Aula 1 - Passive Voice_ usage, meaning and structure

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DESCRIPTION
Introduction to the structure, possible uses and meaning effects of the passive voice.
PURPOSE
There are different ways of structuring our sentences in order to narrate events and tell stories. Learning the passive
voice will enable you to produce sentences in which the agent, responsible for carrying out a given action, is either
not known or unimportant.
GOALS
SECTION 1
To recognize the underlying structure of sentences in the passive voice, and when and where it should be preferred
SECTION 2
To describe how the passive voice is shaped in the present and in the past
SECTION 3
To describe particular structures of passive voice: future, with get and have, as well as with modals and in the
indirect speech
WARM-UP
When accommodating our ideas within the sentences we speak and write, several important choices are made, and
it is not just a matter of choosing the right words to express our feelings and ideas. It is also a matter of ordering
these words appropriately to manipulate how our readers and listeners will respond to them. Which meaning effects
do we want to produce? Which words should be spotlighted then?
This unit aims at describing the passive voice. In the first section, you are going to learn when and how to use it.
Afterwards, you are going to become familiar with the underlying structure of the passive voice. Then, in the
following sections, the purpose is to explain how this structure is applied to present, past, and future utterances,
without forgetting individual cases. The examples provided were retrieved from renowned newspapers and
magazines to illustrate the uses of the passive voice within the realm of journalism and on a daily basis. Rather than
a purely grammatical or syntactical choice, the passive voice is a meaningful linguistic usage that allows writers and
speakers to draw attention to some elements while concealing others, privileging specific understandings at the
expense of other possibilities.
SECTION 1
 To recognize the underlying structure of sentences in the passive voice, and when and where it should
be preferred
PASSIVE VOICE: WHEN AND WHY TO USE IT
Choosing the right words is essential, but not enough: in order to communicate our ideas clearly, we must also learn
how to organize them properly. Even identical terms might convey different meanings depending on how they are
arranged in a sentence. Take as an example the headline “People are not starving, they’re being starved”, published
in the British newspaper The Guardian (2021).
 
Image: The Guardian, 2021
Throughout the article, aid organizations draw attention to the underlying causes of a worsening global humanitarian
crisis. The shift from the active voice in “people are not starving” to the passive voice in “they’re being starved” is
meaningful and kicks off the understanding that those starving around the world are victims of external problems,
difficulties provoked by conflicts, social inequality, climate crisis and the covid-19 pandemic.
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
In other words, the passive voice in “they’re being starved” underlines the fact these famished populations are not to
blame for their condition. Instead, they are left to endure the effects of a deteriorating scenario, which they alone do
not have the power to change.
 COMMENT
The second phrase (rather uncommon) unveils an editorial choice of retrieving the agency of the famished people
mentioned. Such a contrast between these two structures in the quote might cause an impact on readers, which
justifies their usage on the headline, at the outset of the article.
Similarly, the passive voice plays a paramount role in another online article, published by the American
Shakespeare Center. In this example, the author distinguishes her own experience with the media as a white girl
being raised in the United States from the underrepresentation suffered by black people in the country.
You should analyze the paragraph observing the structures in bold:
“When I was a kid, I saw myself everywhere. [...] Yet, the ‘interactions’ provided by [the] media are neither real nor
realistic, and reflect a further disconnect between reality and a media-driven representation of reality. [...] Total lack
of representation is damaging beyond measure. Using invisibility theory to back their assertion, Leavitt et al. claim
that ‘when a group is underrepresented in the media, members of that group are deprived of messages or
strategies for how to be a person’ [...] The revelations about casting practices in Shakespearean productions are
simultaneously shocking and expected: minority actors are often relegated to playing minor characters [...].”
(WALLACE, 2019)
Notice that the author starts her text using the active voice (“I saw myself everywhere”), functioning as the subject of
the clause, or the person who does the action expressed by the verb. Within such extract, her own experience
serves as an example of how racial representation in the media might lead to a person’s sense of belonging and
agency.
However, shortly thereafter she highlights the absence of diversity as an outcome of racism. Such discrimination, in
turn, is suffered or received by minority groups (“when a group is underrepresented”/“minority actors are often
relegated”). One way of paraphrasing these quotes without changing their meaning would be to claim that,
according to the author, certain social groups are affected by the lack of representation in the media.
Likewise, the passive voice is also favored in the extract “the ‘interactions’ provided by [the] media are neither real
nor realistic”. In this last one, she sheds light on the interactions rather than on the media, which she holds
accountable for the reduced visibility of minorities.
 SUM UP
We tend to use the passive voice to focus on the receiver of an action instead of the agent responsible for it. When it
happens, we affirm that the subject of the phrase undergoes the action.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE PASSIVE VOICE
Before we analyze the structure of the passive voice and look into its elements, read some examples taken from a
guide published by BBC (2021) on racism:
“[...] RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IS ESTABLISHED AS A NORMAL
BEHAVIOUR WITHIN ORGANIZATIONS THAT MAKE UP SOCIETY”.
“SOME PEOPLE ARE PICKED ON BECAUSE THEY LOOK
DIFFERENT OR SPEAK A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE”.
“SLAVE SHIPS FROM BRITAIN LEFT PORTS LIKE LONDON,
LIVERPOOL AND BRISTOL FOR WEST AFRICA, CARRYING
GOODS SUCH AS CLOTH AND GUNS [...]. THESE GOODS WERE
TRADED FOR MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHO HAD BEEN
KIDNAPPED THEN SOLD TO SLAVE TRADERS OR BOUGHT FROM
AFRICAN CHIEFS”.
“AFTER WORLD WAR TWO, LOTS OF PEOPLE FROM THE
CARIBBEAN [...] MOVED TO BRITAIN TO WORK. THEY HAD BEEN
ENCOURAGED BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO COME OVER
AFTER THE WAR TO TAKE JOBS THAT COULD NOT BE FILLED BY
BRITISH PEOPLE”.
IF YOU FOCUS EXCLUSIVELY ON THE UNDERLYING PATTERN
REPEATED IN “ARE PICKED”, “WERE TRADED”, “HAD BEEN
KIDNAPPED”, “HAD BEEN ENCOURAGED”, WHICH COMMON
ELEMENTS CAN BE IDENTIFIED?
 ANSWER
The use of the verb to be is one of the common traits emerging after a close analysis and its inflection (are, were,
is, been) is in tune with the time of the action. When the action takes place in the present, we employ am, is and
are; whereas to talk about a past action, we use was or were. Likewise, been must be chosen when the present
perfect or the past perfect tense is used for narrating the action. In addition, you must have noticed that the main
verbs – such as picked, traded, kidnapped, bought, sold, encouraged, filled and established – have taken up
their past participle forms.
Based on the analysis of these examples, we conclude that two main rules are at work in the passive voice:
VERB TO BE
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It is a recurrent, often necessary component, and its inflection tellingly informs the time in which the action takes
place.
MAIN VERB IN ITS PAST PARTICIPLE FORM
The past participle ofthe main verb must be used regardless of the time of the action narrated.
You can get a visual outlook on how this underlying structure operates below:
SUBJECT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  VERB TO BE  PAST
PARTICIPLE (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  AGENT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)
Structure of the passive voice.
When choosing the passive rather than the active voice, the focus shifts towards the patient, towards who or what
undergoes the action carried out by the agent. After all, the subject in such construction does not perform the action;
to the contrary, he or she “is acted upon and is thus passive”, as Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999, p.347)
affirm. As for the agent, he or she is usually elicited in a prepositional phrase starting with the preposition “by”.
That is precisely the case of two examples examined earlier in this section:
“THEY HAD BEEN ENCOURAGED BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT
TO COME OVER AFTER THE WAR TO TAKE JOBS THAT COULD
NOT BE FILLED BY BRITISH PEOPLE”.
In both cases, prepositional phrases introduce the agents, those responsible for acting upon the subjects. But if
such prepositional phrases are optional as far as syntax is concerned, how do we know whether or not to include
them?
According to Angela Downing and Philip Locke (2006), the answer to this question depends on contextual and
communicative variables, as well as the choice between active or passive voice. When naming the doer provides a
new piece of information for the listener or reader, it is important to insert the prepositional phrase naming the agent
after the preposition “by”. This choice is made, for instance, in a BBC article (2021) describing reactions to a report
on race published in the UK:
“[…] A REPORT INTO RACE IN THE UK HAS BEEN CRITICIZED BY
HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERTS”.
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In a nutshell, they condemn the publication for ignoring how racism is still entrenched in the British society. But the
fact human rights experts reject the document is not necessarily known by the BBC reader; that explains why this
information is added in the prepositional phrase initiated with “by”. According to Downing and Locke (2006), the
end-position is a suitable place for the introduction of new data.
The end-position is also appropriate for information that could be long and heavy if placed at the beginning. That
principle is condensed by Downing and Locke in the recommendation:

