2

ND
YEAR MINOR SYNTAX 1
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: ROXANA-CRISTINA PETCU, PhD
THE PASSIVE
Complex linguistic phenomenon, which manifests itself at three levels of linguistic analysis:
a) the morphological level the auxiliaries be and get and the past participle of the verb
b) the syntactic level a change in position and status of the active Subject and Object
c)the semantic level a change in the relation between the underlying rolestructure of the
sentence and its organi!ation" #he agent$subject) no longer appears in the subject position in the
sentence, while the patient $the object) appears in subject position"
Stylistically spea%ing, the &assive ma%es the discourse more objective, what is important is not
the agent anymore, but the event denoted by the verb itself"
The Passive Mo!ho"o#$ be ' the past participle" &assive verbs behave li%e unaccusative
verbs" #he external theta role of the verb that undergoes passivi!ation is absorbed by the
passive morphology, namely the past participle of the verb" #he verb is generated from the
(exicon as passive, and it behaves as an unaccusative that only has an internal argument which
has to move to )Spec,*&+ in order to be assigned case and also to satisfy the ,xtended &rojection
&rinciple which says that all finite sentences must have a subject" -s it behaves as an
unaccusative verb it does not thetamar% an external argument so it cannot assign -ccusative
case" #he internal argument moves to )Spec,*&+ and leaves behind a trace that forms a chain
with the moved constituent ./&
i ,
t
i
0 #he external argument of the original active verb can be
recovered in the passive sentence as a prepositional phrase headed by the preposition 12 which
assigns it the theta role -gent as well as case or it can be implicit" *n other words, the external
role of the passive verb is active both semantically and syntactically" - verbal passive is always
related to a syntactically present 3& that acts as its logical subject, either a %$-!hase or a
&ove' NP(
Po!e'ies o) ve%a" !assives accounted for in terms of the presence of the external
argument, either overtly or covertly:
4" the logical subject controls the &5O subject of an infinitival purpose clause $the &5O subject of
the infinitive can be identified as the logical subject of the passive verb)" *n example a) the
logical subject is overt, while in example b) it is covert6 we can assume it is the 3& the peasants
which is not overtly expressed in the sentence, yet it controls the &5O subject of the infinitive
eg" a) #he meeting was started on time by Susan
i
&5O
i
to please the host"
b) #his corn has been grown $by the peasants
i
) &5O
i
to stave off famine"
7" a syntactically present animate subject $an agent) needs to be present so as to allow the
occurrence of subjectoriented volitional adverbs
eg" a) Our wor%ers are better paid intentionally by the new boss"
b) 8Our wor%ers are better paid intentionally"
c) 89ost of our furniture is still unmoved on purpose by the company"
*n sentence a) the logical subject, the 3& by the new boss is animate, agentive and overt, therefore
it licenses a volitional adverb" *n sentence b), the logical subject is covert, so it cannot license a
volitional adverb, while in sentence c) the logical subject, the 3& by the company is not animate, so
it cannot license the adverbial on purpose, which is subjectoreinted"
The S$*'a+ o) 'he Passive
#he professor was invited"
*&
/& *:
*
;
<&

# <
;
<&
&&
ed 1, <: $by the students)
<
;
/&
*nvited the professor
#he /& the professor $the internal argument of the verb) moves to )Spec, *&+ in order to be assigned
structural 3ominative by *
o
, it leaves behind a trace which will be coindexed with the moved /&6 the
-uxiliary verb 1, rises to *
o
to chec% the #ense feature" #he && by the students recovers the -gent and
it may be overt or covert" #he 3& inside the && is assigned thetarole and case by the preposition by"
