of translation version.
I hope this study can provide readers with overall comprehension about
knowledge relating to passive voices and support them to translate it effectively.
1.4. Research Subject
Research subject of study is the translation methods of passive voice from
English into Vietnamese and I rely on the materials of the novel-The Thorn Bird by
Colleen McCULLOUGH.
1.5. Scope of the study
Due to limitation of time and the knowledge of translation is very immense, I
can not cover all matters about translation of passive voice, factors affecting on

translation and all English sentences of passive voice in this novel as well.
Therefore, in this paper, only translation of passive voice from English into
Vietnamese are presented and analyzed. I decide to conduct the study on five
chapters from chapter one to chapter five of The Thorn Bird.
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1.6. Research methodology
The study is conducted with the combination of the following methods:
As this study is carried out, the quantitative method and some other techniques
are applied. With the quantitative method, the novel-The Thorn Bird is used to
collect data about passive sentences in the translation version of Pham Manh Hung.
A qualitative descriptive approach to data collection and analysis is used in this
research as well. The data are taken from novel-The Thorn Birds by COLLEEN
McCULLOUGH and its translation by Pham Manh Hung. The novel is read
thoroughly both the English and Vietnamese version to get the understanding of the
content as a whole. The next step is identifying the data, collecting the data, replace
them on the paper, selecting the data that are going to be analyzed, marking the
sentences containing passive voice, and analyzing the methods that used in the
process of translating passive voice from English into Vietnamese. In this present
research, I limit the analysis by only analyzing passive voice from chapter one to
chapter five. The contrastive analysis approach is also employed to find out the
differences and similarities in structures or style of passive structure between
English and Vietnamese. Specially, to study the English-Vietnamese translation of
passive voice, the following steps are carried out:
1.6.1 Collecting sample
A sample survey does not cover all of the units of the whole. Therefore, I
choose five chapters in this novel to save time, effort and expense. The overall

sample is the novel- The Thorn Bird and the translation of Pham Manh Hung.
1.6.2 Dealing with data
After selecting the sample, the researcher will conduct the data collection from
the materials which is chosen.
1.6.3 Analyzing and comparing
After selecting typical passive sentences, I find out the methods that are used
in each sentence. Then, I give comments, advantages and disadvantages of the
translation methods.
1.7. Organization of the study
- My graduation paper is divided into four chapters:
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- The first chapter is overview of the study including rationale, previous
studies, aims of the study, research subjects, research methodology and organization
of the study.
- The second chapter is about literature review. The researcher will present
theories related to theoretical background. It focuses on the concepts of translation,
passive voice in English as well as different translation methods used by
professional translators.
- The third chapter shows the research findings of the study including the
analysis, assessment about translation methods used in the novel.
- The last chapter presents recommendations and suggestions for the problems
which researcher found out.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Translation Concepts
Translation typically has been used to transfer from written or spoken SL
(source language) texts to equivalent written or spoken TL (target language) texts.
In general, the purpose of translation is to reproduce various kinds of texts including
religious, literary, scientific, and philosophical texts in another language and thus
making them clear to wider readers. Up to now, there are various concepts of
translation basing on the individual views. Houbert (1998:1) states that “Translation
is to be understood as the process whereby a message expressed in a specific source
language is linguistically transformed in order to be understood by readers of the
target language" [7]. In Advanced Oxford Dictionary, it is said that “Translation is
the process of changing something that is written or spoken into another language”
[8]. Hatim & Mason (1990:3), however, focus more on the communicative purpose
of translation rather than the semantic and stylistic features: “Translation is a
communicative process which takes place within a social context” [9]. Newmark
(1995:5) simply defines “Translation as the rendering of a written text into another
language in the way the author intended in the text” [10]. It means that the
translation should be able to convey message intended by the writer/speaker into
target language. While, Willss (1982:3) gives the following definition: “Translation
is a transfer process, which aims at the transformation of a written SL text into an
optimally equivalent TL text, and which requires the syntactic, the semantic and the
pragmatic understanding and analytical processing of the SL” [11].
In this study, we would like to use the definition of Dubois (1973) “Translation is the expression in another language (or target language) of what has
been expressed in another, source language, preserving semantic and stylistic
equivalences” [12]. Translation, sometimes, is not an easy task to do because there
are many aspects that should be determined in order to maintain the message
conveyed. The different grammatical features and culture are two of them.

