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ESL forum >
Techniques and methods in Language Teaching > PASSIVE VOICE -- JUST BOUNCING AN IDEA......
PASSIVE VOICE -- JUST BOUNCING AN IDEA......
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ldeloresmoore
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PASSIVE VOICE -- JUST BOUNCING AN IDEA......
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Hi, guys...... I �m restructuring some of my school �s curriculum and this particular unit covers passive voice for low to mid-intermediate level. My particular group of students really struggles with passives. To their credit, they are quite curious, and want to know WHY they are structured the way they are. Let me run this explanation by you, and please -- if you don �t mind -- tell me if you understand and agree with this explanation. By all means, PLEASE poke holes in this so that I can test my idea. ***** Passives focus on the action more than the doer of the action. In that respect, the action becomes more like a condition. In order for a condition to exist, the steps needed to create the condition must be complete. So, this is why passive uses the past tense. The room was cleaned last week. ---> The condition is that the room wasn �t clean, but then it was. The actions necessary to create this condition are complete. The room will be cleaned next week ---> The condition is that the room is not clean now, but this will change. The actions necessary to create the condition will happen next week. The room is being cleaned now -----> The actions necessary to create the condition are happening now. ***** All comments welcome. Thanks in advance -- Dee |
30 Mar 2016
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spinney
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That sounds fine to me, Dee. I often tell them that we use the passive to avoid talking about who is doing the action. I also tell them that, where I come from, the posher people are, the more they tend to use the passive. It �s a good way of protecting sources (business or diplomatic). Probably waffle, though. |
30 Mar 2016
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ldeloresmoore
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Yeah, I tell them that as well. But they are specifically trying to understand WHY to use PAST forms of the verbs. After a lot of mulling it over, the "condition" thing was the best I could come up with as a logical explanation. |
30 Mar 2016
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Manuhk
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I hope this helps, given that we both teach Chinese students, I often find that explaining that there is a very similar structure in Chinese can be helpful (it �s called the �bei � [被] structure, and works in a very similar way as it does in English - including omitting the subject when it �s known or not important).
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30 Mar 2016
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yanogator
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I �ll poke a hole. I �d say that your basic approach is pretty good, and I can �t come up with a better one, but your future passive example talks about the condition in the future, which sounds like it is contradicting your point, since there �s nothing past about it. Here �s something I �ve thought of. The form used is the past participle, not the simple past, and the past participle is frequently used as an adjective (a broken window, a used book, etc.). That goes hand in hand with your idea of the passive describing a condition, since that �s just what adjectives do (among other things, of course). Good luck with this. I love it when students ask "why", but it is usually a very difficult question to answer. Bruce |
30 Mar 2016
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ldeloresmoore
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Bruce -- That �s it! That �s what I was trying to get to, but wasn �t quite sure how to phrase it. THANK YOU! Manuhk -- Thanks. I �ll research that point and see what I can learn about it. I speak only minimal Chinese, but what I �ve been able to learn so far has helped. |
30 Mar 2016
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yanogator
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I �m glad we were thinking alike! Bruce |
31 Mar 2016
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