HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N0 2
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY

TONG THI TINH

PASSIVE VOICE IN ENGLISH IN COMPARISON
WITH THAT IN VIETNAMESE IN TERMS OF
SYNTACTIC
AND SEMANTIC ANALYSIS

(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE
DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLISH)

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN VAN DEN, M.A

HANOI, 2013

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to take this chance to express my greatest gratitude to Mr.
Nguyen Van Den, M.A., my supervisor, for his patience in providing continuous
and careful guidance as well as encouragement, indispensable suggestions and
advice.
I wish to thank all the lecturers at Hanoi Pedagogical University Number 2,
especially the lecturers in the Foreign Language Faculty for their dedicated
instructions during my years of university work.
I am particularly grateful to my close friends for their enthusiasm and
kindness in helping me collect valuable reference documents and data for my

of syntactic and semantic analysis
(Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Bachelor
of Arts in English)
I certify that no part of this report has been copied or reproduced by me from
any other person’s work without acknowledgements and that the report is
originally written by me under strict guidance from my supervisor.

Date submitted: May 2013

Student

Supervisor

Tong Thi Tinh

Nguyen Van Den, M.A.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................. i
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... ii
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................... iv
PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
I. Rationale ........................................................................................................... 1
II. Research presupposition ................................................................................. 1

I.4.2. Agents in passives ....................................................................................... 22
I.4.3. Get – passive ............................................................................................... 23
I.4.4. Passive with introductory “it” ..................................................................... 25
I.4.5. Spoken and written usage of passives.......................................................... 25
I.5. Others ........................................................................................................... 26

CHAPTER TWO: PASSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS IN VIETNAMESE
II.1. Passive constructions in syntactic analysis................................................ 28
II.1.1. Passive constructions with “bị” and “được” ............................................... 29
II.1.2. Passive constructions without “bị” and “được” .......................................... 34
II.1.2.1. Absence of“bị/được” as function words .................................................. 34
II.1.2.2. Predicates with “chịu”, “mắc”, “phải”..................................................... 35
II.2. Passive constructions in semantic analysis................................................ 36
II.2.1. Meanings of “bị” and “được”..................................................................... 36
II.2.2. Subjects in passives ................................................................................... 37
II.2.3. Transitive verb – object inversion .............................................................. 38
II.2.4. “do/của” + subject – verb ........................................................................... 40
II.3. Spoken and written usage of passive constructions .................................. 40

CHAPTER THREE: PASSIVE VOICE IN ENGLISH IN
COMPARISON WITH THAT IN VIETNAMESE
III.1. Similarities ................................................................................................ 43
III.1.1. In terms of syntax ..................................................................................... 43
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III.1.1.1. Agents used in passives ......................................................................... 43
III.1.1.2. Verbs used in passives ........................................................................... 44
III.1.2. In terms of semantics ................................................................................ 45
III.2. Differences ................................................................................................. 46

Besides, passive voice is one of the language categories that students at high
school have to learn. Although passive voice is very common in writing and
speaking but the amount of passive voice in high school English text is limited. In
fact, many students confess that passive voice is the one of the problems of English
grammar which they are unaware of and confuse with Vietnamese passive voice.
Within the framework of this graduation paper, English passive structures
will be studied through contrastive analysis with Vietnamese with the intent of
systematically providing an overview of English passive structures and Vietnamese
equivalents to help learners improve their translation. Moreover, as a prospective
teacher, I would like to make a contribution to English teaching in Vietnam. For
the reasons above, this study is conducted, which is focused on passive voice in
English in comparison with that in Vietnamese.
II. Research presupposition
For the achievement of those mentioned issues, the study seeks the answers
to the following questions:
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 What are the perspectives on passive voice in English and that in Vietnamese?
 What are the syntactic and semantic similarities and differences between
passive voice in English and that in Vietnamese?
Based on the questions above, I am eager to learn about the problems and
make a comparative analysis of passive voice in English and in Vietnamese so that
the major similarities and differences may be found.
III. Research objectives
The study is aimed at following goals:
1. To find out the formation, characteristics and usage of English passive voice.
2. To find out the formation, characteristics and usage of Vietnamese
passive voice.
3. To find out the similarities and differences in passive voice between

Secondly, descriptive methods and analytical methods are applied in the
study to provide an overview of passive structures in English and Vietnamese in
terms of syntax and semantics.
The last one is the contrastive method to find out the similarities and
differences between English passive structures and Vietnamese equivalents.
During the process of conducting the study, it is a “must” to consult the
supervisor, experience teachers and friends.
VII. Significance of the proposed research
The same category of grammar in two languages may have similarities and
differences. It will mislead learners if they cannot distinguish the differences in
functions and uses of that category. It is, therefore, essential for teachers to have
better treatment. After the research, it is hoped that the result will be helpful to
provide:
1. Input for learners of English in order to clearly describe passive voice.
2. Input for teachers of English with teaching implications of passive voice.
This study is also beneficial to anyone who is interested in passive voice in
English.
VIII. Design of the research work
The research work has three main parts, namely: Introduction, Development,
and Conclusion. The part “Development” consists three chapters.

