PASSIVE VOICE IN GEOLOGICAL ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

JOURNALS

Nguyen Thi Mai Huong

Hanoi University of Mining and Geology, Hanoi

Abstract

Considering the absence of contrasting geological

English and Vietnamese articles, the present study was an

attempt to conduct a contrastive analysis between

geological journals of English and Vietnamese language in

order to find the major similarities and differences

between them. The analysis was based on several editions

of geological magazines of English and Vietnamese

language. Utilizing contrastive analysis, the researcher

analyzed the passive voice used in geological English and

Vietnamese journals. It is concluded that the most crucial

similarity between the two is that passive voice

structures are used to emphasize the object of the action

but not the agent. On the other hand, the most popular

difference is that passive voice structures are preferred

by English writers much more than Vietnamese ones. Then,

the author explained several mistakes committed by

students from her school. Apparently, a number of clear

reasons were discussed. Finally, some suggestions for

teaching passive voice for non – majored students are

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presented based on the theory and the conductor’s personal

experience at her university.

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale

Nowadays, globalization process has made mankind

become more and more interested in information searching.

As a result, a lot of sorts of circulating media such as

television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet and

so on have been growing popular. Among those, press is

considered as one of the most important means of

exchanging information in the scope of all over the world,

and Vietnam is by no means an exception.

Specifically, English for special purposes is also

one of the most mentioned dimensions currently. One of the

most challenging areas which students often find hard to

deal with is Geology, which is very difficult in mother

tongue and more in English. Geological journals are one

source of studying for students because of their

informative articles and reviews.

After reading some geological English journals, many

Vietnamese readers realized that writing geological

English journals and Vietnamese ones are different from

each other, in detail, they do mean that, in Vietnamese

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journals, there exist more active sentences than in

English ones, in other words, geological English journals

use more passive voice structures than Vietnamese ones do.

Moreover, since the recent years, geological journals

have been utilized in language teaching, especially at the

foreign language class. Frankly, geological journals give

ideas to teachers to make their lectures livelier, more

exciting, interesting, and of course, more communicative.

This seems to be a perfect way to go. Consequently,

geology – major students avail themselves to contact with

journals more often. Many students also do agree that

passive voice structures in English journals more often

than in Vietnamese ones. Therefore, the fact that passive

voice structures are used more in English journals than in

Vietnamese ones can be always the case.

With the aim of earning a deeper understanding of

this problem, in my small research, I would like to

analyze some geological English and Vietnamese journals to

find out some information which I believe they would be

interesting and useful.

2. Objectives

As have been mentioned above, to earn deeper

understanding the comparison and contrast between the use

of passive voice in geological English and Vietnamese3

journals is the most crucial objective of this research.

Besides, some major mistakes committed by students are

explained. Therefore, understanding this thoroughly can

help readers apply in teaching translating from geological

English articles into Vietnamese ones and in return.

3. Research questions

Before starting to write, there appear in my mind the

following research questions:

Question 1: What are the similarities and differences

between geological English and Vietnamese journals?

Question 2: What are the highly frequent mistakes

committed by students in translating passive voice and

changing active sentences into passive ones?

Question 3: How can we apply this comparison and

contrast in teaching translation?  

5. Scope of study

This small research only deals with some journals

such as Earth Magazine, Geology Magazine. In terms of

Vietnamese Passive Voice, I only deal with “bị, được”

structure with passive meaning which are found with high

frequency in geological Vietnamese journals.

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CHAPTER II: LITERATURE RIVIEW

1. Geology

1.1. Definition of Geology

The conductor would like to quote some definitions of

geology after reviewing some websites.

“Geology is the study of the Earth, the materials of which it is made, the

structure of those materials, and the processes acting upon them. It includes

the study of organisms that have inhabited our planet. An important part of

geology is the study of how Earth’s materials, structures, processes and

organisms have changed over time.”

http://geology.com/articles/what-is-geology.shtml

“Geology is a broad scientific discipline that studies Earth through the

history and processes of rocks and minerals.”