SHORTEST FIRST, LONGEST LAST.
(DOWNING; LOCKE, 2006, p. 254).
To understand how this rule is worked out in real communication, read the excerpt retrieved from the Los Angeles
Times (2020), from an article focused on how significant places for the history of Latin Americans in the US are
systematically abandoned:
“[…] SUCH SITES ARE […] THREATENED BY NEGLECT AND
ENVIRONMENT DESTRUCTION”.
(LOS ANGELES TIMES, 2020)
The same principle is behind the ordering of words in the next example, a quote from James Baldwin, an African
American poet and novelist:

WHEN I WAS GOING TO SCHOOL, I BEGAN TO BE BUGGED BY
THE TEACHING OF AMERICAN HISTORY BECAUSE IT SEEMED
THAT THAT HISTORY HAD BEEN TAUGHT WITHOUT COGNIZANCE
OF MY PRESENCE.
(BALDWIN, 2016)
Both “by neglect and environment destruction” and “by the teaching of American history” are excessively long to be
introduced in the onset and, thus, are adequately placed at the end. The final position is also recommended when
the agent is natural phenomena, such as rain, hurricanes, or earthquakes, as you can see in the following example:
“PALAU WAS HIT BY TYPHOON SURIGAE LAST WEEK”.
(THE GUARDIAN, 2021)
But there are plenty of situations in which the agent is completely omitted. That can happen in some cases to
highlight another piece of information that the speaker or writer prefers to emphasize in its place. To understand how
that functions in actual communication, focus on the following part of James Baldwin’s quote:
“[…] IT SEEMED THAT THAT HISTORY HAD BEEN TAUGHT
WITHOUT COGNIZANCE OF MY PRESENCE”.
(THE GUARDIAN, 2021)
When he chooses to omit rather obvious information, he spotlights in its place an argument that emphasizes the
racially-biased exclusion of Black people from History classes.
In an article published in the Economist, a similar choice is made by Harj Taggar, a cofounder and CEO at
Triplebyte, while discussing racial diversity in the workplace:
“OF COURSE, IF PEOPLE OF COLOR WERE ALREADY WELL
REPRESENTED AT COMPANIES, THEN THIS WOULDN'T BE A
TOPIC AT ALL”.
(THE ECONOMIST, 2017)
Instead of picking a specific agent for the action “represented”, Taggar prefers to focus on the setting (“at
companies”), so as to point the finger at a place that lacks racial diversity.
ACTIVE VOICE X PASSIVE VOICE
How about a quick stop to recap? Click and check!
Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999), as well as Downing and Locke (2006) provide advice regarding the
situations in which agents can be omitted altogether. These recommendations are summarized below with some
examples.
OMIT THE AGENT WHEN THIS INFORMATION IS:
PRIVATE OR SECRET
A murder was reported today.
UNKNOWN
Several works of art were stolen from the museum.
UNIVERSAL OR TOO GENERAL
Dominant ideas about our country’s History are being put into question.
OBVIOUS OR REDUNDANT
It is about time to change the way English is taught.
As you can see, choosing between the active and the passive voices is not exclusively a matter of syntax, a
question of grammar. Instead, structuring ideas within a sentence, selecting what comes first and last or concealing
information are decisions that have to do with which meanings we want to privilege and how we intend to impact our
readers or listeners.
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LEARNING CHECK
1. IN THIS SECTION, YOU HAVE STUDIED A CRUCIAL ASPECT OF PRODUCTIONS
WHICH CONTAIN THE PASSIVE VOICE: MEANING CONSTRUCTION. WE SHOULD BEAR
IN MIND THE CONNOTATIONS OF EACH CHOICE IN A TEXT. CHOOSE THE OPTION
WHICH CONTAINS A TRUE STATEMENT ABOUT THE MEANING CONSTRUCTION OF THIS
FORM:
A) When an author uses the passive voice, he or she sheds light on the person or people responsible for an action.
B) Authors usually convey the same ideas, irrespectively of using the active or the passive voice of the verbs.
C) Editorial choices of magazines do not play a role in the lexical-grammatical choices of their publications.
D) Authors tend to use the passive voice to highlight the results of an action over the subject.
E) The passive voice is deeply intertwined with the notion of proper agentivity of a person.
2. READ THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE: “MINORITY ACTORS ARE OFTEN RELEGATED
TO PLAYING MINOR CHARACTERS [...].” NOW, CHOOSE THE STATEMENT THAT BETTER
PARAPHRASES SUCH CHOICE OF WORDS, WITHOUT CHANGING ITS MEANING.
A) Minority actors are often the ones responsible for their lack of representation in the media.
B) The creation of minor characters leads to the underrepresentation of minority actors in the media.
C) Minority actors are often given roles to play minor characters.
D) The media should create more minor characters so that minorities can be better represented.
E) Directors take accountability for the underrepresentation of minority actors.
GABARITO
1. In this section, you have studied a crucial aspect of productions which contain the passive voice:
meaning construction. We should bear in mind the connotations of each choice in a text. Choose the option
which contains a true statement about the meaning construction of this form:
Option "D " is correct.
 