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Chapter 1 deals with the theoretical background of English passive voice
including definitions, forms, characteristics of passive voice and its uses in detail.
Chapter 2 deals with passive voice in Vietnamese including the existence of
passive voice, characteristics and its uses in detail.
Chapter 3 compares and contrasts the similarities and differences between
English passive voice and that in Vietnamese to find out the similarities and

Moreover, he pays his attention to transitive and intransitive verbs in passive
voice. Besides, he concentrates on some special cases in which verbs are used.
To some Vietnamese grammarians dealing with passive voice, different
criteria have been proposed in different research works for a common formula of
the passive construction in Vietnamese. Some researchers (Cardier, Emeneau, Li
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& Thompson, Kim…) believe that Vietnamese does not have passive voice
because of its typology. Meanwhile, researchers such as Cổn and Diên (2004),
Hòa (1980), Ban (1992), Vân (2002), etc. argue that Vietnamese has passive
constructions or passive sentences despite of not having the term “passive” as a
morphological term. They also give evidence for their opinions.
Cổn and Diên (2004) in the study Dạng bị động và Vấn đề câu bị động
trong Tiếng Việt pressed in Linguistics Magazine Vol. 7 give a quite full
grammatical theory of passive voice in general and Vietnamese passive sentences
in particular. They also discuss a controversial issue about the existence of passive
sentences in Vietnamese. By an agreement on this issue, they define Vietnamese
passive sentences and draw a distinction between passive sentences and other
types of sentences in Vietnamese, but not in comparison with English.
In the book Ngữ pháp Kinh nghiệm của Cú pháp Tiếng Việt: Mô tả theo
Quan điểm của Chức năng Hệ thống, Vân (2002) focuses on ‘voice’ and the term
‘voice’ in Vietnamese.
Hòa (1980) in the book Ngôn ngữ học Đối chiếu: Cú pháp đối sánh Việt
Anh compares passive sentences in English and Vietnamese in semantic and
syntactic terms. However, he does not mention to the implication for teaching and
learning of passive voice to ESL teachers and students. Besides, some contrasts
and terms in the research are intricate, which makes readers confusing.
Ban (1992) in the book Ngữ pháp Tiếng Việt 2 gives a general grammar
structure of Vietnamese passive sentences. He also deals with “bị/ được” in terms

In the book Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, Crystal (1997) defines:
“Voice is a category used to describe sentence structures or clauses, which mainly
relate to verbs, to show the selection between subject and object for a sentence
without changing its meaning”
To sum up, voice is a grammatical category in which the subject of a
sentence or clause takes the role as a recipient of the action rather than the
performer. This will be illustrated by the following example:
Nam painted the house yesterday.
→ The house was painted by Nam yesterday.

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In the former sentence the subject “Nam” performs the action indicated by
the verb “painted”. In the latter sentence, “the house” does not do the action. “The
house” is affected by the action of painting.
I.2.2. The term “passive”
The term “passive” derives from the Latin term passivium (from pati, i.e. to
suffer) from the original Greek term pathos ‘anything that befalls one, a suffering,
affection’ (Anderson, 1989.) Passive constructions signify the state of ‘being acted
upon’ or ‘suffering the effects of the action’ (Lyons, 1968, cited in Anderson,
1989.) Anderson (ibid.) further notes that in passive constructions, the subject does
nothing, and is affected in consequence of action.
In his article entitled Passive in the World’s Language, Keenan (1985)
presents three general properties of the basic passive, i.e. (i) no agent phrase (e.g.
by Tom) is present, (ii) the main verb (in its non – passive form) is transitive, and
(iii) the main verb expresses an activity, taking agent subjects and patient objects.
He also notes that generally languages can express passive expressions, e.g. ‘John
was slapped,’ without committal as to who the agent was, but they usually use
fully active means to do so. However, he emphasizes that even languages without

Progressive
Past

S + was/were + being + My computer was being used by
Vpp

Present

him when I went to get it back.

S + have/has + been Papers have been used for ages.
+ Vpp

Perfect

Past

S + had + been + Vpp

simple

The bag had been left at home
when I went to school.

Future

S + will + have + been The dishes will have been washed
+Vpp

by then.