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2.2. Equivalence in translation.
2.2.1. Concepts of translation equivalence
The dictionary defines equivalence as being the same, similar or
interchangeable with something else. In translation terms, equivalence is a term
used to refer to the nature and extent of the relationship between SL and TL texts or
smaller linguistic units.
The problem of equivalence is one of the most important issues in the field of
translating. It is a question of finding suitable counterparts in target language for
expressions in the source language.
The comparison of texts in different languages inevitably involves some
different theory of equivalence. According to Vanessa Leonardo (1989)
“Equivalence can be said to be the central issue in translation although its
definition, relevance, and applicability within the field of translation theory have
caused heated controversy, and many different theories of the concept of
equivalence have been elaborated within this field in the past fifty years” [13].
Vinay and Darbelnet (1985) state that “Equivalence-oriented translation is a
procedure which replicates the same situation as in the original, whilst using
completely different wording” [14]. In other definition, Wayne Leman (1979) relies
on a question to define the translation equivalence. It is “Translation equivalence
exists between forms in a source language and a target language if their meaning
matches. In other words, translation equivalence should answer the question “What
do the speakers of this language actually say to express the desired meaning?” [15].
According to these concepts, we can find that equivalence consists of the concept of
sameness and similarity; it has the same or a similar effect or meaning in
translation.

2.2.2. Types of translation equivalence
There are two types of equivalence defined by Nida and Taber (1982), which
are also called two basic orientations of translation: namely formal equivalence—
which is referred to as formal correspondence—and dynamic equivalence.
Formal correspondence focuses attention on the message itself, in both form
and content, unlike dynamic equivalence which is based upon the principle of
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equivalent effect. Formal correspondence consists of a TL item which represents the
closest equivalent of a SL word or phrase. There are not always formal equivalents
between language pairs. They suggest that these formal equivalents should be used
wherever possible if the translation aims at achieving formal rather than dynamic
equivalence.
The other type of translation equivalence is dynamic equivalence. It is the
principle equivalent effect, where the relationship between receptor and message
should be substantially the same as that which existed between the original receptor
and the message. The goal of the dynamic equivalence is seeking the closest natural
equivalent to the source message. This receptor oriented approach considers
adaptations of grammar, of lexicon, and of cultural reference to be essential in order
to achieve naturalness.
Equivalence is therefore the ideal method when the translators deal with
proverbs, idioms, clichés, nominal or adjectival phrases and the onomatopoeia of
animal sounds. However, according to Jakobson’s theory, ‘translation involves two
equivalent messages in two different codes’. Jakobson goes on to say that from a
grammatical point of view languages may differ from one another to a greater or
lesser degree, but this does not mean that a translation cannot be possible. In other
words, the translator may face the problem of not finding a translation equivalent.

2.3.

The importance of translation
The significance of translation in our daily life is completely undeniable. Not
only does translation pave the way forward for global interaction, but allows nations
to enhance co-operation relationships in many fields.
Despite the fact that English has a far and wide reach today, the impact of
local culture and language remains as strong as ever. With the growth of Internet
and communications technology, it is relatively easier to reach audiences that are
thousands of miles away purely on the back of effective translation. This has
resulted in a need for translation in diverse fields such as education, mass
communication, science and technology, literature, tourism, religion, trade and
business, etc.

