MASTER ENGLISH SENTENCES WITH S+V (10) : More on the passive action
BACKGROUND / CONTEXT
Let me tell you something about this girl, Jane. If I want to make sure you understand my messages without confusion or misunderstanding, I should provide you with enough background information about Jane.
The background or the context helps us understand the situation where something happens. Combined with my S+V pattern (separating a sentence into 'subject' and 'action or state'), it further helps readers or listeners know the meaning of each sentence. In the following, I will list each piece of information about Jane after the context is presented.
Context: Jane is six years old. When she travels in a car, ....
Info: She is required to use a child car seat.
If the background is not explained, you might wonder why Jane is required to use a child car seat or why people are talking about this.
Context: Whenever Jane becomes talkative in class, ........
Info: She is told to keep quiet.
Now we know Jane can be naughty at school sometimes.
Context: Before Jane goes to bed every night, ........
Info: She is asked to brush her teeth.
From the information above, we know Jane needs to brush her teeth before bed because her parents care about her oral hygiene.
Context: Jane spilled her milk yesterday, so ........
Info: She was made to mop the floor.
Now we understand why Jane mopped the floor. Her parents wanted her to take the responsibility.
Context: When she joined a piano competition at four, ........
Info: She was thought to be a prodigy.
When she was four years old, she must have put up a great performance of piano. We can guess what happened at that time from the sentence based on the context.
Context: Jane's uncle disappeared during the war.
Info: He was believed to be killed.
With the information from the context, we know why he might have been killed.
Context: There was a war between two countries ten years ago.
Info: Jane's uncle was drafted to fight the war.
It is clear something happened to Jane's uncle ten years ago according to the context.
Context: Jane's friend had a birthday party last Sunday.
Info: She was beautifully dressed to join the party.
From this context, we know for sure what kind of party she went to and when it happened.
Context: Last Thursday, Jane's dad was too busy to pick her up on time.
Info: She was kept waiting.
We can understand why Jane was kept waiting but we do not know how long she waited or where she was kept waiting because the context does not tell us those details.
PATTERN: A PASSIVE ACTION FOLLOWED BY THE SECOND ACTION
We should find it easier to understand others' messages if we put them into context. Let's take this further. How do we ourselves create such sentences as the messages to others? In broad terms, follow the two steps.
First, build a context.
Second, think about the subject and action based on the context.
In different contexts, the same sentence can have different meanings or different words should be used in a sentence.
In this lesson, a type of sentence pattern is introduced by expanding the passive action presented in lesson S+V (8) and it is related to lesson S+V (9). All of the first actions in the examples above are passive and the second actions are either active or passive. If you are not familiar with the concept, 'passive vs. active', please go to those lessons.
Next all of the information above will be discussed again in more detail to help you learn how to create similar sentences. However, we have looked at those contexts earlier so they will not be repeated later.
Example. She is required to use a child car seat.
-[Subject: she] + [Action: is required to use a child car seat]
-[First action: is required] + [Second action: to use a child car seat]
-The first action is passive so we use 'Be+V3' to form a passive action (see lesson S+V 8) and V3 form of 'require' is 'required'.
-The time affects the first verb in a sentence and the first action happens at present (now) so we pick a be verb from V5 form. Among 'am, is, are', which is the right be verb for this sentence? It depends on the subject. The subject is 'she' so we should choose 'is'.
-The next verb 'use' needs to be changed according to the previous verb or action. It should be changed into 'to+V1' (to use) because it follows 'is required'.
-The verb 'use' needs to be followed by a noun (see lesson S+V 3) so we add 'a child car seat'.
E.g. She is told to keep quiet.
-[Subject: she] + [Action: is told to keep quiet]
-[First action: is told] + [Second action: to keep quiet]
-The first action is passive so we use 'Be+V3' to form a passive action and V3 form of 'tell' is 'told'.
-The first verb in a sentence is influenced by the time and the first action happens at present (now) so we choose a be verb from V5 form. We should use 'is' among 'am, is, are' because the subject is 'she'.
-The next verb 'keep' needs to be changed following the previous verb or action. It is changed into 'to+V1' (to keep) because it follows 'is told'.
-The verb 'use' needs to be followed by a noun (see lesson S+V 3) so we add 'a child car seat'.
E.g. She is asked to brush her teeth.