The passive voice is used to call the receiver's attention to an action. This receiver, in a passive position, undergoes
the results of the action instead of being responsible for it.
2. Read the following sentence: “minority actors are often relegated to playing minor characters [...].” Now,
choose the statement that better paraphrases such choice of words, without changing its meaning.
Option "C " is correct.
 
The extract is in the passive voice.Therefore, the subject (i.e. minority actors) is in a passive position and suffering
the action conveyed by the verb “relegate”, meaning that they receive or are given minor roles.
SECTION 2
 To describe how the passive voice is shaped in the present and in the past
THE PASSIVE VOICE IN THE PRESENT
Before we proceed to our reflection upon possible usages of the passive voice in the present time, let’s recall the
differences between active and passive voices and the use of the “by phrase”.
Another reminder is still important before proceeding: the concepts of tense and aspect.
 FRIENDLY REMINDER
As Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999) point out, the tense of a verb usually refers to the period when an
action occurs (either in the present, past or future, even though this last one does not have a specific inflection in
English). Each verb tense, the authors go on, has an internal structure named aspect.
The aspects are, altogether, simple (also known as “zero”), perfect, progressive, and perfect progressive (CELCE-
MURCIA; LARSEN-FREEMAN, 1999). Analyze Chart 4 to understand the differences between tense and aspect.
 
Image: Shutterstock.com / adapted by Pedro Tamburro
Tense.

 
Image: Shutterstock.com / Adapted by Pedro Tamburro
Aspect.
Different verb tenses – such as the Present Simple, the Present Perfect, Present Progressive, and Present Perfect
Progressive, to name a few – result from the interplay between tense and aspect:
ASPECT
TENSE 
Simple Progressive 
(be + ing)
Perfect 
(have/
had +
past
participle)
Perfect
Progressive 
(have/ had
+ been +
ing)
Present I study
I am
studying
I have
studied
I have
been
studying
Past
I
studied
I was
studying
I had
 studied
I had been
studying
Future
I will
study
I will be
studying
I will
have
studied
I will have
been
studying
 Atenção! Para visualização completa da tabela utilize a rolagem horizontal
Chart 1: The interplay between tense and aspect (active voice). 
Chart by Erika Coachman & Izabelle Fernandes
The examples shown in Chart 1 above depict the way tense and aspect produce different verb tenses, but all of
them are restricted to the active voice, for the subject “I” stands for the doer of the action (“study”). However, this
section is especially devoted to the passive voice in the present tense - which necessarily includes the four aspects
(simple, progressive, perfect and perfect progressive). That is why the Chart 2 has been dedicated to detailing how
this interplay between tense and aspect comes to life in the passive voice.
ASPECT
TENSE 
Simple Progressive 
(be + ing)
Perfect 
(have/
had +
past
participle)
Perfect
Progressive 
(have/ had
+ been +
being)
Present 
English
is
studied
English is
being
studied
English
has been
studied
English has
been being
studied
Past
English
was
studied
English
was being
studied
English
had
been
studied
English
had been
being
studied
Future
English
will be
studied
English will
be being
studied
English
will have
been
studied
English will
have been
being
studied
 Atenção! Para visualização completa da tabela utilize a rolagem horizontal
Chart 2: The interplay between tense and aspect (passive voice). 
Chart by Erika Coachman & Izabelle Fernandes
 COMMENT
As you go through the examples, you will notice that the fourth aspect (namely, “present progressive”) is possible in
the passive voice, but quite rare due to the repetition of be in “been being” (CELCE-MURCIA; LARSEN-FREEMAN,
1999). The same is true for the future progressive in the passive voice, which juxtaposes “be” and “being”. To avoid
such repetitions, writers and speakers often tend to prefer to employ the future progressive and the present
progressive aspect in the active voice.
Some structures we dealt with in the first section are examples of passive voice in the present tense. Reread the
following example and think about the author’s intention concerning time and aspect.
“WHEN A GROUP IS UNDERREPRESENTED IN THE MEDIA,
MEMBERS OF THAT GROUP ARE DEPRIVED OF MESSAGES OR
STRATEGIES FOR HOW TO BE A PERSON’ [...]”
(WALLACE, 2019.)
In such example, the author refers to a recurrent situation in the present, as well as to a sort of inevitable
consequence of that. These are two major meanings of the present simple: habitual events and factual statements,
respectively. We can also perceive that the first one is introduced by a verb in the singular (“is”) in the affirmative
form referring to one sole subject (“a group”). The other phrase is in the plural, with the verb “are” agreeing with the
subject “members of a group” (two or more individuals).
In order to express a negative connotation in this same tense, one should include the particle “not” after the verb be,
also followed by the past participle form of the main verb. It is the case in the following extract, which tackles gender
disparities in the fashion industry:
“WHEN IT COMES TO FASHION ADS, MEN AND WOMEN AREN'T
PORTRAYED THE SAME WAY — AND EVEN KIDS KNOW THAT.”
(TODAY, 2015)
The contracted form “aren’t” previously used tends to designate a more informal tone. The same is true to its
singular counterpart: “isn’t”. The image below illustrates the structure of the passive voice in the present simple.
SUBJECT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  VERB TO BE IN THE PRESENT
SIMPLE (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  PAST PARTICIPLE FORM OF THE
MAIN VERB  AGENT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)
Passive voice and the present simple in the affirmative form.
In order to convert the preceding structure into an interrogative form, we should shift the verb “be” to the beginning
of the sentence.
“When it comes to fashion ads, men and women aren't portrayed the same…”.
 