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Quality language translation aims to bridge the communication gap by helping
companies reach a multivariate global audience by talking in a language their
clients can understand and relate to. That's the reason why people always take much
consideration about quality translation and its importance in this era of
globalization. Some of the places where translation plays an important role include:
Growth of Multinational Companies
Translation is really important for companies and businesses which operate in
multiple countries and often need to share and receive information from different
global offices and branches across the world. In such cases, the shared information
needs to be translated into a locally preferred language so that everyone can
understand the messages from documents and text of foreign languages. Translation

is also useful when companies need to tie up with local businesses, or make
governmental proposals.
Cultural Interchange
Music, literature, films, and various other art forms spread all over the world
because of the way they are effectively translated to reflect local languages.
Translated and subtitled films today generate more revenue than ever for the global
film industry. It's not only the film industry which has benefited from translation but
also translated music and literature allows artists to earn more royalties and
international fame as an added bonus.
A Nation's External Affairs
Today, international diplomacy is the most important aspect of a nation's
external affairs. In a global summit or new economic deal, diplomats and world
leaders always present their ideas and thoughts in a language they are comfortable
in. It is very important that these ideas are translated in an expressive, noncondoning, and accurate manner. The errors of translation can lead to big problems
between diplomatic relations of two or more nations. Therefore, Translators are
always serious in translating any documents relating to politics.
Boost in Tourism
Translation can effectively help to solve problems in tourism. The translated
tourism materials not only help tourists feel welcome in an unknown country, but
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also boost the country's popularity as a tourist friendly destination, thereby leading
to significant tourism-related revenues.
2.4.
Methods of translation
2.4.1. Word-for-word translation

This is often demonstrated as interlinear translation, with the TL immediately
below the SL words. The SL word-order is preserved and the word translated singly
by their most common meanings, out of context. Culture words are translated
literally. The main use of word-for-word translation is either to understand the
meaning of the SL or to construct a difficult text as a pre-translation process. For
example:
Source text: It is a big lion!
Target text: Nó là một lớn sư tử!
2.4.2. Literal translation

The SL grammatical construction is converted to the nearest TL equivalents
but the lexical words are again translated singly, out of context. As a pre-translation
process, this indicates the problems to be solved. For example:
Source text: This program is sponsored by Wall.
Target text: Chương trình này do Wall tài trợ.
2.4.3.

Faithful translation
A faithful translation is used when translators want to reproduce the precise
contextual meaning of the SL within the restriction of the TL grammatical
structures. It converts cultural words but reserves the degree of grammatical and
lexical “abnormality” in the translation. It attempts to be completely faithful to the
intentions and text-realization of the SL writer. For example:
Source text: We could see the Mekong River winding its way through the
plains below.
Target text: Chúng tôi có thể nhìn thấy con sông Mekong uốn khúc qua
những cánh đồng bên dưới.

2.4.4. Semantic translation

Semantic translation differs from faithful translation only in as far as it must
take more account of the aesthetic value of the SL text, compromising on
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“meaning” where appropriate so that no assonance, word-play or repetition jars in
finished version. For example:
Source text: The third world is vulnerable owing to its extreme specialization.
The export earnings of many developing countries are based on just two or three
main products.
Target text: Thế giới thứ ba dễ dàng bị tổn thất vì sự chuyên môn hóa quá
mức. Ở nhiều nước đang phát triển, thu nhập từ xuất khẩu chủ yếu dựa vào hai hay
ba sản phẩm chủ lực mà thôi.
2.4.5. Adaptation translation

This seems to be the freest form of translation. It is used mainly for plays and
poetry in which the themes, characters and plots are usually preserved, the SL
culture converted to the TL culture and text rewritten by an established dramatist or
poet has produced many poor adaptations but other adaptation has “rescued” period
plays. For example:
Source text:

It would rather the victorious brightness
In an only moment the centenary twinkle

Target text: Thà một phút huy hoàng rồi chợt tắt
Còn hơn buồn le lói suốt trăm năm.
2.4.6. Free translation

This reproduces the matter without the manner, or the content without the
form of the original. Usually it is a paraphrase much longer than the original, a socalled “intralingua translation”, often prolix and pretentious and not translation at
all. For example:
Source text: That guy is as poor as a church mouse.
Target text: Anh ta nghèo rớt mồng tơi.
2.4.7. Idiomatic translation

Idiomatic translation reproduces the “message” of the original but tends to
distort nuances of meaning by preferring colloquialisms and the idiom where these
do not exists in the original. For example:
Source text: She is pulling my leg.
Target text: Cô ấy đang lừa dối tôi.
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2.4.8.