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-geology.htm

"They say it is to see how the world was made." Sir Walter Scott

(1771 - 1832)

http://www.collecting-rocks-and-minerals.com/

what-is-geology.html

In brief, the conductor would like to give her

own definition of geology which is quite simple for

her and her readers to understand: “It's the study of the

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Earth and its properties, behavior, structure, composition and geological

history.”

1.2. The importance of Geology

Geology is very important to life as we know it for

several reasons. Though the term 'geologist' conjures up

an image of a man out looking at rocks, the geologist of

today uses tools such as business models and computers to

make important contributions to our civilization today.

The geologist and all of her tools are very important to

how we live our lives.

Economic geology is important for locating and

extracting minerals and fossil fuels such as coal, oil,

gold, iron, and aluminum. Locating these deposits requires

a geologist to study the geologic setting and several

other factors before deciding what location will produce

the most material for the price of extracting it.

Geologists are also consulted with regard to construction

projects. In some cases, such as areas with active faults,

the geologists help predict the type of movement and the

magnitude of movement from earthquakes. This helps in the

design and construction of buildings and highways to make

them safer in areas that experience earthquakes. In other

areas, sinkholes are prominent and cause a threat to homes

and roads too. Geology is used to determine the extent of

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the sinkholes and helps decide how to build around them.

In area that depend on groundwater for their drinking

water supply, the geology of the area is characterized by

geologists who determine how deep the wells should be

drilled to recover the most amount of water without

stressing the surrounding natural systems.

The geologist of today uses many modern tools to

complete their work. Seismic reflection and refraction, as

well as ground penetrating radar are used with subsurface

imaging to see what is below the surface. Previously,

cores from drilling and studying rock exposures were the

only clues as to some of structures present below the

surface. High-powered microscopes and sophisticated

scanners can look at the individual crystals that make up

different rocks. Of course, no geologist is without their

rock hammer when they are out exploring in the field.

Geology, though not always recognized, has played an

important part in our civilization today from the water we

drink, to where and how we build our homes, to provide the

gas, oil, and coal to heat our homes and drive our cars.

1.3. Geological journals

In recent years there has been a growth of specialist

journals within geological sciences. Nevertheless, there

is an important role for a journal of an interdisciplinary7

kind. Traditionally, geological journals have been such

journals and continue in their aim of promoting interest

in all branches of the Geological Sciences, through

publication of original research papers and review

articles.

2. Voice in English

In general, Grammar is sometimes defined as the way

words are put together to make correct sentences. This

definition can be considered as the most satisfactory one.

Together with the Grammar definition, Voice has also

been defined in a number of ways. I can quote some typical

definitions:

“Voice is a grammatical category which makes it possible to view the

action of a sentence in two ways without change in the facts reported”

A Grammar of Contemporary English –

Quirk

Also, in a grammar of Present day English – E.M.

Gordon defines Voice as follows:

“Voice is the form of the verb which serves to show whether the subject

of sentence is the agent or the subject of action expressed by the predicate

verb”

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So, there are two Voices: Passive Voice and Active

Voice in English.

2.1. Active Voice

Active Voice shows that the subject of active

sentence is the agent of the action. When we want to

express that people or things do, we use active verbs.

e.g. I am doing my small research.

2.2. Passive voice

The following definition on Passive Voice quoted from

“A grammar of Present day English” can make the readers

clear:

“The Passive Voice serves to show that the person or thing denoted by

the subject of sentence is not the agent (the doer) of the action – expressed by

the predicate verb but is the object of this action. The subject of a Passive verb

does not act but is acted upon, it undergoes as action.”

e.g. My small research is being done by me.

Passive Sentences are constructed as follows:

“The passive of an active tense is formed by putting the verb into the

same tense as the active verb and adding the Past Participle of the active verb.

The subject of the active verb becomes the “agent” of the passive verb. When it

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is mentioned it is preceded by “by” and place at the end of the clause, and of

course, the object of the active clause is made the subject of the passive

clause.”

