Inglês

Fascículo 04
José Olavo de Amorim
Índice

Passive voice

Resumo teórico ..................................................................................................................................1

Exercícios........................................................................................................................................... 3
Gabarito ............................................................................................................................................5
Passive voice

Resumo Teórico

Na aula 4, vamos estudar uma estrutura muito importante, que é a voz passiva. Ela é
frequentemente usada em manchetes de notícias em jornais e deve ser sempre empregada quando a
ênfase que se quer dar é sobre a ação e não sobre quem faz a ação ou quando não se sabe quem faz
a ação.
Leia as seguintes sentenças, prestando atenção aos verbos, que estão em bold:
“Most serious problems can’t be solved in the near future. But there’s one problem
that I think we can absolutely lick, and that is hunger.”
George McGovern – Newsweek – May 8, 2000

“In a Working-Poor Town, Candidates Are Dismissed as Being Out of Touch”

“Peacemaker Assassinated In Rebel Area Of Indonesia”
Boxing: A Sport Where Judges Will Also Be Judged“
New York Times – September 17, 2000

“After 37 years, two men are indicted for a bombing that transfigured the civil rights
movement.”
TIME Magazine – May 29, 2000

Fiberglass surfboards are often broken by large waves.

Oxygen was discovered by Joseph Priestley in 1774.
Pytheas of Marseillles was labelled a charlatan by historians.
We were informed that the flight would be delayed, so we made other arrangements.
The teacher to his students: “Listen! These exercises on passive voice must be done now.”
Did you know that a new supermarket is being built two blocks from our place?
Development is strongly desired by lesser-developed countries.
Todas elas apresentam uma estruturação chamada voz passiva (passive voice). Voice
refere-se à habilidade do verbo em mostrar se o sujeito age (active voice) ou recebe a ação (passive
voice). Levando em conta que a voz ativa enfatiza quem faz a ação, a estrutura passiva é mais direta e,
por vezes, mais dramática.
Exemplos:
34 people were killed in the accident (passive)
The little boy was bitten by the dog. [o sujeito the little boy recebeu a ação – foi mordido]

Formação de Estrutura Passiva

• Para formação da voz passiva, você notou que deve haver a presença do auxiliar be mais o
particípio passado (past participle) do verbo principal (main verb). Lembre-se de que os verbos
irregulares têm uma forma própria de particípio, que sempre vem na apresentação do verbo: to
break (infinitive) – broke (simple past) – broken (past participle). Já os regulares mantêm a
terminação – ed, tanto para o simple past quando para o past participle: to argue (infinitive) –

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 argued (simple past) – argued (past participle)
Exemplos:
Active Voice Passive Voice
Simple Present She cleans the house every day. The house is cleaned every day.
Present Progressive She is cleaning the house now. The house is being cleaned now.
Simple Past She cleaned the house yesterday. The house was cleaned yesterday.
Past Progressive She was cleaning the house. The house was being cleaned.
Future She will clean the house. The house will be cleaned.
Going to She is going to clean the house. The house is going to be cleaned.
Present Perfect She has cleaned the house. The house has been cleaned.
Past Perfect She had cleaned the house. The house had been cleaned.
Future Perfect She will have cleaned the house. The house will have been cleaned.

Modals:
can Anybody can do it easily. It can be easily done.
must Students must practice verb tenses. Verb tenses must be practiced.
should Students should read more short stories. More short stories should be read.
might They might discuss the plans tonight. The plan might be discussed tonight.

• Somente os verbos que admitem objeto direto podem ser usados em voz passiva.
Exemplo:
The cleaning woman broke the crystal vase yesterday.
⇒ The crystal vase was broken by the cleaning woman yesterday.
Note que o auxiliar be mostra o tempo – no caso, passado; daí, a forma was.

Note o verbo da seguinte sentença:

The two cars collided. ⇒ Não é possível transformar em estrutura passiva já que o verbo é
intransitivo, isto é, não necessita de um objeto que complete seu sentido.

• Há verbos que têm dois objetos: direto e indireto. Nesse caso, é possível estruturar a sentença de
duas formas:
The man will buy some flowers for his wife.
⇒ Some flowers will be bought for his wife.
The man will buy his wife some flowers.
⇒ His wife will be bought some flowers.
The wise man told me an amusing story.
⇒ I was told an amusing story.
People often ask policemen the way.
⇒ Policemen are often asked the way.

• Construção de sentença passiva com os verbos believe (that), think (that), say (that)
Há duas possibilidades:
1. A sentença terá o pronome it como sujeito, mantendo a 2.a sentença como está;

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 2. A sentença começará com o sujeito da 2.a sentença, transformando o verbo dessa 2.a sentença
em infinitivo (se estiver no presente na voz ativa) e em infinitivo perfeito (se estiver no passado
na voz ativa)
Exemplos:
People believe (that) the new supervisor is very sensitive to the employees’ needs.
⇒ It is believed (that) the new supervisor is very sensitive to the employees’ needs.
⇒ The new supervisor is believed to be very sensitive to the employees’ needs.