-[Subject: she] + [Action: is asked to brush her teeth]
-[First action: is asked] + [Second action: to keep quiet]
-The first action is passive so we use 'Be+V3' to form a passive action and V3 form of 'ask' is 'asked'.
-The first verb in a sentence is decided by the time and the first action happens at present (now) so we choose a be verb from V5 form. We pick 'is' from 'am, is, are' because of the subject, 'she'.
-The next verb 'brush' is changed into to+V1 (to brush) according to the previous action 'is asked'.
-In the end the noun, 'her teeth', is added behind the verb, 'brush', to make the meaning complete, 'brush her teeth'.
E.g. She was made to mop the floor.
-[Subject: she] + [Action: was made to mop the floor]
-[First action: was made] + [Second action: to mop the floor]
-We use 'Be+V3' to turn the first action into a passive one and V3 form of 'make' is 'made'.
-The first verb, be verb, is decided by the time and the first action happened in the past so we look for a be verb from V2 form. We choose 'was' between 'was' and 'were' because of the subject, 'she'.
-We need to change the next verb 'mop' according to the previous action 'was made' so it is changed into to+V1 (to mop).
-With a noun 'the floor' after the verb 'mop', the meaning is complete, 'mop the floor'.
E.g. She was thought to be a prodigy.
-[Subject: she] + [Action: was thought to be a prodigy]
-[First action: was thought] + [Second action: to be a prodigy]
-The first action is turned into a passive one by using the form 'Be+V3' and V3 form of 'think' is 'thought'.
-The first verb is influenced by the time. We choose the verb from V2 form because the first action happened in the past. The subject, 'she', is the reason why we finally pick 'was'.
-The next verb 'to be' with 'to V1' form is decided by the previous action, 'was thought'.
-By adding the noun 'a prodigy', the meaning is complete, 'be a prodigy'.
VERBS TO SHOW OTHERS' OPINIONS ABOUT THE SUBJECT
Similar to the previous example,
She was thought to be a prodigy.
there are other verbs with the same function expressing people's opinions of Jane or about the subject in a passive way. Therefore, I collect some examples to show you this type of sentence pattern and compare the differences among them.
She was regarded as a prodigy.
She was declared the winner.
Different verbs are connected with different elements:
- be thought + to be a prodigy
- be regarded + as a prodigy
- be declared + the winner
PASSIVE ACTION + PASSIVE ACTION
E.g. He was believed to be killed.
-[Subject: he] + [Action: was believed to be killed]
-[First action: was believed] + [Second action: to be killed]
-The first action is passive so we turn it into 'Be+V3' form and V3 form of 'believed' is used.
-The time decides the first verb in a sentence and the first action happened in the past so we use V2 form. 'Was' is picked between 'was' and 'were' because of the subject, 'he'.
-We need to change the next verb into to+V1 form due to the previous action 'was believed'.
-The second action is also passive so 'to V1' becomes 'to be' followed by a verb with V3 form, 'killed'.
FOR A REASON OR A PURPOSE
In fact, the pattern of this lesson can be used in a specific situation when there is a reason for or a purpose of taking the first action, and the second action offers that reason or that purpose.
E.g. Jane's uncle was drafted to fight the war.
-[Subject: Jane's uncle] + [Action: was drafted to fight the war]
-[First action: was drafted] + [Second action: to fight the war]
-The first action happened (was drafted) to serve the purpose which is shown in the second action (to fight the war).
E.g. She was beautifully dressed to join the party.
-[Subject: she] + [Action: was beautifully dressed to join the party]
-[First action: was beautifully dressed] + [Second action: to join the party]
-The first action was taken (was beautifully dressed) for the reason or purpose expressed in the second action (to join the party).
A RARE CASE
E.g. She was kept waiting.
-[Subject: she] + [Action: was kept waiting]
-[First action: was kept] + [Second action: waiting]
-The first action is a passive one so 'Be+V3' is used and V3 form of 'keep' is 'kept'.
-The first verb should be changed following the time. We choose the verb from V2 form because The first action happened in the past and 'was' is picked because of the subject 'she'.
-The form of the next verb 'wait' depends on the previous action, 'was kept' so V4 form 'waiting' is used. It is rare to see this kind of change after a passive action.
Time to watch the video again so you can listen and speak more, which is the key to remembering what you have learned.
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