The English verb. The category of voice.

The category of voice is a system of two-member oppositions of the type asks – is asked, asking – being asked, to ask – to be asked, has asked – has been asked, etc. which show the direction of the action towards the participants of the action.

According to H. Sweet the passive voice serves as a grammatical device(способ) of bringing the object into prominence, without the necessity of naming the subject.

To establish the category of voice we use the opposition: ― active – passive+.

The category of voice is closely connected with lexical classification of verbs into transitive / intransitive. The general rule is: only transitive verbs have two forms: active and passive. But in English – even intransitive verbs can be used in passive constructions.(e. g. They live in this house. The house is lived in.)

The fact that intransitive verbs in passive forms may become transitive can explain why passive constructions are so widely used.

The problem arises in connection with the possibility of double use of some verbs in English.(e.g. I opened the door. The door opened.)

There are three approaches here. One can treat the verb to open as two different verbs: in the first case the verb to open is transitive, in the second – intransitive. According to another approach we deal with the same verb but standing in different voice forms. In the latter example it is called the middle voice. B.A. Ilyish claims that opened in both cases is the form of the active voice.The construction to be + Part 2 is not always passive.

Cf. e. g. The window was broken by a girl yesterday.

The window was broken and dirty.

In the first case the verb expresses an action, in the second – a state (qua­lity) of things. In the first case the meaning of the construction is passive, in the second – active.

There are some criteria to differentiate between active and passive character of the construction to be + Part 2. It expresses a passive action when:

1) the grammatical form is continuous, perfect or future;

2) the verb is durative;

3) different adverbial modifiers are employed(употреблены) or the doer of the action is expressed.

In all other cases the construction is active. But there is a point of view (L.S. Barkhudarov, D.A. Shteling, G.N. Vorontsova) according to which the construction to be + Part 2 should always be treated as a passive construction, since Participle 2 is a verbal form, and both: the meaning of an action and the meaning of a state are inherent(присуща) to the lexical meaning of the verb.

Some linguists insist on that the constructions to get + Part 2, to become + Part 2 as passive constructions, analytical grammatical forms. But in this case the language acquires several passive voices.

Cf. He was married. He got married. He became married.