“A practical English grammar” – Thomson

and Martinet

The Passive construction can be illustrated ad following:

Subject Active verb Object

She will read a journal

A journal will be read by her

The form of “be” passive

No

.Tenses Be + VpII Examples

1. Present

Simple

am/ are/ is +

VpII

Tornadoes are born when

warm, moist air collides

with cold, dry air,

creating a vortex.2 Present

progressive

am/ are/ is

being + VpII

A new conference room is

being built in Mi Dinh3 Simple past was/ were +

VpII

Ball point pen was

invented in the 20th

century4 Past was/ were + The clothes were being

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progressive being + VpII washed when I came5 Past

perfect

had been +

VpII

Some of the new houses

had been built before

they lived there.6 Present

perfect

have/ has been

+ VpII

The test scores have

been informed.7 Future

(will)

will be + VpII A new superhighway will

be built here in the

future.8 Future

(going to)

am/ are/ is

going to be +

VpII

The plan is going to be

carried out.

Note: present perfect progressive and past perfect

progressive do not exist in the passive form in English.

The nearest passive equivalent of a sentence such as: “They

have been cooking dinner” would normally be “Dinner has been cooked”

or “We had been waiting for him for two hours” would be “He had been

waited for 2 hours by us”, which is not the same thing.

From the above table, it is clear that the tenses and

the usage are the same as for the passive verb.

The Auxiliary “be” also contains

- Modal information

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Modal verbs such as can, may, might, could, ought

to, etc. may precede the verb “be”. The verb “be”

will then in the base form.

Modal verb + be + past

participle

e.g. Large volumes can be emitted and carried by winds

- Passive transforms using the infinitive

To be+

P.PTo have

been

e.g. The explosion was thought to have been caused by mine

It is said to be destroyed by the power of water

The use of passive

- When the agent of a sentence is unknown, unimportant,

or obvious from the context, we use the passive voice.

e.g. The research is limited (the agent is unimportant)

10 tourists were killed (the agent is unknown)

Last week, he had an accident, his leg was hurt (the agent is

obvious from the context)

- When we want to emphasize the action or result of the

action and not the person who performs it, we can use the

passive voice.

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e.g. Five percent admitted they were intoxicated

- Passive voice is required when we want to make

generic explanations, statements, and announcements.

e.g. “Get” can be used instead of “be” in passive voice

People should be taught traffic laws

I was asked to marry Dung

- Passive is more formal than the active; therefore, it

is more commonly used in written language, particularly

science and technological writing than in spoken language.

- Passive is also very common in news reports.

e.g. Yet, people still are injured

- Some ideas, however, may be expressed naturally

and effectively in either the passive or the active

form.

e.g. Brazil beat Paraguay 3 – 0 in the final game

or Paraguay was beaten 0 – 3 in the final game

In such case, our choice will depend on what we

regard as the focus of interest in the sentence.

- When the subject of the verb is people we usually

use passive

e.g. It is thought that the owner of the house is abroad

- We may use passive to avoid an awkward or an

ungrammatical sentence.

e.g. When she came home, her husband was waiting for her

Having came home, she was being waited by her husband.

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- With certain verbs such as: know, believe,

suppose, think, tear, etc., we usually use the

passive form.

e.g. People always believe that their children are the best

Their children are always believed to be the best

3. Vietnamese passive voice

It is well – known that the Vietnamese is very rich

and complicated. And the passive voice existence is still

a controversial problem. Frankly, some Vietnamese

grammatical and linguistic researchers do not accept or

doubt about the voice existence whereas others do. But

actually, there is not passive voice in Vietnamese

grammar, yet, Vietnamese use the following means to

express passive meanings of speech: the lexical means and

the lexical and grammatical means.

In my research’s limitation, I would only deal with

“bị” and “được” passive sentences which seem to appear

regularly in geological Vietnamese journals.

3.1. “Bị”

“Bị” in general is a transitive one.

e.g. Công trình nghiên cứu bị hoãn.