“Are men and women portrayed the same way when it comes to fashion ads?”.
The very first headline tackled in the opening section also includes another example of present tense, but with a
continuous aspect:
“[...] PEOPLE ARE BEING STARVED”.
In structural terms, the core characteristic of the present continuous is the addition of the suffix -ing to the verb be. In
relation to meaning, it calls potential readers’ attention to an ongoing action, currently in progress. The same logic
applies to structures in the singular, but with the verbs “am” or “is”. Pay close attention to the image below, which
describes the elements of the passive voice in the present continuous and compares it to the previous one.
SUBJECT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  VERB TO BE IN THE PRESENT
SIMPLE (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  BE+ING (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  
PAST PARTICIPLE FORM OF THE MAIN VERB 
AGENT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)
Passive voice and the present continuous in the affirmative form.
Now, observe the way an interviewee expressed himself during a protest against racism in Canada, as reported by
CBC News:
“THERE'S GOING TO BE ANOTHER FREDY VILLANUEVA
BECAUSE THE PROBLEM ISN'T BEING ADDRESSED,’ HE SAID,
REFERRING TO THE TEEN WHO WAS KILLED BY POLICE IN
MONTRÉAL-NORD IN 2008.”
(CBC, 2020)
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
The man’s oral utterance is a denunciation of racial tensions in his country. Within this context, the use of the
continuous form emphasizes his complaint towards an undesirable and perduring dynamic. At the same time, he
pinpoints that a possible solution is far from being a reality, because authorities are refusing to deal with it. That is
why he uses the contracted negative form “isn’t”. Were it a more formal situation, he would have probably used the
full form “is not”.
Finally, there is the present perfect tense. Despite its name, it is commonly employed to refer to actions that
occurred in the past. Nonetheless, there is an important caveat: these actions have consequences in the present.
See examples below, taken from a news report by National Geographic on recent manifestations against racist
monuments. In which ways can they affect the present?
“In the past month, Confederatemonuments adorning the boulevard have either been toppled or are slated for
removal.” (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, 2020)
“But how should Columbus now be remembered? The explorer has long been credited with ‘discovering’ the
Americas while in search of riches of East Asia.” (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, 2020)
In the first sentence, the reader is informed of recent events up to then. By the time the article was published, some
of the monuments were still toppled. Furthermore, the second describes a historical figure that started being
credited for the “discovery” of the American continent years ago and is still granted the same status in education.
In all the previous extracts we can also perceive the same pattern. The affirmatives start with the subject, followed
by the auxiliary verbs “has” or “have” along with the form “been” and the main verb in the past participle. Just
remember that, in prescriptive grammar, the auxiliary “has” should be used when the subject is in the third person
singular (“he”, “she” or “it”). Refer the image below to recall the structure of passive voice in the present perfect.
SUBJECT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  HAVE OR HAS  PAST
PARTICIPLE OF THE VERB TO BE (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  
PAST PARTICIPLE FORM OF THE MAIN VERB 
AGENT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)
Passive voice and the present perfect in the affirmative form.
NEGATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE FORMS
How about the negative form of this verb tense? In the following paragraph, a professor of political science makes
an analogy between statuses portraying pro-slavery figures of the American Civil War with Nazi German
symbologies.
“SINCE THE SECOND WAVE OF CONFEDERATE STATUES WENT
UP AROUND AROUND 1955, 90 YEARS AFTER THE END OF THE
CIVIL WAR, IN THE GERMAN ANALOGY THOSE NAZI SYMBOLS
HAVEN’T BEEN ERECTED YET.”
(BANGOR DAILY NEWS, 2020 ).
Did you notice that the only structural change in comparison to previous quotes is the addition of “not” after the
auxiliary verb? The contracted structure “haven’t” joins “have” with “not”. Moreover, the ending with “yet” indicates
that the possibility is still not true.
The last form we will analyze is the interrogative. As in the Present Simple, Present Perfect structures in the
interrogative start with the auxiliary verb. This structure was employed by Professor Dr. Gail C. Christopher in a
podcast interview about structural racism in the United States:
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
“If racism is a lie, how has it been sustained, institutionalized and structured in America?”
(ROLL CALL, 2021)
One can also observe that the question is rhetorical. In other words, it has a tangible answer proposed by the
professor herself: racism is not a lie and it is noticeable within American institutions.
 SUM UP
To sum this section up, the myriad of passive form structures is built upon different tenses (or times), following the
patterns of the aspects.
The resulting present verb tenses are organized in the chart below:
ASPECT
Simple Progressive Perfect Perfect Progressive
Affirmative
English
is studied
English is being
studied
English has
been studied
English has been
being studied
Negative
English isn't
studied
English isn't
being studied
English hasn't
been studied
English hasn't been
being studied
Interrogative
Is English
studied?
Is English being
 studied?
Has English been
studied?
Has English been
being studied?
 Atenção! Para visualização completa da tabela utilize a rolagem horizontal
Chart 3: Passive voice and present verb tenses. 
Chart by Erika Coachman & Izabelle Fernandes
Let’s practice!
Before we go to the next topic, let’s practice, so that you become more confident!
CHOOSE THE OPTION WITH THE APPROPRIATE VERB
FORMS TO COMPLETE THE PARAGRAPH.
addressed
been
hasn’t
have
Racial tensions ---------- long 
---------- an issue in Brazil. Even so,
such reality ---------- been properly 
---------- in many didactic books.
ANSWER
The correct sequence is:
Racial tensions have long been an issue in Brazil. Even so, such reality hasn’t been properly addressed in many
didactic books.
 
The subject “racial tension” is in the plural. Thus, the auxiliary which agrees with it is “have”. Besides, the main verb
of the phrase in the passive voice should be in the past participle (“been”). The following sentence is introduced by
an adverb with a meaning of opposition, which leads to an auxiliary in the negative form. This auxiliary should be
“hasn’t”, because it agrees with a third person subject (“such reality”/ “it”). Finally, the past participle of the main verb
“address” is “addressed”.
THE PASSIVE VOICE IN THE PAST
The objective of this section is to understand how the passive voice operates in the past tense, especially in its
three most recurrent aspects (simple, progressive, and perfect). Before we look into its overall structure, read the
following example:
“SHE CONFESSED THAT SHE WAS ‘SURPRISED’ BY HOW
FORTHCOMING THE COUPLE WAS . [...] THINGS WEREN’T
MISCONSTRUED BEFORE THE ACTUAL INTERVIEW HAPPENED”.
(DAILY MAIL, 2021)
 
Photo: Everett Collection/Shutterstock.com
Oprah Winfrey.
The lines above were spoken by the TV hostess Oprah, as she remarks how shocking it was for her to listen to
Harry and Meghan Markle spontaneously denounce the racist concerns raised by those at the service of the British
Royal family. Oprah employs the past simple to refer to their interview, an event that had taken place priorly, in
March 2021.
The same underlying pattern is found in the next example, taken from an article published by the National
Geographic on the protests for the removal of racist symbols and monuments after the murder of George Floyd in
the United States. Again, the sparking of the protests took place in the past simple.
“PROTESTS DEMANDING THE REMOVAL OF RACIST SYMBOLS
WERE SPARKED BY THE DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD WHILE IN
POLICE CUSTODY IN MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA”.
(NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, 2020 )
A similar idea would be conveyed by “the death of George Floyd sparked protests demanding the removal of racist
symbols”. Nonetheless, this alternative reordering of words could undermine the prominence of the central theme of
the article, which is the removal of monuments instead. Therefore, the active voice’s emphasis on George Floyd’s
death, rather than on the falls of symbols and statues, is not adequate in a text aimed at describing protests against
racism cemented in these memorials.
 