Everybody says (that) the old man keeps ten dogs in his place.
⇒ It is said (that) the old man keeps ten dogs in his place.
⇒ The old man is said to keep ten dogs in his place.

People think the old nurse took care of more than one thousand people.
⇒ It is thought (that) the old nurse took care of more than one thousand people.
⇒ The old nurse is thought to have taken care of more than one thousand people.

• O verbo get pode ser usado no lugar de be em algumas sentenças passivas; get é mais informal
que be, tanto na fala quanto na escrita.
Exemplos:
Much to the voters’ disappointment, the mayor didn’t get reelected.
When did you get your bike stolen?
Dave got hired by the top team in Italy. Good for him!
“Getting started,” said the coach.

• Causative Form (Passive Causative)

É uma estrutura, de sentido passivo e que, portanto, mostra que uma pessoa tem a ação feita para
ela. Pode ser construída, tanto com get quanto com have como auxiliares; vai ser seguido de um
objeto mais o particípio passado do verbo principal.
Exemplos:
I’m going to have my car serviced tomorrow.
I had my hair cut yesterday.
Pamela has her bed made every morning.

Exercícios

Test Your Knowledge

01. Professional athletes _______________________ some of the highest salaries in the world.
a. pay
b. are paid
c. paid
d. are paying
e. have paid

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02. Read the following paragraph, taken from TIME – September 11, 2000
The Australian government announced restrictions on visits by U.N. human rights inspectors after
criticism of Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers and of its aboriginal people. Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer said U.N. committees would not be allowed to visit Australia, nor would
information be volunteered to the international body.
How many sentences in the passage are structured in passive voice?
a. 3
b. 4
c. 1
d. 2
e. none

03. The story is full of holes and unbelievable improbabilities, which the director _________________ to
put aside by giving the film such an incredible speed that the viewers get more than a few seconds
without a grand explosion or a great tragedy – in this way, audiences are certain not to have time to
think.
In order to complete the sentence, you will say:
a. try
b. are trying
c. have tried
d. has tried
e. has been tried

04. I have a wedding party to go next week. I’ll need to dress up, but I don’t think I can afford a new pair
of leather shoes. I will ___________________________ instead.
a. repaired my old ones
b. have my old ones repaired
c. had my old ones repaired
d. mend my new ones
e. have my old ones to repair

05. Several small villages in the mountain ________________________ by the forest fire. Firefighters had
great difficulty putting it out.
a. were devastated
b. have been devastated
c. destroyed
d. will have destroyed
e. are being devastated

06. The World Trade Center, itself an architectural triumph of steel, aluminum and glass, is not only a
symbol of international business, but also a unique showcase for a collection of art that
__________________ significant works by 20th century masters.
a. is included
b. comprised
c. has been included
d. includes
e. painted

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07. The owner of the grocery store doesn’t mind _______________ his frequent customers discounts when
they buy supplies in large quantities.
a. being given
b. to give
c. giving
d. to be given
e. to offer

Gabarito

01. Alternativa b.
Atletas profissionais recebem alguns dos salários mais altos no mundo; daí, o uso da voz passiva já
que eles são pagos pelo time que os contratou.

02. Alternativa d.
... would not be allowed
... would [information] be volunteered
None refere-se a uma palavra anteriormente mencionada e tem o sentido de nenhum(a).
Exemplo:
A: How many houses have escaped damage?
B: None.
No rápido diálogo acima, none refere-se à palavra house.

03. Alternativa d.
Não é possível usar a voz passiva, já que a ênfase está sendo colocada em quem tem feito a ação de
tentar; no caso, o diretor do filme. Note, também que as formas try, are trying e have tried estão no
plural e, portanto, não concordam com o sujeito the director, que é singular.

04. Alternativa b.
Lembre-se de que will só poderá ser seguido do infinitivo do verbo; portanto, as alternativas a e c
estão erradas. A forma do verbo principal da causative passive é o particípio passado e não o infinitivo
– por isso, a alternativa e não pode ser marcada. A alternativa d é ilógica (ninguém conserta sapatos
novos).
To mend tem o mesmo sentido de to repair.

05. Alternativa a.
O tempo verbal deve ser o simple past; observe o uso de had na 2.a sentença. Fica claro que a ação de
extinguir o fogo já foi terminada e que, portanto, vários pequenos vilarejos já foram destruídos pelo
fogo. A preposição by introduz o agente da passiva (a destruição foi causada pelo incêndio na
floresta). A alternativa b apresenta o verbo em present perfect que não é associado a tempo definido.
A alternativa c apresenta o verbo na voz ativa.

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06. Alternativa d.
A sentença pede o uso da voz ativa; no World Trade Center há uma coleção de arte que inclui
trabalhos significativos de mestres do século XX. A preposição by está introduzindo a autoria daquelas
obras de arte. As alternativas b e e estão na voz ativa, mas no simple past.

07. Alternativa c.
O verbo mind exige o uso do gerúndio depois dele. A voz ativa deve ser empregada (ênfase na ação) –
o dono não se importa em dar desconto para os fregueses que comprarem produtos em grande
quantidade.