Tôi bị đánh

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In the above sentence, we have the structure: “bị” +

V as “bị hoãn” and “bị ốm” which, in fact, are the

shortenings of the structure with passive meaning “bị” + S

+ V. It is easy to realize that if predicate is expressed

by a transitive verb expressing the action which

influences a certain object, we can recreate a different

sentences like the sentence as follows:

Công trình bị hoãn

Công trình bị ai hoãn

Or Tôi bị đánh

Tôi bị ai đánh

By this way, it is easy to realize that “bị” plays a

fundamental role in the predicate of the sentence and is

an independent verb.

“Bị” can be an intransitive verb, in fact, “bị” is a

real notional verb.

e.g. Khánh Trắng bị rồi a?

in the above context, there appears no ellipse of any

component in this sentence. “Bị” only represents an

independent verb, undertaking the negative meaning or

unluckiness. The syntactic form of this verb in this case

is N – V.

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However, “bị” does not form the passive voice at

times. It can express the action which has no relation to

the object or the state of subject, but still stand before

the verbs that do not control the object.

e.g. Hắn bị đi tù

We cannot change the above sentence into

Đi tù hắn

because the word “hắn” is not controlled by the verbs

“đi tù”. Also, it is impossible to add any word denoting

agent between “bị” and the verbs. It is impossible to say

Hắn bị ai cho đi tù

Moreover, there are some cases which have the

structure (S + bị + neutral verb + object). Yet, the verbs

in these cases do not express the passive voice.

e.g.` Cô ấy bị gãy tay

It cannot be change into

Tay gãy cô ấy

There is still one more case in which “bị” does not

undertake the passive meaning.

e.g. Hơi bị xinh đấy

Hơi bị ngon đấy

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3.2. “Được”

“Được” is similar to “bị” in terms of having the same

syntactic characteristics. “Được” can form passive verbs,

can be put before neutral verbs as well as adjective.

e.g. Anh ta vừa được ăn vừa được gói mang về

Normally, “được” undertakes the positive meaning and

the luckless. In the other words, “được” can express the

pleasantness of the receiver as reward or praise.

e.g. Ông ta được tặng bằng khen

“Được”; therefore, is also an independent verb and

“được” can be used to express the passive meaning.

CHAPTER III: DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

1. Method of study

1.1. Instrument

Instruments are used for data collection; they

include the instruments as follows:

Reading books as grammar, geological journals,

contrastive analysis.

Studying geological journals, both in English

and Vietnamese.

1.2. Method of the research

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In order to answer the above research questions, I

will apply the Quantitative method. It requires reading

books, studying journals, and then analyzing the facts and

figures to find out the percentage of Passive voice in

them.

Analyzing all the facts and figures, I find that the

English writers prefer to use Passive voice than the

Vietnamese colleagues.

1.3. Procedure

This research was directed toward studying the

similarities and differences between geological English

and Vietnamese journals. At the start, the investigation

began with the description of the basic units of analysis

in the English articles and continued with the analysis of

the Vietnamese ones. In doing so, for the analysis of the

structure of sentences in English articles, the

grammatical framework provided by Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech

and Savartvik (1985) was chosen, and for the analysis of

Vietnamese journals, the grammar provided by … was used to

inform the study.

2. Findings:

Based on the result of the study, the most important

quantitative similarities and differences between the

geological English and Vietnamese journals were deducted

as follows:

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2.1. Comparison between English and Vietnamese

geological journals

2.1.1. Similarities

The typical similarity between two of these kinds is

that the agent of the active sentence can be omitted in

the corresponding passive sentence.

e.g. Tornadoes are born when warm, moist air collides with cold, dry

air, creating a vortex as the two masses move around each other.

Thời gian T của pha song đến đầu tiên của P thường được sử

dụng để xác định chấn tiêu động đất.

When the agent is important, we need to mention it by

using the “by – phrase” in English and “bởi, do, etc.” in

Vietnamese.

e.g. The widespread outbreak was preceded by La Nina conditions.

Nhiều kiểu tụ khoáng urani đã được phát hiện trên các vùng khác

nhau và các cấu trúc địa chất khác nhau của đất nước bởi các nhà khoa học.

In those above examples, if we omit the agent of the

sentence, readers/ listeners will find difficulty to

understand those sentences.

