passive
9
5.2
- adjective
- /ˈpæsɪv/
- Specialized
:
pasivo
- Nonsmokers who breathe ETS are called "passive" or "involuntary" smokers.
- passive voice
- passive sentence
- passive construction
These are passive verbs which imply that somebody is doing something to you.
- These are passive verbs which imply that somebody is doing something to you.
- Though I will say this, nice try putting it in the passive voice doesn't make you innocent.
Examples
-
However, more recently it has been criticized for suggesting a passive role for the patient.
Academic text (2011) -
These are passive verbs which imply that somebody is doing something to you.
-
A terrible beauty is born, a passive construction.
-
If the character is passive, never wants to do anything, can you put them in a situation that challenges that and makes them fight?
-
How much longer are US citizens going to stay passive when things like this happen?
Blog text (8) -
Active voice sentences tend to be lively and direct; passive voice sentences tend to be dry and impersonal.
Academic text (1993) -
According to a child developmental evaluation, Joseph's mother's approach is very passive; she does not give him structure or consequences.
Academic text (2005) -
We muddle through the textbook examples of passive voice, and I even devise my own exercises in comic-book format.
Fiction book (2000) -
In the sentence 'The cake was eaten by the children,' the verb is in the passive voice.
-
When writing in the passive form, the focus is on the action rather than who performs it.
Antonyms
Compounds
- Specialized
3
4.8
A sentence form where the subject receives the action, usually formed with 'be' plus a past verb form like 'eaten'
3
5.6
A way to act against authority without violence, for example by refusing to cooperate
- Specialized
Steps that protect people and buildings from enemy air attack without fighting back
- Specialized
The ability of some fish and amphibians to sense nearby electric signals in water with special skin sensors
- Specialized
Temporary protection from disease by receiving antibodies from another person or animal
- Formal
A legal arrangement where someone holds property for another without any duties
- Specialized
A screen used in old LCDs where rows and columns of wires control tiny dots and give lower picture quality
- Jargon
A person who gives information from their normal activities without being asked
- Specialized
Information that appears without anyone asking, like public posts or sensors
- Specialized
Movement of substances like oxygen across a cell membrane without using the cell's energy
How Active
Surface Forms
Morphology
passive = pass (opaque) = pass + ive
The adjectival form is built with '-ive', but the historical root does not match the modern verb 'pass', so the grammatical sense 'subject affected by action' is not learnable from the modern verb alone.
Etymology
Passive for grammar comes from the same Latin pati 'to suffer', meaning the subject 'suffers' the action instead of doing it. That is why a passive sentence shows the subject being acted on rather than performing the action.