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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Passive Voice
Passive Voice
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red_sneakers
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Passive Voice
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Hi fellow teachers,
I �m a private tutor and I am teaching my students Passive Voice at the moment. I �m a little unsure about this:
Active sentence: Who puts that book on the table?
Should the Passive be:
- Whom is that book put by on the table?
Or should it be:
- Who is that book put by on the table?
My supervisor said it was the second one, but the English teacher in my students � school it should be the first one.
I appreciate the help. Thank you beforehand, have a great day. :)
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15 Mar 2010
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yanogator
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The very formal form is "By whom is that book put on the table?" (although the entire sentence, including the active, should probably be in the simple past, since the simple present is for repeated or habitual action, and this seems to be a one-time event).
The less formal would not be either of your answers, but "Who is that book put on the table by?" If the pronoun doesn �t follow the preposition, we don �t use "whom", at least in the US.
Bruce |
15 Mar 2010
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red_sneakers
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Thanks a lot. :) Yes, the sentence should have been in Simple Past. Guess I wasn �t thinking when I typed it.
So I guess if the active sentence is asking for the Object, then the passive sentence should be asking for the Subject, am I right?
Again, thanks a lot.
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15 Mar 2010
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kmtr
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"By whom is that book put on the table" is right.
The other ways are really confusing.
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15 Mar 2010
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almaz
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Sorry, but why would anyone want to say "By whom is that book put on the table" (or even �by whom was... �) in the first place? There are some passive constructions it�s better not to use outside daft word games.
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15 Mar 2010
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coyote.chus
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I agree with Almaz. The passive is only used when we want to emphasize the object of a sentence and leave the subject of it unknown, or in a second step. If you want to ask who did something, then you are giving it some importance, so it would be better to say or write that sentence in the active voice, "who put(s) that book on the table?"
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15 Mar 2010
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almaz
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Spot on, Chus! Of course, if we wanted to emphasise the agent and use the passive, we could also ask: that book was put on the table by whom? |
15 Mar 2010
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red_sneakers
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Exactly. But schools here teach the weirdest forms of grammar and stuff so I think I better know about it just in case my students ask. :)
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16 Mar 2010
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