Another similarity between the two passive is the

relation of the active and passive sentence, when we turn

an active sentence into a passive one, the object of the

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active sentence becomes the subject of the corresponding

passive sentence.

e.g. Indeed, La Nina preceded all four pandemics.

Indeed, all four pandemics were preceded by La Nina.

Đặc tính địa hóa của các cation quyết định hành vi của chúng

trong quá trình phân hủy các sulfur nguyên sinh.

Hành vi của các cation được giải phóng trong quá trình phân hủy

các sulfur nguyên sinh được quyết định bởi đặc tính địa hóa của chúng.

2.1.2. Differences

In general, the difference between geological English

and Vietnamese passive is quite significant. The

remarkable difference between them is their existence. In

English, passive voice is considered to be one the most

important grammatical categories and is widely used in

English. While in Vietnamese, there is no passive voice

with its exact name.

The thing is that whether the reserved order of the

transitive verb and objective noun is the form expressing

the passive in Vietnamese or not. Many researchers have

improved that the units of the sentences are above not

grammatical form of passive voice. They are not structural

words denoting passive meaning. The passive meaning only

exists in the sentences containing transitive verbs.20

e.g. Phần mềm Surpac Vision hiện đang được nhiều Công ty thăm dò

và khai thác khoáng sản trên thế giới sử dụng có hiệu quả trong việc đánh giá

trữ lượng khoáng sản cũng như thiết kế khai thác mỏ.

In English, almost transitive verbs are used in the

passive constructions while in Vietnamese not all

transitive verbs are used.

e.g. More work needs to be done

Many downstream effects, such as changes in weather, in bird

behavior, and convergence of divergent flu subtypes, would be needed to

facilitate that reassortment that generates the novel pandemic flu strain.

The victims had not been hit and killed by flying tephra.

English people prefer to use passive constructions to

avoid mentioning the doer of the action. But this type of

construction is unlikely used in Vietnamese. The passive

meaning is usually expressed by lexical means. Frequently,

we meet with constructions which are active in form but

passive in meaning.

e.g. Mẫu đá này đã qua nghiên cứu rồi

It is obvious that, these two above examples are

grammatically active construction but we cannot deny that

they carry passive meaning. The “mẫu đá này” itself can

only be done by someone else. This, we have a passive

construction in this case. This way of speaking is

extensively used in Vietnamese but so rare in English

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except in the cases with such verbs as: to open, to get,

etc.

e.g. The door opened and she came in.

I get good marks for general geology.

The forms of verbs in the two above examples are

active but the meanings of the whole sentences as passive.

In Vietnam, we often say:

Các nhà địa chất đã phát hiện ra 26 tụ khoáng

This way of speaking is very popular in Vietnamese

and we do not often say:

26 tụ khoáng đã được phát hiện ra bởi các nhà địa chất

But in English, the passive construction is usually

used in this case.

26 mineral groups were discovered by the geologists

One difference between English and Vietnamese is

pointed out by Thomson (1965.p.209) that “the dichotomy of

English verbs between those which take object and those

which do not is absent in Vietnamese”. In Vietnamese,

there is regularly no formal marker for the actor, the

goal or object.

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2.2. Highly – frequent mistakes with the passive

voice made by Vietnamese students in Hanoi University of

Mining and Geology

During my 3 – year teaching experience at school, I

myself have corrected a great deal of mistakes committed

by students as translating and changing active sentences

into passive ones.

2.2.1. In translation

In translation, there is a common belief that

students are often inclined to produce word-by-word

translation. However, this method is not always true in

all cases of translating passive. As far as we know,

active sentences are more popular with Vietnamese students

than passive ones. This is because the Vietnamese are

relatively subjective and the English undoubtedly is

relatively objective. Therefore, the word-by-word

translation from English into Vietnamese seems not

comfortable to Vietnamese people, and the English passive

sentences ought to be translated and changed into

Vietnamese active sentences in most of the cases.

In the following examples, thirty out of thirty –

eight students at the Faculty of Mining at Hanoi

University of Mining and Geology produced word-by-word

translation and did not change those sentences into active

ones.