Photo: CHOONGKY/ Shutterstock.com
The affirmative forms contain the auxiliaries “was” or “were”, depending on the subject (the first for singular, the
second for plural). Afterwards, the main verb is once again put in the past participle. In case of negative phrases as
“weren’t misconstrued”, we add the negative particle “not” to the auxiliary, resulting in the singular forms “wasn’t” or
“was not”, as well as “weren’t” or “were not” in the plural.
Now, examine this image to look into the underlying pattern of the passive voice in the simple past.
SUBJECT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  VERB TO BE IN THE PAST
SIMPLE (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  
PAST PARTICIPLE FORM OF THE MAIN VERB  
AGENT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)
Passive voice and the simple past.
Another customary structure is the past progressive, described in Chart 9. Analyze an example found on BBC
News about a rally against racism in the US and try to identify the sequence of events that occurred.
“MUSIC WAS BEING PLAYED AND FOOD, WATER AND HAND
SANITISER HANDED OUT, AS PROTESTERS CHANTED ‘GEORGE
FLOYD’, ‘BREONNA TAYLOR’ - THE LATTER SHOT BY POLICE IN
MARCH - AND ‘NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE’.”
(BBC, 2020 )
SUBJECT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  VERB TO BE IN THE PAST
SIMPLE (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  
BE + ING (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  PAST PARTICIPLE FORM OF
THE MAIN VERB  AGENT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)
Passive voice and the past progressive.
 
Photo: Stephanie Kenner/ Shutterstock.com
The journalist recounts and publicizes at least three simultaneous actions he witnessed:
whilst protesters chanted mottoes (an activitythat tended to cease and be completed with time),
“Music was being played and food, water and hand sanitizer handed out”. (BBC, 2020)
That last phrase punctuates activities that were in progress by means of the auxiliary “was” before the verb “being”
followed by the main verbs “played” and “handed” in the past participle. Bearing these schemata in mind, we know
that if the author wanted to talk about the songs of the protest (in the plural), she would have used the auxiliary
“were”. To convert these phrases to the negative, one would merely add “not” to the auxiliary.
Months later, the same source described the controversies revolving around a report on race in Great Britain,
motivated by the previous protests. Read some chunks of the text and try to identify what they have in common.
“The commission's report runs to 258 pages, but some conclusions had been briefed to the media in advance of its
publication on Wednesday.”
“[...] Is Britain a racist country? The report found that while there was racism, the answer to that question was ‘no’,
and that that would make people feel proud not ashamed of progress that had been made.”
“The plan of a commission had been announced by the prime minister last June, after the Black Lives Matter
protests and the ‘statue wars’.”
(BBC, 2021)
In relation to structure, every phrase in bold contains the auxiliary “had” right before “been” and the main verb in the
past participle. In addition, these phrases refer to finished actions in the past that took place before other past
initiatives. In the first sentence, the authors say that first a short version of the report was briefed to the media, then
the entire document was made available.
In the second, the journalists state that Britons believed that progress “had been made” before the report was
conducted. Finally, they remind possible readers that the Black Lives Matter movement also arose before the report
conduction. These sentences provide examples of the past perfect in the passive voice and they follow the rules
depicted in the image below:
SUBJECT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  HAD  PAST PARTICIPLE OF
THE VERB TO BE (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  
PAST PARTICIPLE FORM OF THE MAIN VERB 
AGENT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)
Passive voice and the past perfect.
A structure alike is the past perfect progressive. In this grammatical possibility, the notion of progress would be
achieved with the addition of the suffix -ing to the main verb. For instance, through logic, theoretically we could
affirm that “The plan of a commission had been being announced by the prime minister”. Yet, this repetition of the
verb “be” may sound redundant and is extremely rare.
You can use the chart below as a reference to recollect and review all these tenses and aspects in the past.
ASPECT
Simple Progressive Perfect Perfect Progressive
Affirmative
English was
studied
English was
being studied
English had
been studied
English had been
being studied
Negative
English
wasn't
studied
English wasn't
being studied
English hadn't
been studied
English hadn't been
being studied
Interrogative Was English
studied?
Was English
being studied?
Had English
been studied?
Had English been
being studied?
 Atenção! Para visualização completa da tabela utilize a rolagem horizontal
Chart 4: Passive voice and past verb tenses 
Chart by Erika Coachman & Izabelle Fernandes
LEARNING CHECK
1. CHOOSE THE OPTION WITH THE VERB FORMS THAT BETTER FIT THE GAPS IN THE
FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH. THIS VIRUS (1) ____________ FOR YEARS WHEN THE PAPER
(2) ____________.
A) (1) was investigated/ (2) published.
B) (1) has been being investigated/ (2) has been published.
C) (1) was being investigated/ (2) have been published.
D) 1) had been investigated/ (2) had been published.
E) (1) had been investigated/ (2) was published.
2. THROUGHOUT THIS SECTION , YOU WERE ABLE TO ANALYZE PASSIVE VOICE
STRUCTURES IN WHICH THE AGENTS ARE ELLIPTED. CHOOSE THE CORRECT
EXPLANATION FOR SUCH OMISSION IN THE FOLLOWING HEADLINE: “THE MEDIA MEN
WHO HAVE BEEN ACCUSED OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ” (CNN, 2017)
A) The names of the people who have accused media men are obvious for potential readers.
B) The agents consist of environmental phenomena.
C) The agents are universal, afterall it is an ubiquitous pressing issue.
D) It is evident that journalists do not know who the agents are.
E) It would be redundant to affirm that “media men have been accused by possible victims”.
GABARITO
1. Choose the option with the verb forms that better fit the gaps in the following paragraph. This virus (1)
____________ for years when the paper (2) ____________.
Option "E " is correct.
 
The first half of the sentence (1) refers to an action that happened before the one in the second part (2) ocurred.
2. Throughout this section , you were able to analyze passive voice structures in which the agents are
ellipted. Choose the correct explanation for such omission in the following headline: “The media men who
have been accused of sexual misconduct ” (CNN, 2017)
Option "E " is correct.
 
In this example, it is implicit that different possible victims have accused the media men. Besides, the passive form
highlights such men rather than their accusers.
SECTION 3
 To describe particular structures of passive voice: future, with get and have, as well as with modals and
in the indirect speech
OTHER USES OF THE PASSIVE VOICE
In this section, you will get familiar with other uses of the passive voice. The first step is to analyze how the passive
voice is structured to describe actions and events in the future time. To that purpose, we are going to focus first on
will and later on going to.
 