Communicative translation
Communicative translation attempts to reader the exact contextual meaning of
the original in such a way that both content and language are readily acceptable and
comprehensible to the readership. For example:
Source text: Good morning!
Target text: Bác đi đâu đấy ạ!

2.4.9. Other translation

Beside the above common the types of translation, some of the following

types are sometime used during translation process. They include: service
translation, plum prose translation, information translation, cognitive translation,
academic translation.
2.5.
Passive Voice
2.5.1. Definition of voice

According to the opinion of Crystal (2002),“Voice is a grammatical category
of verbs that is related to what thing or person is acting and what thing or person is
being acted upon” [13]. Moreover, in grammar, the voice (also called diathesis) of a
verb describes the relationship between the action that the verb expresses and the
participants identified by its arguments (subject, object, etc.). When the subject is
the agent or doer of the action, the verb is in the active voice. When the subject is
the patient, target or undergo-er of the action, it is said to be in the passive voice.”
2.5.2. Definition of passive voice

Some people have proposed the different definition of passive voice.
According to Wikipedia, “Passive voice is a grammatical voice common in many
languages. In a clause with passive voice, the grammatical subject expresses the
theme or patient of the main verb – that is, the person or thing that undergoes the
action or has its state changed. This contrasts with active voice, in which the subject
has the agent role”[14]. In other definition of English Passive Voice (2009), it is
stated that “The passive voice is a grammatical construction (a voice) in which the
subject of a sentence or clause denotes the recipient of the action rather than the
performer” [15]. The passive voice is thus extremely useful in academic writing
because it allows writers to highlight the most important participants or events
within sentences by placing them at the beginning of the sentence.
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2.5.3.

Passive voice in English
The passive voice is commonly formed by combining a form of the "to be
verb" with the past participle (P.P) of the main verb BE + P.P. We call this type as
“Be passive”.
The passive voice is more commonly used in English than it is in other
languages. As well as being used in everyday English, the passive is used
extensively in official documents and scientific papers.
Ex: The ball was struck by the boy.
Gold has been found by the explorers.
Passive voice is normally formed with “to be + a past participle”. In
Vietnamese, translate passive sentence is “bị” (negative meaning) or “được”
(positive meaning).
Ex: Chris was shot yesterday.
Chris đã bị bắn ngày hôm qua.
I was nominated to be the manager.
Tôi đã được đề cử làm giám đốc.
We can use the passive voice in any tense by changing the form of "to be".
Ex: My bike was stolen (past tense)
My bike is being stolen (present tense)
When we want to include the one who performed the action in a passive
sentence, we use the phrase “by” after the verb.
Ex: Danny will be picked up by his mother.
Sometimes, the verb “to get” is substituted for "to be".
Ex: My cat got run over last night.

2.5.4. Passive voice in Vietnamese

Vietnamese passive formation is mainly based on the lexical meaning or
grammatical status of such word as “bị/ được/phải/do”.
Ex: Nó bị đánh. (He was beaten). In this sentence, “bị” is followed by a
transitive verb-“đánh”.
In contrast, merely transitive verbs can involve in the English passive
constructions. Furthermore, whereas the morphemes of the English passive carry
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the neutral implication, “bị” and “được” in Vietnamese language convey the
negative and positive meaning. Vietnamese passive formation is mainly based on
the lexical meaning or grammatical status of such word as “bị/ được/phải”.
However, in some cases, the passive meaning is understood mainly on the semantic
meaning of the whole sentence.
For example:
-

Thuyền đẩy ra xa.

-

Cầu đã xây xong.
These sentences are grammatical correct. In term of semantic, these sounds
illogic because "thuyền/ cầu" is an object and it can not carry out the action itself. In
understanding these sentences, the reader/ hearer need to be conscious that there are
passive meanings.
In both English and Vietnamese, passive voice is used to focus on the fact, the

action or result of an action. Therefore, in passive sentence, the doers are often
omitted. Despite of being mentioned, it plays a very rigid role.
Passive voice has an important role in English, especially in academic works
where the actions taken place without mentioning the doer, Vietnamese, vice versa,
prefer active form. Hence, sometimes when translating from English into
Vietnamese, if the translators keep the original structure, the Vietnamese version
will not very idiomatic and natural. We can take here several examples from the
passage
English sentence: A recommendation for approval or rejection is made to the
Australian and New Zealand Food Standards Council.
- should not be translated word by word: “Một khuyến nghị được làm…”
Vietnamese sentence: Người ta cho rằng ANZFSC đưa ra khuyến nghị hoặc
chấp nhận hoặc bác bỏ.
In reality, there is still another quite interesting thing of using
bị/được/phải/chịu, especially in spoken languages in the Northern Vietnam.
For example:

-

Body của chị hơi bị được đấy!