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e.g.1. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is famed for its famous

geotourism.

Công viên Núi Lửa Quốc Gia Hawaii được nổi tiếng vì các cuộc du

lịch địa chất nổi tiếng của nó.

This sentence would sound more pleasant if it was

translated as follow:

Công viên Núi Lửa Quốc Gia Hawaii nổi tiếng vì các cuộc du lịch

địa chất nổi tiếng của nó.

e.g.2. The bodies were placed in slings and airlifted off the lava bench

by helicopter.

Các thi thể được/ bị đặt ở treo trên dây bảo hiểm và nâng lên

không trung ra khỏi rặng nham thạch bởi máy bay trực thăng.

This sentence would sound more pleasant if it was

translated as follow:

Người ta dùng trực thăng treo các thi thể vào dây bảo hiểm và

nâng lên không trung ra khỏi rặng nham thạch.

Another drawback of this type of translating is that

students only concentrate on translating the structures

and vocabulary but lose the shade of meaning of the whole

sentence.

e.g.1. The owner of the house was thought to be abroad.

Chủ của ngôi nhà đã bị nghĩ là ra nước ngoài.

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e.g.2. Some of the new houses are being built in the street.

Một số ngôi nhà mới sẽ được xây dựng trên đường.

Obviously, mistakes made created ridiculous

sentences. Word-by-word translation was again applied when

students translated the Vietnamese sentences into English.

e.g.1. Ngày hôm qua, các nhà khoa học địa chất đã được nghiên cứu

ngọn núi lửa nổi tiếng ở Hawaii.

Yesterday, the geologists were studied the famous volcanoes in

Hawaii.

e.g.2. Người ta được xem bộ phim tài liệu “Lịch sử địa chất Châu Mĩ”.

They are watched the documentary “American Geological History”.

To solve this issue, the author would like to give

some of the suggestions. Firstly, the teacher should

define clearly and exactly the main subject, the verb, and

the object of the sentences when translating.

e.g. Người ta/ được xem/ bộ phim tài liệu “Lịch sử địa chất Châu Mĩ”.

S V O

Secondly, with the aim of avoiding word-by-word

translation, the teacher should explain carefully about

the cross – cultural differences in the usage of Passive

sentences. Therefore, students may remember that they

should change English passive sentences into Vietnamese

active ones. Finally, students should be made to practice

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translation as much as possible because the more practice

they do, the more similar they are with the passive voice

translation.

2.2.2. In changing the active sentences into the

passive ones

Changing the active sentences into the passive ones

is also another area that is misunderstood by Vietnamese

students.

One of the most popular mistakes is that most of

students are wrong with changing active verbs into past

participles.

e.g. Thousands of others were leaved homeless after the earthquake.

He was thinked to be alive.

Another mistake committed is when students change

active questions into passive questions.

e.g. It was written by who?

This question is written like: By whom was it written?

In this case, it can be explained that students are

not familiar to the order of words in question.

Furthermore, my students at Hanoi University of

Mining and Geology often make mistakes with transitive

verbs. As they bear in mind that all kinds of verbs can be

changed into passive voice, they do not pay attention to

26

the fact that such transitive verbs are mostly stative

verbs, e.g. have, resemble, suit, etc.

e.g. He has a car.

A car is had by him.

Additionally, the students usually have difficulty

with facing new formulas, new structures.

e.g. We saw them beating each others.

They beating each others were seen WRONG

They were seen beating each others. RIGHT

Last but not least, the students often make mistakes

with identifying subjects, such as everybody, nobody,

anyone, they, people, etc. They don’t change the new

subjects as well as omit the subjects of active sentences

in passive ones.

e.g. No one loves him.

He was loved by no one. WRONG

He wasn’t loved. RIGHT

To conclude, the teacher should get his/ her students

practice English exercises as well as master new

structures. After the students can be familiar to these,

they gradually develop their English knowledge. It is also

recommended that the teacher should encourage their

27

students to read geological journals every day, which is

useful for not only their English progress but also their

specific area.

2.3. Some reasons for the mistakes

After doing some research in my students’ mistakes, I

personally think of some reasons for their mistakes.