Image: Shutterstock.com / adapted by Pedro Tamburro.
You can see below three examples of passive voice use:
“THE STATUE [...] WILL BE PLACED IN STORAGE IN FAVOR OF
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION”.
“THE EMERGING GENERATION [...] WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR
CHALLENGING SYSTEMS OF OPPRESSION AND RACIAL
HIERARCHY”.
(National Geographic, 2020 )
“A FINAL DECISION WILL BE MADE EARLY NEXT MONTH”.
(DAILY MAIL, 2021)
The first two examples were published by National Geographic, in an article discussing racist monuments and
recent decisions to demolish them. The first sentence, specifically, refers to a statue of the Italian seafarer
Christopher Columbus, known in Western tradition as “the father of the New World”. The second mentions the effort
of today’s generation to criticize, challenge and subvert systems of racial oppression erected throughout the course
of History. The third, published in the UK’s Daily Mail, alludes to the “green listing” of countries British residents will
be allowed to visit during the 2021 summer holidays due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Such predictions on future actions and events in the passive voice are made with the help of “will” followed by “be”
and the past participle of the main verb (“placed”, “remembered” and “made”, in the examples provided). You can
find this structure illustrated in the image below.
SUBJECT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  WILL BE  
PAST PARTICIPLE FORM OF THE MAIN VERB 
AGENT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)
Passive voice and the future simple with will.
 COMMENT
If you compare this image to Chart 2, you will perceive that the former does not account for all the possible uses of
the passive voice in the future time. In Chart 2, you can also find the future perfect and the future progressive, as
well as the future perfect progressive – which is hardly ever employed in the passive because of the awkward
repetition of the verb to be, as discussed previously.
This section will now shed light into two aspects, the perfect and the progressive, of the future time.
The future perfect is used every time we refer to a prospective event anterior to another event in the future
(DOWNING; LOCKE, 2006). In the following example, retrieved from The Chicago Tribune, two future scenarios for
vaccination in the United States are placed side by side. Readthe excerpt attentively to identify which action is
expected to be completed first.
“AT THE CURRENT PACE, VIRTUALLY ALL ADULTS WHO WANT
TO GET VACCINATED WILL HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET A SHOT BY
JULY. YET RELATIVELY FEW CHILDREN, ESPECIALLY YOUNGER
CHILDREN, WILL HAVE BEEN VACCINATED BY THEN”.
(CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2021)
ACCORDING TO THE ARTICLE, WHICH VACCINATION WILL BE
COMPLETED BY JULY 2021: ADULTS’ OR CHILDREN’S?
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
The Chicago Tribune informs its readers that only a few children will have been vaccinated by July 2021, when
every American adult longing to be vaccinated will have already gotten a shot. In this case, the future perfect invites
us to imagine ourselves already in the future and think of the actions that will have been completed by then.
Our second example of the future perfect in the passive voice comes from an article on the covid-19 death toll. In
the United States, the new coronavirus has killed the Black population at twice the rate of white North Americans.
Statistically, that means that one in a thousand Black North Americans has died because of covid-19.
The next example provides projections made in October 2020 on how these numbers could change in the oncoming
months.
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
[...] 1 IN 1,000 AFRICAN AMERICANS HAS BEEN KILLED BECAUSE
OF THE CORONAVIRUS [...] BY THE END OF THE YEAR, 1 IN 500
WILL HAVE BEEN KILLED. 1 IN 500 AFRICAN AMERICANS."
(CNN, 2021)
Such projection shifts readers’ standpoint to the future and bids them to analyze prospective events that are likely to
have already happened by then. In terms of structure, that is done by adding “have” and the past participle of the
main verb to “will”, as described in the image below.
SUBJECT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  WILL HAVE BEEN  
PAST PARTICIPLE FORM OF THE MAIN VERB 
AGENT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)
Passive voice and the future perfect.
Now that the future perfect has been dealt with, our aim is to spotlight both the meaning and the structure of the
future progressive. A particular trait of the progressive aspect is the focus on the ongoing and incomplete state of
the action or event described. The example chosen for this specific aspect is a fragment of an interview in which the
North American president, Joe Biden, is asked questions on the pace and distribution of vaccines against covid-19
across the country.
 
Image: hamdanjaz / Shutterstock.com
Interviewer:
“So, if, [..] end of July, they’re available to actually get them in the arms of people who want them, that will take -
what? - a couple more months?”
Biden:
“Well, no, a lot [of North Americans] will be being vaccinated in the meantime”.
(CNN, 2021)
When president Biden employs the future progressive in his passive construction, his aim is to underscore the fact
that vaccination will be in progress in the future, an emphasis provided by the use of the progressive aspect (be +
ing ). To understand the underlying pattern of passive voice utterances with the future progressive aspect, let’s
analyze the image below.
SUBJECT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  WILL BE BEING  
PAST PARTICIPLE FORM OF THE MAIN VERB 
AGENT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)
Passive voice and the future progressive.
 TIP
But “will” is not the only alternative to talk about the future. The English language relies on a number of other options
to refer to future actions and events. To describe the intended or imminent future in the passive voice, you can count
on the help of “be” and “going to”.
Before you come to terms with the structure presented in the next image, try to identify its components in the
following pair of examples:
“I don’t think it’s very likely these measures are going to be changed given they’re just starting to have an effect
but, as we said, we would review them, [...]” (THE GUARDIAN, 2020)
“In the early days of the business, an owner is going to be tested ”. (FORBES, 2020)
In the first statement, the United Kingdom’s culture secretary Oliver Dowden predicts that the restrictive measures
adopted to halt the spread of the coronavirus are unlikely to be eased very soon. The second provides advice for
those longing to run their own companies, drawing their attention to the difficulties they will probably face when they
launch a new business. Look into the image below to understand how “be” and “going to” are usually combined with
the passive voice.
SUBJECT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)  AM, IS OR ARE  GOING TO
BE  
PAST PARTICIPLE FORM OF THE MAIN VERB 
AGENT (DEFAULT TOOLTIP)
Passive voice and the future with “be” + “going to”.
 LEARN MORE
The passive voice can sometimes include modal verbs, such as must, should, may, might, can, could among
others. These modal verbs project additional meaning onto the action or event, conveying ideas of ability, obligation,
recommendation, permission, likelihood or deduction, for instance. You can successfully deal with such modals in
the passive voice if you only apply the rules studied for the future with “will”.
To see this structure at work, consider the following examples:
“While the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine may be authorized for children ages 12 to 15 as early as next month, younger
children appear to remain months away from being eligible for any vaccine”.
“They include wearing masks when in close contact with people who may not be vaccinated and avoiding situations
that offer little benefit but a meaningful risk of infection”. (NYT, 2021)
The sentences listed above are fragments of an article on how to keep children safe during the covid-19 pandemic.
In the first example, the modal “may” conveys the meaning of possibility regarding children’s vaccination: perhaps
the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be authorized for kids. The same meaning of possibility is stressed by the modal
“may” in the second statement. Some of those in touch with children may have already been vaccinated; some may
not. This doubt is expressed by the modal. Both utterances are produced in the passive voice in order to spotlight
the undergoers - the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, in the first, and people, in the second. The verb “be” is placed after
the modal “may” so as to signal this change from active voice to passive.
 