Conditions on the &assive the adjancency constraint$the double object construction6 the
dative verbs) $even with nonarguments of the verb)

,g" $4) She gave a boo% to me" = - boo% was given to me" = 8* was given a boo% to"
She gave me a boo%" = * was given a boo%" = 8- boo% was given me"
$4)She wore her pullover thin"
>er pullover was worn thin"
$7)>e shouted us into silence"
?e were shouted into silence
no reflexives and reciprocals $>e watched himself" = 8>imself was watched by him)
no idiomatic *# $ #his argument eats it" = 8*# is eaten by this argument")
#he /omain of the &assive
Ta*si'ive ve%s eg" #he newcomer solved the pu!!le"
#he pu!!le was solved by a new comer"
- the position of the -dverbials of manner
eg" >e wrote the letter rapidly"
#he letter was rapidly written"
NO Passive:
reciprocal verbs resemble, marry
eg" 9usic resembles poetry"
8&oetry is resembles by music
state verbs $verbs of possession) have, possess, own
eg" >e owns a house"
8#he house is owned by him"
Stative verbs $verbs of feelings) love, hate, loathe, abhor
,g" >e loves 9ary"
89ary is loved by him"
5eflexives
,g" 9ary admired herself in the mirror"
8>erself was admired by 9ary in the mirror"
Di'a*si'ive ve%s , change of possession, the *ndirect Object is a beneficiary6 both objects
may undergo &assivi!ation )
E#( >e gave the flowers to 9ary
#he flowers were given to 9ary"
9ary was given the flowers"
NO Passive
/itransitives $no change of possession, the *ndirect Object is not a beneficiary, but an
,xperiencer)
,g" >e gave me a push,
8* was given a push"
8- push was given to me"
U*e#a'ives -i'h a !e!osi'io*a" o%.e&'
,g" >e insisted upon the invitation" = #he invitation was insisted upon"
#hey tal%ed about the movie"= #he movie was tal%ed about"
NO Passive
*ntranstitives with @uantifier phrases cost , weigh, stretch, last
,g" #he two tic%ets cost A4;;"
8A4;; are cost by the tic%ets"
5elational intransitives belong to, pertain to,
,g( #he boo% belongs to me"
8* am belonged to by the boo%
*ntransitives with (ocative and directional -dverbial &hrases
,g" #he house stands by the hill"
8#he hill is stood by by the house
*nherently reflexive intransitive
,g" >e availed himself of the opportunity"
8>imself was availed of the opportunity"

I*'a*si'ive -i'h !a'i&"e a*/ !e!osi'io*
,g" #hey did away with that law"
#hat law was done away with"
I*'a*si'ives -i'h '-o !e!osi'io*a" o%.e&'s
,g, tal% to smb about smth6 lecture6 spea%6 apologi!e6 appeal
#hey never spo%e to her about her late husband"
8She was never spo%en to about her late husband"
8>er late husband was never spo%en about $in her presence)"
#he passive is possible only if the verb occurs with only one prepositional object" *n this case the
verb ' preposition is interpreted as one single lexical unit, so the adjacency constraint is not
violated" #he preposition is retained in the passive sentence"
,g" #hey never spo%e to her"
She was never spo%en 'o"
I/io0a'i& !hases
,g" #a%e strong exception to smth6 ma%e an example of smth6 foist all one:s problems on smth6
pin one:s faith on smth6 ma%e too much of smth6 %eep close tabs on smth6 ta%e advantage of smth,6
etc
,g" #hey made an example of his behaviour"
>is behaviuour was made an example of"
So0e Pe!osi'io*a" Phases sho-i*# "o&a'io*
#hey have sat on the chair"
#hat chair has been sat on"
NO Passives
Co*'e*' !hases ,-i'h1
,g" #eem with, swarm with, be crawling with, bu!! with, drip with, oo!e with, dace with
,g" #he town was dancing with light and shadow"
8(ight and shadow were being danced with"
Bill a free!er with, load a truc% with,
,g" #he filled the free!er with fish = #he free!er was filled with fish""
8Bish were filled the free!er with by them,
The 2e' Passive
( more dynamic, may have a detrimental meaning, may imply that the -gent has some
responsibility for a detrimental action
e#( >is leg got bro%en"
>ow did the window get openC
- focuses on the event and on its effects on the #heme=&atient
