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Expletives, To be Verbs, and the Passive
None of the structures discussed in this section are "wrong" English. However, they should be avoided because they frequently cause wordiness, unclear references, and/or a lack of concreteness. Rephrasing sentences containing expletives, to be verbs, and the passive usually leads to a clearer, more concise, and more vigorous and persuasive style. Locating the forms of to be in a paper will also locate both expletives and passives. The easiest way to do so is to go to the search feature on your computer and type in is, are, was, were, been, and so on one by one. Automatically replace each of these words with that form followed by an asterisk, for instance, is*. Then look over all the sentences containing the to be verbs and decide which ones to restate.
The expletives there and it are place-holders. They have no meaning in and of themselves, but they take or "hold" the subject position when the subject is moved from its normal location before the verb to a position following the verb. Sometimes such a shift is useful, but much of the time it merely buries something important within the sentence and makes it less noticeable. Note how much more interesting the sentence without the expletive there is in each of the following pairs. Not only is the actor more apparent, but the action verb has greater visibility.
There is a group of protestors demonstrating in front of the student union.
--A group of protestors is demonstrating in front of the student union.
There were men in the corner watching the Vikings game intently.
--Men in the corner were watching the Vikings game intently.
Sentences containing the expletive it also relocate the subject of the sentence, but the reason for doing so is a bit different from the reason for employing the expletive there. The use of this delayed subject pattern (often called the displaced subject pattern) changes a formal sentence pattern with an infinitive or noun-clause subject into a conversational one. For this reason, many people consider this sentence pattern acceptable, at least in less formal circumstances.
To decide whether to eat at home or go out is easy
--It is easy to decide whether to eat at home or go out.
Whether or not we are going to go to the movies tonight has not been decided.
--It has not been decided whether or not we are going to go to the movies tonight.
That Joe cannot finish the paper before the deadline is certain.
--It is certain that Joe cannot finish the paper before the deadline.
To be verbs are all the various forms of that verb: am, is, are, was, were, has or have been, had been, will have been, being, and to be. They are used to link a subject with a noun or adjective complement, to precede the ing-form of an action verb to form continuous tenses, and to precede the past participle of a transitive verb to form the passive. All of the following examples are correct, but many of them are boring. Changing them to the actor-action sentence pattern normally makes the sentences more interesting and concise.
1. Linking Verbs:
Laura is a photographer for the local newspaper.
Better: Laura works as a photographer for the local newspaper.
Better: Laura shoots photographs for the local newspaper.
George hasn't been well for a long time.
Better: George's illness has lasted for a long time.
That scandal is interesting to a lot of people.
Better: That scandal interests a lot of people.
A continuous tense verb can often be changed to the simple tense, but doing so isn't always best, since continuous tenses stress the on-going nature of the activity more strongly than simple tenses. (The simple tenses of action verbs usually indicate custom, habit, and repetition.)
Josef had been working at Morrell's for three years when he quit to attend SDSU. -> Josef had worked at Morrell's for three years before he quit to attend SDSU.
The major reason why writers employ the passive is that it either omits or de-emphasizes who performs an action. Thus, the passive is commonly accepted in the sciences, since the person who performed the experiment or did the observation is much less important than what he or she discovered. Others often employ it when the actor is unknown or when it is advisable not to tell "who done it." (Who wants a black eye or a lawsuit?) Finally, narrative writers also use the passive to keep the focus on a limited number of central characters instead of bouncing back and forth among a large number of mostly unimportant persons.
However, the major reason for using the passive is also one major reason to avoid it. Many feel that it is dishonest not to take responsibility for one's actions, and, thus, they would highly object to someone saying, "Mistakes were made when the $500 coffee pot was purchased." They would prefer, "I made a mistake." or "The army supply office goofed." Even though others may not think of the passive as primarily a means of hiding who did an action, they may still not like its use because it is boring. Seeing an actor acting is more exciting than just hearing that the action was done or that the subject was acted upon.
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Since a passive sentence is a reversal of an active sentence, what would normally function as a direct object (DO = the person or thing acted upon) or the indirect object (IO = the person or thing the action was done to or for) becomes the subject of the passive sentence, and what would normally be the actor is either removed entirely or pushed into a prepositional phrase beginning with by located at the end of the sentence. The active verb is transformed into a passive verb by changing the main verb into a past participle and adding the auxiliary verb be prior to it in the same tense as the original active verb.
Active: The cowboy rode the wildest of the bucking broncos to a standstill.
Passive: The wildest of the bucking broncos was ridden to a standstill by the cowboy. (Original DO as the passive subject)
Active: The workmen are replacing the telephone cables.
Passive: The telephone cables are being replaced. (Original DO as the passive subject)
Active: The UPS driver will give the package to whoever opens the door.
Active: The UPS driver will give whoever opens the door the package.
Passive: Whoever opens the door will be given the package. (Original IO as the passive subject)
Passive: The package will be given to whoever opens the door. (Original DO as the passive subject; note that when an indirect object remains after the passive verb, the preposition to or for, whichever is appropriate, is usually added before the indirect object even if it was omitted in the original sentence.)
Thus, the most common and easiest way to "correct" a passive sentence is to flip the sentence so that the actor is performing the action on someone or something. Sometimes an actor must be added to the active sentence if the passive sentence omits it.
Passive: The ball was hit.
Active: Bill hit the ball. (Note the addition of the previously unmentioned actor Bill.)
Passive: The box of treasure had been buried by the pirates before they escaped from the royal navy.
Active: The pirates had buried the box of treasure before they escaped from the royal navy.
Passive: A tennis match is being played by the top two players in the state.
Active: The top two players in the state are playing a tennis match.