-

Em của tôi hơi bị xinh đấy!
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-

Tôi nấu ăn hơi bị ngon đấy!
It can be seen that in these examples bị/ được mean nothing relating to passive
or suffering. May be, the speaker wants to express his "suspicions" about the girl's
body form, the girl's beauty. However, these sentences normally express negative
meaning than positive meaning. The words “hơi/bị” makes the sentences' meaning
more negative. Also, sometimes “được” can be used and followed a verb to express
the meaning of a “good result” of an action, such as in these sentences:
“Tôi được đề cử làm giám đốc”. (I was nominated to be the manager).
In conclusion, I would like to state some remarks on Vietnamese learners' habit of
translating sentences with “bị/được” into English. They claim that at elementary
level, bị/được is

overemphasized

in

English-Vietnamese

translation,

the

consequence of which is the tendency to treat any sentences containing bị/được as
passive. The most typical examples are:
-

Xe bị hư = The car was broken down.

-

Tôi bị mất tiền = I was lost my money.
They argue that the scope for “bị/ được” is much larger than their usage in
passive sentences. Therefore, careful notes should be given to beginner of English
to avoid misleading way of thinking in the long run. Moreover, they should
drop “bị/được” and see whether they are still grammatical. If the answer is "yes",
the sentence under consideration is not passive and vice versa.
Passive voice is not the best choice for Vietnamese people’s daily
conversations. However, it is used by many writers, scientists. These are some cases
that Vietnamese people need to use the passive voice:
Firstly, they want to emphasize the results of the action.
Ex: “150 người bị bão cuốn trôi, 200 hộ dân mất nhà cửa.” “150 người” and
“200 hộ dân” are emphasized by using passive voice.
Secondly, they do not know the performers.
Ex: “Cậu ấy vừa bị mất laptop đấy.” – We don’t know who the robber is.
Lastly, they want to keep the same performer for two different actions.
Ex: “Vắc-xin điều trị H1N1 đã được bào chế và đưa vào sử dụng.” – “bào
chế” and “đưa vào sử dụng” have the same subject.
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2.5.5.

The similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese
passive voice
2.4.6.1 Similarities
As we can see from the descriptions above, the usages of the passive voice in
the two languages are quite similar. However, there are the differences in forms of

two languages that cause incorrect translations for the learners.
2.4.6.2. Differences
The difference in language origins marks a big gap between English and
Vietnamese as well as their passive voice forms. Below is a table of some
contrastive points:
Criteria
Language family
Language type

English
Indo-European
Inflectional
be + past participle
The forms of "to be" and the

Structure

verbs change based on the
subjects and the tenses.
Neither positive nor negative
meanings mark any changes.

Vietnamese
Austro-Asiatic
Non-Inflectional
“được” + verb: positive
meanings
“bị” + verb: negative
meanings
No changes are made in the

forms of both “được/bị”
and the verbs.

He was punished yesterday.

Examples

(be  was; punish 

Nó được khen : positive

punished)

meaning

It will be sent to you soon.