- the implied agent has full control over the action denoted by the verb
$8>e got %illed with great care"= >e got shot he did something because he wanted to get
shot)
it involves the spea%er:s attitude, his emotional involvement
,g" >e got caught, the silly foolD
- it is associated with more punctual events"
,g" >e got arrested"
Mi//"es
,g" #he poem reads easily"= #ennis balls sell best in summer"= #he play reads better than it acts""= #his fabric
washes easily"= Cotton shirts iron well"= #hese figures add easily"
Po!e'ies o) 'he E*#"ish Mi//"es
they are one argument verb, the agent is not overt in the sentence"*t may be understood as Eone: or
Epeople in general:, although it may be specific at times"
,g" #he car handles smoothly when Fohn drives it"
Gnaccusatives do not have an external argument, not even an implicit one, so they can cooccur with all
by itself, in the sense that something happens without external aid, agentlessly, unli%e middles, ahich
cannot cooccur with all by itself, which indicates the fact there in the semantic structure of the 9iddles
there is an -gent
,g" #he boat san% all by itself"
8#he play acts well all by itself"
#he meaning contribution of the subject of a middle sentence is different from the meaning contribution
of the subject in a passive sentence, as the theta roles assigned to the subjects of a middle sentence are
very different"
,g" #he boo% reads easily" )#heme+
Children scare easily" ),xperiencer+
#he truc% loads easily" )(ocation+
,g" #he boo% reads easily" $*t can be paraphrased as Hthe boo% has the necessary properties that allow
it to read easily" Somehow the subject is responsible for the action
denoted by the verb")
#he boo% was easily read"

*n an unaccusative sentence the subject cannot be interpreted as responsible because it refers to a concrete
entity"
,g" #he door opens with difficulty"
So, the subject of a middle sentence is an entity, a non-gent which is responsible for the action denoted by the
verb, in the sense that it has the necessary properties which ma%e the situation denoted by the verb possible"
9iddles are generic sentences that do not describe particular events in time" #hey are seen as stative,
atelic predicates, li%e individual level predicates" #hey are compatible with always and incompatible with
the progressive" ?hen they occur in the progressive they denote a change between successive stages"
#hey do not occur in the imperative"
,g" #his boo% always reads easily"
#he manuscript is reading better and better"
8>andle smoothly, carD
9iddle generally occur with obligatory modifications" *t can be a 9anner -dverbial, a (ocative
-dverbial, a clausal modifier $nonpurpose), a negative operator or an overt modal verb" #he role of the
modifier is to stativi!e the predicate" -t the same time it indicates the presence of an -gent in the
semantic structure of 9iddle verbs"
,g" #his boo% translates easily" $9anner)
9a%e sure the sddress reads through window" $&lace)
Officials bribe before reaching high office" $-dverbial clause of time)
#his text does not translate" $3egation)
#his text will not translate"$overt modal and negation)
-gent oriented adverbs are not allowed in middle sentences"
,g" 8Officials bribe evidently"
Mi//"es have a* A#e*' -hi&h is s$*'a&'i&a""$ i*a&'ive, %3' se0a*'i&a""$ a&'ive(
Mi//"e 4o0a'io*
Only transitive verbs that have an affected argument enter 9iddle Bormation" ,ffected objects cannot
occur in a middle sentence
,g" 8- dress ma%es easily"
Only activities and accomplishments occur in middle sentences, stative verbs, achievements and semel
factives do not allow middle formation"
,g" #he car drives well"
#he boo% reads easily"
8#he answer %nows easily"
8Such mista%es notice fast"
8#he door %i%s easily"
Only causatives that have an *nstrument=9anner component enter middle formation
Only transitive causative verbs that allow an -gent, an *nstrument or a Cause in the subject
position
4" #he woman)'agent+ opened the door"
7" #he wind)'causeI opened the door"