Photo: Shutterstock.com
The same pattern can be clearly identified in these passive utterances with “must” and “should”:
“WHAT SYMBOLS FROM OUR PAST MUST BE RECONSIDERED OR
SIMPLY DISCARDED? [...] HOW SHOULD HISTORY BE TAUGHT?
[...] HOW SHOULD COLUMBUS NOW BE REMEMBERED?”
(NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, 2020)
In other cases, modals can also be useful to add their meanings to events or actions that happened in the past. To
that purpose, do not forget to include “have been” between the modal and the past participle of the main verb, as in
the following examples:
“The storage potential of one of the Earth’s biggest carbon sinks - soils - may have been overestimated, research
shows”. (THE GUARDIAN, 2021 )
“A women’s Super League would have been an afterthought to the men’s”. (The Telegraph, 2021 )
The first example exposes doubts on how the soil can be used to soak up our carbon emissions, revealing that such
potential may have been overestimated. In other words, it is possible that, in the past, scientists were misled by
their optimism and, maybe, plants and forests will not be capable of absorbing previously estimated amounts of
carbon.
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
The second example introduces Lianne Sanderson’s viewpoint on the possibility of a Super League for women’s
football. As a former player herself, she criticizes the excessive attention devoted to the men’s league and fears that
a possible women’s Super League would receive uneven treatment and end up as an “afterthought” to the men’s
competition. She mentioned the fact that, in the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, the idea of creating a similar
competition for women was brought forth, but everyone’s eyes and thoughts were still rather focused on the men’s
tournament. In order to address thispast possibility, she uses “would” followed by “have been”.
At last, this section also aims at introducing two alternatives to “be” in the passive voice.
The first option is the verb “get”. Its most distinctive traits have to do with the level of agency it gives the undergoer
of the action; that is, when “get” is employed as a substitute for “be”, it implies the idea that the subject is, to a
certain degree, involved in the action. According to Downing and Locke (2006, p.256), this agency explains the
reason why “she got promoted” differs from “she was promoted” in terms of meaning.
 
Photo: Shutterstock.com
SHE GOT PROMOTED.
In “she got promoted”, we read in between the lines that the employee actually did something to deserve this
promotion - an understanding that is not implicit at all in “she was promoted”.
The second alternative to “be” is the verb “have”, whose meaning effects tend to be especially more ambivalent
(CELCE-MURCIA, 1999). Put this idea to test and come up with alternative interpretations:
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
THOSE PEOPLE HAD THEIR HOMES DEMOLISHED.
javascript:void(0)
javascript:void(0)
The example above welcomes two interpretations at least. Maybe the homes mentioned were demolished with their
owners’ consent. Maybe they were torn down against their will.
 FRIENDLY REMINDER
Every time you employ “have” or “get”, keep in mind that the appropriate auxiliary must be used in the negative and
interrogative forms.
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
INDIRECT SPEECH
Last, but not least, passive structures may appear in indirect utterances, in order to attribute discourses to an
individual or groups of people. Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999) remind us that this can be done through
“direct quotation, indirect speech and paraphrase” (p. 686). The aforementioned grammarians also affirm that such
structures are commonly used not only in journalistic productions, but also play a crucial role in the avoidance of
plagiarism or misinterpretations in academic papers.
 LEARN MORE
Direct quotations have appeared in this unit whenever the authors of the texts had transcribed a person’s statement
word by word, placing it between quotation marks. Moreover, it is possible to report a citation indirectly, converting
speeches into a summarized content with specific devices, rightfully named “reporting”. These devices may be verbs
as “say”, “allege” and their synonyms or structures like “according to”.
Analyze the headline below and try to reflect upon the journalist’s stance on the event, as well as the syntax chosen:
 
Image: Shutterstock.com / adapted by Pedro Tamburro.
In this example, we can note that in semantic terms the author has distanced himself from the actress’ allegations
(either for legal reasons or merely for not being able to attest them). Furthermore, when it comes to structure, it is
introduced by a reporting clause in the simple present, making it more striking (“she claims”). Then, the clause “tried
to get her deported” is, concurrently, a complement and functions as an object of the reporting verb “claim”. It
consists, therefore, of a “that- clause”, even though the author has omitted the conjunction, probably owing to length
constraints and conventions of the titles of the discourse genre.
In the same online article, the reader can infer that Charles had narrated her experience during the recording of the
soap opera in her forthcoming autobiography. Notice that such genre is written in the first person singular. However,
when the journalist reports the actress’ memoir, he shifts to the third person.
 ATTENTION
It is also worth noticing that he keeps the reporting phrase in the same tense she had written the original text (in the
past). That choice was directly influenced by the simple tense in the main phrase (“claims”), since one should only
change or “backshift” tenses if the reporting verb is in the past (CELCE-MURCIA AND LARSEN-FREEMAN, 1999).
Original
statement
Simple Present Present Perfect Simple Past
English is being
studied in this
course. (= present
progressive)
S/he says English is
being studied in that
course. (=no
backshifting)
S/he has said
English is being
studied in that
S/he said English was being
studied in that course. (simple
past + backshifting to past
progressive)
javascript:void(0)
course. (=no
backshifting)
English was
studied yesterday.
(= simple past)
S/he says English was
studied yesterday.
(=no backshifting)
S/he has said
English was
studied
yesterday. (=no
backshifting)
S/he said English had been
studied yesterday/ the day
before. (simple past +
backshifting to past perfect)
English has
already been
studied. (=present
perfect)
S/he says English has
already been studied.
(=no backshifting)
----------------
S/he said English had already
been studied (simple past +
backshifting to past perfect)
English had been
studied before I
began the course.
(=past perfect)
S/he says English had
been studied before I
began the course. (=no
backshifting)
----------------
English will have
been studied until
the end of the
semester. (modal,
future)
S/he says English will
have been studied until
the end of the
semester. (=no
backshifting)
----------------
S/he said English would have
been studied until the end of
the semester. (simple past +
backshifting with “would”)
 Atenção! Para visualização completa da tabela utilize a rolagem horizontal
Chart: Back shifting in Passive Voice Structures. 
Adapted from CELCE-MURCIA AND LARSEN-FREEMAN (1999, p. 689) by Erika Coachman & Izabelle Fernandes
Apart from tense shifting, you may also have noticed in the table before that reported statements might include other
slight changes. Such alternations may occur in both demonstrative and personal pronouns (e.g. from “this” to “that”)
or in time and place adverbs (e.g. “yesterday” becomes “the day before”). In either case the points of reference in
time are changed along with the tenses.
PASSIVE VOICE: PARTICULAR USES
Let’s see other uses of the passive voice. Pay attention and have fun!
LEARNING CHECK
1. WHICH OPTION BEST EXPLAINS THE AMBIGUITY CONVEYED BY “THEY HAD THEIR
INSURANCE CANCELLED” DUE TO THE USE OF THE VERB “HAVE” INSTEAD OF “BE”?
A) Maybe the insurance was cancelled; maybe it was not.
B) It is not known whether the insurance was cancelled in the past or in the present.
C) The utterance does not provide the reason why the insurance was cancelled.
D) Perhaps the insurance was cancelled against their will; perhaps it was cancelled with their consent or at their
request.
E) The use of “have” suggests the undergoers were, to a certain extent, involved in the action.
2. PASSIVE STRUCTURES APPEAR NOT ONLY IN DIRECT SPEECH BUT ALSO IN
INDIRECT UTTERANCES, WHENEVER WE WANT TO ATTRIBUTE DISCOURSES TO
OTHERS. CHOOSE THE ALTERNATIVE THAT BEST ILLUSTRATES THIS USAGE:
A) She says she had been deceived by the salesperson.
B) She has been deceived by the salesperson.
C) She was deceived by the salesperson.
D) She never wanted to be deceived by the salesperson.
E) The salesperson definitely deceived her.
GABARITO
1. Which option best explains the ambiguity conveyed by “They had their insurance cancelled” due to the
use of the verb “have” instead of “be”?
Option "D " is correct.
 
