Using the passive Jaa Passive... but you tell who did it? Kirjaudu sisään lähettääksesi tämän lomakkeen 1. Now you know that in passive voice, we don't know who does something. 2. However, sometimes in English you CAN reveal who did it -- if you want to! 3. How and why? 4. Look at these two sentences. Alexander Bell invented the telephone. The telephone was invented by Alexander Bell. The two sentences give us the same information. However, they are about different things: One sentence is about Bell. The other is about his invention, the telephone. Each sentence begins with the thing we are talking about: the subject. New information about the subject comes at the end of the sentence. In English passive sentences, we can reveal who performed the action. → We use "by" to reveal the agent. → So, "by" tells who the agent is. Why would we do this? Isn't the whole point of the passive to hide the agent? Yes - we use the passive when we want to put the spotlight on the action (the verb) and the object (of the action) rather than who performs the action. So, if you are writing an essay about the history of phones, you would start: Phones were invented by... (the focus is on the phones). But, if you are writing about the inventor Bell, you would start: Alexander Bell, a Scottish inventor, invented the telephone (the focus is on Bell). Weirdly, you can't translate these sentences into Finnish using the passive. It would make no sense: On our way home we were stopped by the police. We have to use the active: Poliisi pysäytti meidät matkalla kotiin. (not: meidät pysäytettiin by poliisi) Recognize the agent? In each of these sentences, recognize who is doing the action (the agent). 1. The cars were all heading out of the town. the cars the town 2. The car was driven by my sister. the car my sister 3. The sunlight was flowing through the window. the sunlight the window 4. I was woken up by the sun. I the sun 5. The camera was invented by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. the camera Joseph Nicéphore Niépce 6. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, who was French, invented the first photographic camera. the camera Joseph Nicéphore Niépce 7. The students were given the wrong instructions by their angry professor. the students the wrong instructions the students' angry professor Kirjaudu sisään lähettääksesi tämän lomakkeen
Passive... but you tell who did it? Kirjaudu sisään lähettääksesi tämän lomakkeen 1. Now you know that in passive voice, we don't know who does something. 2. However, sometimes in English you CAN reveal who did it -- if you want to! 3. How and why? 4. Look at these two sentences. Alexander Bell invented the telephone. The telephone was invented by Alexander Bell. The two sentences give us the same information. However, they are about different things: One sentence is about Bell. The other is about his invention, the telephone. Each sentence begins with the thing we are talking about: the subject. New information about the subject comes at the end of the sentence. In English passive sentences, we can reveal who performed the action. → We use "by" to reveal the agent. → So, "by" tells who the agent is. Why would we do this? Isn't the whole point of the passive to hide the agent? Yes - we use the passive when we want to put the spotlight on the action (the verb) and the object (of the action) rather than who performs the action. So, if you are writing an essay about the history of phones, you would start: Phones were invented by... (the focus is on the phones). But, if you are writing about the inventor Bell, you would start: Alexander Bell, a Scottish inventor, invented the telephone (the focus is on Bell). Weirdly, you can't translate these sentences into Finnish using the passive. It would make no sense: On our way home we were stopped by the police. We have to use the active: Poliisi pysäytti meidät matkalla kotiin. (not: meidät pysäytettiin by poliisi) Recognize the agent? In each of these sentences, recognize who is doing the action (the agent). 1. The cars were all heading out of the town. the cars the town 2. The car was driven by my sister. the car my sister 3. The sunlight was flowing through the window. the sunlight the window 4. I was woken up by the sun. I the sun 5. The camera was invented by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. the camera Joseph Nicéphore Niépce 6. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, who was French, invented the first photographic camera. the camera Joseph Nicéphore Niépce 7. The students were given the wrong instructions by their angry professor. the students the wrong instructions the students' angry professor Kirjaudu sisään lähettääksesi tämän lomakkeen