J" #he %ey)'instrument+ opened the door"
Middle
#he door opens easily"
2
ND
YEAR MINOR SYNTAX 1
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: ROXANA-CRISTINA PETCU, PhD
THE PASSIVE 5 MIDD6E 4ORMATION
I( Me*'io* 'he 0os' i0!o'a*' !o!e'ies o) 'he E*#"ish Mi//"es a*/ !ovi/e e+a0!"es(
II( E+!"ai* -h$ 'he se*'e*&es %e"o- ae 3*#a00a'i&a":
4" 8Such deeds do not admit easily"7"8Such stories do not tell fast"J"&oliticians praise a lot on #<" K"8,xams
forget easily" L"8#his %ind of bread buys easily" M" 8*nnocent victims murder easily"N"8Clever people li%e
instantly"O"8#his aim achieves with difficulty" P"8Bish coo%s obviously"
III( Ca* 'he )o""o-i*# ve%s o&&3 i* 0i//"e se*'e*&es7
B(O-#, 5O((, 1(O?, Q*CQ, &G((, &GS>, 1O91-5/, S>O?,5, S#O3,, ?-#,5, 15,-Q"
IV( Ta*s"a'e i*'o E*#"ish 3si*# 0i//"es -heeve !ossi%"e:
4" -paratura de u! ca!nic se vinde foarte bine de sRrbRtori"7" Se cumpRrR case Sn draci primRvara Ti
toamna"J"-m dat peste un text absolut oribil"&ur Ti simplu nu se traduce orice ai face" K"-m sRmi cumpRr
materialul acesta"<Un!Rtoarea spune cR se spalR Ti se calcR foarte bine"L"9am uitat la anunVurile din !iar dupR
un apartament mai mic de Snchiriat, cRci, dupR cum se Ttie apartamentele mici se Snchiria!R mai repede deci
sunt mai greu de gRsit" M"/Rmi niTte lipici, te rog" #imbrele acestea nu se lipesc de loc pe plic Ti trebuie sR dau
scrisoarea curierului care aTteaptR pe hol"N" <ilele sunt mai spaVioase decUt casele obiTnuite dar se vUnd mai
greu deoarece preVurile sunt foarte mari" O"Chiar Ti pentru mine care sunt o gospodinR fRrR experienVR albuTul Ti
gRlbenuTul se pot separa uTor"P" 1rUn!a se rade uTor aTa cR nu ai de ce sR te plRngi"&oVi sR pui cUt de multR la
spaghete fRrR mare efort"4;" &roblema se poate re!olve uTor, nu te mai complica atUt"
VI( Me*'io* 'he &o*s'ai*'s o* 'he Passive a*/ !ovi/e e+a0!"es(
VII( E+!"ai* 'he /i))ee*&es %e'-ee* 'he 8E !assive a*/ 'he 2ET !assive ,5efer to sentences such as
9ary got fired, the foolD = 9ary was fired alst wee%)
VIII( Passivi9e 'he se*'e*&es %e"o- ,i) !ossi%"e( I) 'hee is *o !assive &o3*'e!a' e+!"ai* -h$1:
4"#he newcomer solved the pu!!le"7 >e wrote the letter rapidly"J" 9usic resembles poetry"K" >e owns a house"
L">e loves 9ary" M" 9ary admired herself in the mirror"N" >e gave the flowers to 9ary" O">e gave me a push,P"
>e insisted upon the invitation"4;"#hey tal%ed about the movie"44" #he two tic%ets cost A4;;"47" #he boo%
belongs to me"4J" #he house stands by the hill"4K" >e availed himself of the opportunity" 4L"#hey did away with
that law"4M" #hey made an example of his behaviuor" 4N"#he minister too% strong exception to the position put
forth by the opposition" 4O" #he teacher made too much of your attitude during the exam" 4P" #he secret police
%ept close tabs on the members of that terrorist organisation" 7;" Somebody has sat on the chair" 74" #he
manager heard her tal%ing to the stoc%bro%er" 77" ?e saw him cross the street"7J" #he town was dancing with
light and shadow"7K"#he filled the free!er with fish" 7L" #hey have decided on this chair" 7M" *t stormed up a
flood last night" 7N" * too% a picture of 9ary" 7O" 2our presence there surprised me" 7P" #he force of the bli!!ard
too% us by surprise" J;" 9y family possess this flat" J4">is grandfather left him about A4;;,;;;"J7"#he
hooligans set upon the old man and beat him up"JJ"She doesn:t li%e it if people criti!e her"JK"#hey have done
away with trams in ,ngland"JL"* don:t thin% the police are doing anything about it"JM"#hey were giving a concer
in the hall when a large piece of plaster fell down from the ceiling"*t injured about fifty people seriously enough
for the ambulance men to ta%e them to hospital"JN"* have him a che@ue for the amount re@uired"JO"#he
magistrate let him off with a severe reprimand"JP"#hey had evacuated the Cathedral before the spire collapsed,
so it did not hurt anyone"K;"#hey loo% after you very well in that hotel"K4"#he police eventally gave up the