First and foremost, cross – cultural differences

should be discussed here. There is a common belief that

English writers are more fond of passive voice than

Vietnamese ones.

Secondly, personal styles in writing press also

influence the frequency of passive voice. It is believed

that passive voice is considered formal in English

writing; however, it is not the same in Vietnamese style.

Finally, passive voice is more popular in science

journals than normal ones.

CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION AND SOME IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING

ENGLISH PASSIVE VOICE

So far, I have been concerning the passive structures

in geological English and Vietnamese journals. It is of no

doubt to our mind that the English newsmen use passive

structures more often than the Vietnamese colleagues.

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The conductor would like to give some personal

implications for teaching English passive voice in real

situation. The target students here are those who are from

Hanoi University of Mining and Geology.

Meaning and use

It is clear that when we introduce a grammar point,

we must teach not only the use but also the meaning of it.

In this case, we must introduce the form, the meaning and

the use of the English passive voice in various

circumstances.

Teachers have to name all cases in which passive

voice is used and then point out the meaning of it in the

classroom.

e.g. Due to their large size and longevity, hurricanes can be tracked for

weeks in advance.

The above example is right in term of grammar rules –

English passive voice with modality “can”.

Grammatical form

The question “How is it form?”, “What are the rules?”

are raised when teachers introduce the form of the passive

voice. First of all, teachers should put toward the common

form of a passive sentences.

e.i. S + Be + VpII

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Then we should give some special form of the passive

voice such as “get – passive”, “have – passive”, “can –

passive”, etc.

Pattern

Once students are clear about the meaning, the uses

and forms of the passive voice, teachers then should

decide what pattern is going to be taught. For instance,

when we introduce the use of the stative passive, we need

to decide what structural patterns we are going to teach.

Teachers could present it by giving the review of passive

verb form at first, then we compare the stative passive

with the dynamic one to talk about the use of stative

passive. The dynamic passive are used to express states or

conditions. Besides, teachers should also introduce the

similarities and differences between adjective participles

and stative passive. It is obvious that they are similar

in form but different in meaning. In this case, teachers

need to give some typical examples to present it. The

stative passive verbs have many descriptive uses in

discourse such as describe location, characteristics,

manners, etc. So, teachers have to present all the

descriptive use of the passive verbs to the class. They

need also to mention about the use of stative passive in

relative clause.

Exception and complication

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A question is raised in learning English passive

voice is – why it seems more difficult for learners than

that of other language. The answer is the English passive

voice is full of exceptions. The passive is usually formed

by the verb “be + VpII”. The VpII is then formed by adding

“_ed” such as track, collect, intoxicate, etc. But there

are many irregular verbs in English. So students will be

somewhat surprised to see all past participles without

adding “_ed”, for instance found, run, hit, etc.;

therefore, some solutions have given. First of all,

teachers themselves must be aware of the grammar points

they are going to introduce to their students. Then, they

gradually introduce the English passive voice by

presenting the forms, the used and the meanings of it. And

of course, teachers should also present all the exceptions

of the English passive voice and common mistakes and

difficulties in using the English passive voice as well.

References

1. Books

- A.A.Close, A reference grammar for students of

English, 1979

- Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum, A University

Grammar of English, Longman, 1987

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- Thomson and Martinet, A Practical English

Grammar, Oxford University Press, 1986- Randolph Quirle, Green Bawn, Leech, Janstarkvik, A

Grammar of Contemporary English, Longman

- Collin, Teaching English Grammar, Oxford University

Press, 1984

- Tạp Chí Địa Chất, Loạt A – Số 298, 299, 300 2007

- Tạp Chí Địa Chất, Loạt A – Số 307, 2008

- Tạp Chí Địa Chất, Loạt A – Số 314, 2009

2. Websites

- http://geology.com/articles/what-is-

geology.shtml

- http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-geology.htm

- http://www.collecting-rocks-and-minerals.com/

what-is-geology.html

- http://www.csufresno.edu/ees/career/Whygeo.html

- http://geology.about.com/

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