Hoa bị la : negative

(be  be; send  sent)

meaning

They are awarded a big

Tối qua nhà đó bị trộm :

trophy.

negative meaning

(be  are; award  awarded)
Table 1: The differences of passive voice between English and Vietnamese.
Moreover, Vietnamese people do not often use the passive voice, so they
usually change English passive sentences into the active voice. For example:

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-

“Mary is taken to the zoo by her mother” should not be translated into “Mary được
dẫn đi thăm sở thú bởi mẹ”, but “Mẹ dắt Mary đi thăm sở thú”.
Or even when the passive voice is used, the word order in Vietnamese is
different from that in English. For instance, the sentence above should be translated
into “Mary được mẹ dẫn đi thăm sở thú” (often found in written Vietnamese), not
“Mary được dẫn đi thăm sở thú bởi mẹ”.
As a result, we can see that the Vietnamese structure of the passive voice is “S
+ được/bị + O + verb” rather than “S + be + past participle + by O” as in English.
The “O” here is the object, which is optional.
Furthermore, in Vietnamese, people do not use double passive voice or passive
causatives as in English.
Consequently, the big differences between English and Vietnamese passive
voice forms and the complication of Vietnamese is an important aspect which
translators should take much consideration to have good translations.

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS
3.1. Summary of the novel
The Thorn Birds was published in the spring of 1977 in New York, San
Francisco, London, Sydney at the same time. It was translated into seven languages
in a short time and highly appreciated by readers and literary critics. Up to now, The
Thorn Birds has been the most popular literary work in the Western countries. This
is a remarkable and valuable novel in modern world literature. Before The Thorn
Birds was written and became popular in the world, COLLEEN McCULLOUGH
had not been a professional writer. She was still a normal medical worker. She was
born in Australia, New South Wales in a family of construction workers from
Ireland. In 1974 she wrote the first novel without any resonance. The Thorns Birds
had been conceived for four years until the beginning of the summer of 1975, she
began writing continuously this novel in ten months. During that time, she was busy
to work at the hospital and she just spent little time at night for completing this novel.
The Theme in The Thorn Birds is complex. This novel spans across three
generations of family and deals primary with the restrictions placed upon women in
society. The emphasis is women who have little freedom and are dependent on man.
In essence, women during the period time of the novel had little options without
men. In addition, the novel deals with forbidden love as the third generation Meggie
falls in love and has an illegitimate child with a priest, Ralph de Bricassart. It
explores ambition, lies and imperfection in a world of religious morality. Meggie
unhappily marries while still desiring Ralph. But because of Ralph’s ambition to
further his career and the position he holds, they are torn apart left only with the
burning desire of love for each other.
In Brief, The Thorn Birds shows the forbidden love and the sacrifices made in
the name of love, ambition, powder and the oppression of women to choose and be
what they want.

3.2. Findings
There are different methods which can be found in translating passive voice
from English into Vietnamese. Some previous studies that have been conducted in
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this field show that not all of the passive sentences of the source language can be
translated in the form of passive sentences in target language. Instead, the passive
sentences can be translated in the form of active sentences or de-transitive voice
with the meaning contained. It means that in creating natural translation, the
translator does not have to maintain the form as long as the meaning contained can
be delivered. Therefore, my study is aimed at analysing the methods of translation
of passive voice from English into Vietnamese, seeing from semantic and
grammatical approaches. Furthermore, seeing from grammatical approach, the
passive voices are analyzed from grammatical point of view, whether or not any
shift occur while translating passive from English into Vietnamese. We need to take
consideration about these aspects because the difference of culture, the difference of
grammatical features between English and Vietnam can evoke problems in
translating passive voice. Translation shift enables translators to create a natural
translation of SL into TL.
3.3. Discussion on the translation methods of passive voice from English
into Vietnamese in The Thorn Birds.
According to the survey, there are three common ways to transfer English
passive sentences into Vietnamese.
3.3.1. Translating English passive voice into Vietnamese passive voice.
The survey shows that there are 12 of 53 English passive sentences which are
translated into Vietnamese passive sentences.
We can easily recognize that one sentence in Vietnamese is a passive voice by

“được” and “bị”. In Vietnamese, “được” brings a positive meaning for the passive
voice and passive voice with “bị” is used with negative meaning.
Here are some specific examples of translating English passive sentences into
Vietnamese passive sentences in The Thorn Birds:
Sentences with positive meaning:
 Not to be allowed to run to her mother with hugs and kisses?
 Lại không được nhảy đến ôm hôn mẹ ư?
-

The recipient is not mentioned in the sentence. Therefore, we should take a look at
the previous sentences in the paragraph to understand the meaning of this passive
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