The verb “have”, when used instead of “be”, does not clarify whether or not the undergoers were acted upon or
whether the action was actually carried out at their request.
2. Passive structures appear not only in direct speech but also in indirect utterances, whenever we want to
attribute discourses to others. Choose the alternative that best illustrates this usage:
Option "A " is correct.
 
Alternative “A” is the only one that combines indirect speech with the use of passive voice. The use of “she says”
indicates that an utterance is being reported.
CONCLUSION
FINAL ISSUES
As Downing and Locke argue (2006), passive voice is all aboutdemoting one participant of a given action in order
to promote the other. At times, the passive voice is employed to keep the doer’s identity private or secret; at times, it
shifts the focus to the undergoer, because the doer is too general, too obvious or unknown. The choice between the
active and the passive voices is grounded on meaning, on the impact we intend to produce on those who will read
or listen to our words.
In this unit, you also learned how the passive voice operates within different verb tenses, in the present, past and
future, and which rules apply to each case. Excerpts from a wide range of renowned newspapers and magazines
illustrated how the passive voice is at the service of meaning-making purposes. After all, language is the medium
used in everyday life to influence people’s responses to the actions and events we narrate.
UNIT RATING:
REFERENCES
Bangor Daily News. Removing confederate statues does not go far enough, 2020. Consultado na internet em:
23 abr. 2021.
BBC News. George Floyd: Huge protests against racism held across US. Consultado na internet: 22 abr. 2021.
BBC News. Race report: UN experts say conclusions could 'fuel. Consultado na internet: 22 abr. 2021.
BBC NEWS. Race report: Was controversy part of the plan? Consultado na internet: 22 abr. 2021.
BBC NEWS. Neighbours star Nicola Charles claims cast members tried to get her deported. Consultado na
internet em: 26 maio 2021.
BBC News. What is racism - and what can be done about it? Consultado na internet: 20 abr. 2021.
CBC NEWS. As premier denies systemic racism, black Quebecers point to their lived experience. Consultado
na internet: 22 abr. 2021.
CELCE-MURCIA, Marianne; LARSEN-FREEMAN, Diane. The grammar book: an ESL/EFL teacher's course.
Boston: Heinle and Heinle Publishers, 1999.
CNN. The media men who have been accused of sexual misconduct. Consultado na internet: 23 abr. 2021.
DAILY MAIL ONLINE. New threat to summer holidays as travel experts warn trips to 'green list' countries
may still be barred by the Foreign Office. Consultado na internet: 22 abr. 2021.
DOWNING, Angela; LOCKE, Philip. English Grammar: A University Course. New York: Routledge, 2006.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY. Oprah Winfrey was 'surprised' Meghan Markle and Prince Harry went 'all the
way there' during interview. Consultado na internet: 22 abr. 2021.
FORBES. Why Franchising Is A Logical Career Path for Veterans. Consultado na internet: 22 abr. 2021.
LOS ANGELES TIMES. Historic places list should reflect more than white history. Consultado na internet: 22
abr. 2021.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. As monuments fall, how does the world reckon with a racist past? Consultado na
internet: 22 abr. 2021.
NEW YORK TIMES. What Do You Do When the Kids Are Still Unvaccinated? Consultado na internet em: 26
maio 2021.
ROLL CALL. ‘If racism is a lie, how has it been sustained, institutionalized and structured in America?
Consultado na internet: 22 abr. 2021.
THE ECONOMIST. Racial Diversity: There’s More Work to be Done in the Workplace. Consultado na internet: 22
abr. 2021.
THE GUARDIAN, 2020. UK coronavirus lockdown likely to be extended, says cabinet minister. Acesso em: 23
de abril de 2021
THE GUARDIAN, 2021. ‘People are not starving, they’re being starved’: millions at risk of famine, NGOs
warn. Acesso em: 20 de abril de 2021
THE GUARDIAN, 2021. One of Earth’s giant carbon sinks may have been overestimated – study. Data de
acesso: 24 de abril de 2021.
THE GUARDIAN, 2021. The typhoon that hit my island didn’t make the news. This is what the climate crisis
looks like. Acesso em: 24 de abril de 2021
THE WHITE HOUSE, 2021. Remarks by President Biden in a CNN Town Hall with Anderson Cooper. Acesso
em: 23 de abril de 2021
TODAY, 2015. With the help of kids, artist Yolanda Dominguez shows how sexist fashion ads are. Acesso em:
23 de abril de 2021.
WALLACE, Lia. Applied theatrics: representation matters in Shakespeare, race, and the role of media. American
Shakespeare Center, 2019. Consultado na internet: 20 abr. 2021.
GO FURTHER
If you are interested in the complex relationships between the meanings promoted by the passive voice
and the language of journalism, you may enjoy reading Anne Enright’s article We always speak of
women’s safety. Let’s talk about male violence instead. Published in The Guardian, her text discusses
how the language we use – including the language of magazines and newspapers – tend to conceal
male violence by shifting the focus away from the doer to spotlight the victim instead. That happens, for
instance, when headlines such as “a woman was raped” allow rapists to go unnamed and preserve their
identities unremarked.

You may also enjoy reading Constance Hale’s article intitled The Pleasures and Perils of the Passive,
published by The New York Times.

At last, if you want to further explore the passive voice and its effects on the construction of meaning, it is
worthwhile looking into Angela Downing and Philip Locke’s English Grammar: A University Course
(2006). Instead of privileging only formal aspects of the language, the authors provide a functional
approach to grammar, emphasizing how linguistic choices limit our possibilities of interpretation and
meaning-making.

CONTENT AUTHOR
Erika de Freitas Coachman
 CURRÍCULO LATTES
Izabelle da Silva Fernandes
 CURRÍCULO LATTES
In case you have doubts on how to employ the various inflectional forms of English verbs, it is a good
idea to resort to a free website named The Conjugation. All you have to do is type the verb and browse
its different conjugations according to the verb tense chosen.
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