search for the missing men"K7"Some girls love it if men pay them compliments"KJ"Someone gave me this pen for
Christmas"KK",veryone was listening to the news bulletin with avid interest"KL"#hey told him curtly to go
away"KM"#hey are now building a new cinema there"KN"* assure you that the authorities are investigating your
complaint"KO"Some people object if others ma%e them wor% hard"KP"* hate it when people ma%e fun of me,
though * don:t mind it if they tease me"L;"9y sister:s fiancW is coo%ing dinner tonight"*t smells all right
anyway"L4">e left without anyone noticing him"L7">e is tired of other people sponging him on"LJ"&eople believe
the authorities accused them of planning amn armed revolt" LK"#hey swamped the ordinary voters with
information about the candidates"LL"&rovided we do not press the terms to far, we can identify the 5epublicans
as the -merican conservatives and the /emocrats as the liberals"LM"#he law fixes the dates of the -merican
presidential elections and there is no margin for discretion"LN"#he voters mandate each member of the electoral
college in advance" LO" #hey expect the Congress will appoint him leader of the party"LP"Somebody bro%e the
vase during the party"M;"Some cra!y %ids destroyed my neighbour:s car last night"
IX(Ta*s"a'e i*'o E*#"ish:
4"3u se pRstrea!R nici o dovadR referitoare la vi!ita pe care spune cR a fRcuto la &aris Sn 4PNO"7"Cum Sni expirase
vi!a mi sa inter!is sR mai intru Sn VarR"J"<a fi aTteptat la aeroportCK"/irectorului * sa trimis o invitaVie din
partea consilului administrativ sR se pre!inte pe data de 7; ale lunii Ti sR justifice propunerile ce fuseserR fRcute
privind modificarea organigramei Sntreprinderii"L"9are parte din ce sa spus la Sntrunire a fost notat Sn procesul
verbal"M"OperaVia la care a fost supus a durat M ore"N"Sa au!it un strigRt la celRlat capRt al coridorului Ti sa
vR!ut o umbrR neagrR prelingUnduse pe perete"O">otRrUrea ei de a nu se cRsRtori cu acel domn a fost aprobatR
de Sntreaga familie"P"Boarte multe obiecte de artR deosebit de valoroase sau distrus Sn timpul cutremurului"4;"
Se Ttie cR nimeni nu putea sRl sufere cUnd era preTedintele acelei fundaVii"44"Sa acceptat Sn general idea cR cele
mai multe *99uri din domeniul transporturilor sunt locali!ate Sn !onele de sud, centru Ti sud vest"47"Xn
ultimul an sa Snregistrat o scRdere accentuatR a reali!Rrilor economice ale !onei"4J"/upR un timp am pierdut
vaporul din vedere"4K"3umi vine sR cred cR aceste obiecte de SmbrRcRminte au fost purtate de 5egina
9aria"4L"Cum treceam pe lUngR tejghea mi sa dat un platou Ti am fost rugatR sRl aduc la masR"4M"SituaVia a fost
pre!entatR Sn faVa membrilor adunRrii generale cRrora li sa cerut sR ia o hotRrUre urgentR pentru ca lucrurile sR
poatR fi remediate cUt mai curUnd cu putinVR"4N"Se pare cR sa descoperit un nou medicament pentru a lupta
contra ca!urilor de astm la copii"4O",ste posibil ca Sn urmRtoarele cUteva !ile sR fie eliberat un nou grup de
pri!onieri politici"4P"-proape Sntreg programul conferinVei a fost alocat unui raport despre situaVia din
*ra%"7;"3u Ttiu cum , dar Sn cele din urmR am fost convinsR sRmi cumpRr o motocicletR"74"Sa cR!ut de accord
sR se amUne Sntrunirea"77"#oatR lumea se aTtepta ca daunele sR fie deosebit de mari"7J"Se vede clar cR preVurile
au crescut vertiginos Sn luna septembrie"7K"Sa luat hotRrUrea sR se construiascR un nou drum comunal"7L"3i s
a comunicat cR minsitrul de finanVe Tia dat demisia"7M"XncR nu sa admis official cR situaVia dramaticR a
SnvRVRmUntului superior romUnesc este cau!atR Sn mare parte se subfinanVarea cronicR"7N"-ctualmente existR
opinia cR informaViile sunt transmise la creier de cRtre diverse substanVe chimice"7O"Se crede cR mai existR SncR
multe obstacole Sn calea procesului de pace din Orientul -propiat"7P"Xn 4PO4 se cunoTtea doar existenVa a doi
specialiTti Sn acea boalR extrem de rarR Sn toatR lumea"J;"Sa formulat acu!aVia cR pUrUtul ar fi fost implicat Sntr
un jaf armat"