Page 177 - English - Teaching Academic Esl Writing

TEACHING VERB TENSES AND VOICE 163
reviews/presents, theprogram/machine runs, thefactory produces, the office develops, the process begins, the forecast compares').
For L2 writers, a key issue with these constructions is to realize that in English it does not really matter whether the subject of the active verb is alive or not, or whether it has the capacity to perform the ac- tion expressed by the verb. Thus, all such structures and sentences are grammatical no matter whether the subject of the active verb actually and effectively performs the action.
In addition, a small number of verbs are never used in the passive voice and are always encountered in the active. These verbs need to be learned be- cause verbs with similar meanings exist in other languages, in which they can be and often are used in the passive voice (e.g., Spanish). Hence, L2 writers need to be particularly careful when employing these verbs in their text.
3 Verbs That Are Always (or Almost Always) Used in the Active Voice
appear* arrive belong
consist happen come fall
die lack
*The verbs in bold are always used in the active voice. (Adapted from Biber et al, 1999; Swales & Peak, 1994)
Transitive Verbs, Direct Objects, and Agents
In teaching it is important to emphasize that only transitive verbs (those that require direct objects) can be used in the passive voice (see chap. 3 for more information). The reason that only the structures with transitive verbs can be converted from active to passive is that only the direct object can be moved to make it the subject of the passive verb:
Managers considered [past tense] the price ->
The price was [past tense] considered (by managers)
In this construction, the direct object "jumps" to the subject position, the verb tense stays the same, the main verb is used in the past participle form (e.g., written, gone, shown, considered), and the subject of the active verbs
3
Linking verbs, such as appear, become, remain, and seem, cannot be used in passivevoice be-
cause they are not (and cannot be) transitive.
last
occur
remain seem
resemble stay rest wait
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