被动语态
英语 B1 知识点 7 4:02 英语旁白 · 英中内嵌字幕
章节
文本转录
Sometimes the thing that receives the action is the star. The active says the cat ate the homework; the passive swaps the spotlight: the homework was eaten, by the cat. Chinese has bei for this, so the idea is old; the English machinery is new: a form of be plus the past participle, and the participle never changes. The memory hook: the passive is a spotlight swap. The actor steps back into the dark, and the object steps into the light.
Be does all the tense work; the participle just sits there, being done to. Present: English is spoken here. Past: the bridge was built in nineteen ninety. Perfect: my phone has been stolen. Future and modals: the results will be announced tomorrow; homework must be finished on time. The participle column is the one you already own, rebels included. And the guard: no be, no passive; the homework written by the cat is not a sentence, it is a fragment in waiting.
Pause and choose. The results will be announced tomorrow. The results receive the announcement, so the passive; tomorrow, so will be plus the participle. Will announce would make the results the announcer, which is a power the results do not have.
The actor can appear after by: the homework was eaten by the cat. But the passive usually exists precisely to skip the actor, because it is unknown — my bike was stolen — or obvious — he was arrested, by the police, obviously — or simply unimportant. And the balance rule: if the actor is the most important thing in the sentence, go back to the active. The cat ate my homework is funnier and stronger. The passive is a tool, not a lifestyle.
Pause and choose. My bike was stolen yesterday. Unknown actor, so the passive with silence. Stole would make the bike the thief, was stolen by someone adds a shadow nobody needs, and stolen alone is a participle standing in the rain.
Where does the passive live? In rules and signs: English is spoken here; bikes must not be parked here. In science and news: the experiment was repeated three times; two pandas were born in Chengdu. And in formal writing, where the passive sounds objective because it removes the I. Chinese uses its bei passive rarely and often for bad news; English uses the passive neutrally and constantly. Don't be afraid of it.
Pause and choose. It happened yesterday. Happen has no object, so it has no licence for the passive. The bei instinct tempts you, and English checks the licence at the door. And watch the agreement: the results were announced, because the subject and the be must agree, even in the dark of the passive.
Report the news of the classroom in the passive. The homework was eaten by the cat. The cat has been interviewed; no comment was given. The test was finished by everyone; the results will be announced tomorrow; fear is being felt. English is spoken in this classroom; mistakes are made; progress is celebrated.
Pause for four checks. The bridge was built in nineteen ninety: was plus the participle. My phone has been stolen: a fresh disaster in the perfect passive. Homework must be finished on time: modal plus be plus participle. And it happened yesterday: no object, no passive licence. Next topic: reported speech, where English retells what other people said, and every tense takes one step back.