According to John Eastwood in Oxford Guide to English Grammar (1994,
p. 136), the passive is also known to be expressed by combination of modal verbs
followed by be with past participles:
Modal + Be + Past Participle
The problem can be solved immediately.
Violent actions should be banned in schools.
A modal verb can combine with the perfective and passive together:
Modal + have been + Past Participle
The window should have been cleaned yesterday.
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My bicycle must have been stolen.
There are modal verbs in modern English: will/would, shall/should, can/could,
may/might, ought to, must, have to, used to, dare, let, need. Especially, need forms
a passive sentence by preceding an active – ing form of verb or a passive
infinitive.
The table needs repairing/ The table needs to be repaired.
Fishes in the bow need feeding/ Fishes in the bow need to be fed.
I.3.4. Passive voice with to - infinitives and gerunds
To – infinitives and gerunds usually appear in the passive and come in the
same pattern as the active form. For example:
I expected to be invited to the party.
It is terrible to be bitten by dogs.
In the second example, we can rewrite it by using a gerund phrase without
changing the passive form of the verb “bite”.
Being bitten by dogs is terrible.
Sometimes, the passive meaning is remained while the active is used in a
sentence like this:
You are not to blame for what happened. (= no one should blame you).

A transitive verb can also have an indirect object that precedes the direct
object. The indirect object tells to or for whom the action is done, although the
words to and for are not used. In the following examples, there is a difference
between the direct and indirect objects. The direct object “letter” receives the
action “sent”. The indirect object “Robert” is the person to whom the letter is sent:
He sent Robert the letter.
The direct object “lecture” receives the action “gave”. The indirect object
“class” is the group to whom the lecture is given:
She gave her class the lecture.
There are 3 kinds of transitive verb: monotransitive, ditransitive and
complex transitive verbs.
 Monotransitive verbs are verbs that take only one object.
She studies Russian.
 Ditransitive are verbs that take two objects.
My mother gave me a pen.
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 Complex transitive verbs are verbs that take an object and an object
complement or an object and an obligatory adverbial.
Her son painted the floor red.
Each kind of transitive verbs will be specific presented in next sections.
In contrast, an intransitive verb is simply defined as a verb that does not
take a direct object. There’s no word in the sentence that tells who or what
receives the action. While there may be a word or phrase following an intransitive
verb. Such words and phrases typically answer the question “how”, “when” and
“where”. Most intransitive verbs are complete without a direct object. For
instance:
She grew up.
It rained.

My uncle runs a restaurant. (transitive)
I'm reading. (intransitive)
I'm reading an article in the TIME magazine about sharks. (transitive)
I.3.5.2. Transitive verbs
I.3.5.2.1. Monotransitive verbs
Monotransitive verbs are verbs that take only one object. There are some
kinds of objects: noun phrase objects, prepositional objects, finite clause objects,
non – finite clause objects…
a) Noun phrase objects:
 Animate/inanimate subject + verb + concrete object
He drank a cup of coffee.
The verb may be a phrasal verb: verb + adverbial particle + object. When
the object of these verbs is a noun, it is placed either before or after the adverbial
particle. If it is pronoun, it is only placed before the particle.
The revolution swept away feudalism.
The revolution swept feudalism away.
 Animate/ inanimate subject + verb + abstract object
I understood the problem.
→ The problem was understood.
 Animate subject + verb + animate object
The police have arrested one protester.
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→ One protester has been arrested.
 Inanimate, abstract subject + verb + animate object
The results of the competition shocked the candidates.
→ The candidates were shocked by the results of the competition.
b) Prepositional objects:
The prepositional object may be a noun, pronoun, gerund, or a (w)h – clause.

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c) Finite clause objects:
Finite clauses typically begin with “(w)h” or “that”. There are subtypes of
verb phrases in “(w)h” or “that” clauses:
 Indicative verbs: I think that he won’t come.
→It is thought that he will not come.
 Putative “should”: I recommend Peter that he should be confident.
→Peter is recommended to be confident.
 Subjunctive verbs: Laura agreed that the cat was dirty.
→It is agreed that the cat was dirty.
Verbs that take putative “should” and subjunctive verbs are: command,
demand, regret, request, ask, authorize, decree, permit, urge, require …
d) Non – finite clause objects:
Non – finite clause objects have two types: with subjects and without subjects.
 Non – finite clauses without subject contain several classes of verbs, either
participles or infinitives (deserve, need, require …) It is rare to see these
verbs in passives. Sometimes introductory it with certain verbs (agree,
decide, feel) to form the passive:
I agree to join this event.
→ It is agreed (by me) to join this event.
 Non – finite clauses with subjects have two subtypes: to-infinitive with
subject and bare infinitive with subject.
+ To-infinitive with subject: Clara was seen to do it
+ Bare infinitive with subject:
(i) Verbs of perception: hear, see, watch, help, let, make
He was heard to do this task.
(ii) Verb + object + V-ing:
Someone saw her waiting.

c) Noun phrase + finite clause object:
 “That” – clause: sometimes “that” is omitted.
They found that they had gone wrong side.
→ It was found that they had gone wrong side.
 “(W)h” – clause:
He did not ask me whether they were coming.
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