Fayoum University

Faculty of Arts
Department of English language and literature

Voice System in English and Arabic

Submitted by
Mohammed Refaat Ahmed

2013

Running Head: VOICE SYSTEM IN ENGLISH AND ARABIC

Abstract
Contrastive linguistics compares specific linguistic characteristics of two or more
languages to explore their similarities and differences. One object is to explain problems
made by language learners in foreign language learning through the analysis of errors
made by learners. Contrastive analysis emphasizes differences between languages to help
students and teachers identify the type of mistakes students - e.g. Arab students - make
while learning a foreign language. In this research, I am going to make a contrastive
study between Arabic and English voice system or as generally called passive structure in
Arabic and English. I will try to discuss the passive structures in both languages in terms
of definition, types of verbs used, reasons of using passive structures, form of the verb,
and some unique characteristics of the passive structure that exist in one language only of
both languages. Points of discussion will be in a contrastive sequence, as I make a
contrastive analysis between English and Arabic for one point in the topic then move to
next point.

VOICE SYSTEM IN ENGLISH AND ARABIC

Voice System in English and Arabic
1- Definition:
Betty S. & Stacy A. defined English passive as a sentence in which the object of
an active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb. This is a brief definition that
illustrates the whole process of sentence transformation in order to produce a passive
voice. The active sentence Mary helped the boy is transformed into passive as the boy
was helped by Mary. The boy in the active sentence becomes the subject of the
passive verb in the passive sentence. Also, the subject Mary of the active verb follows
by in the passive sentence. Here, Mary is called the agent. Thus, the three slots of the
subject, verb and a object are filled in both the active sentence and the passive sentence in
English , which is different from the active versus passive structure in Arabic, as we will
see in the following paragraphs. The definition of the Wikipedia is not different form that
of Betty S. & Stacy concerning the passive structure. Wikipedia defines passive as :
a grammatical construction (specifically, a "voice"). The noun or
noun phrase that would be the object of an active sentence (such as
Our troops defeated the enemy) appears as the subject of a sentence
with passive voice.
Therefore the latter definition of passive in English supports the former in the idea
that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject in the passive tense. The
definition of Wikipedia adds the part specifically, a "voice" which means that the passive
voice is used mostly in spoken language rather than written texts. This is not the same

VOICE SYSTEM IN ENGLISH AND ARABIC

idea in Arabic, as the passive is usually used in written texts and not often used in
conversations/spoken language.
Betty S. & Stacy A. added that only transitive verbs (verbs that can be followed
by an object) are used in the passive. Intransitive verbs (such as happen, sleep, come,
seem, die) cannot be used in the passive in English sentences. This is obvious in the
previous example Mary helped the boy where the intransitive verb help can be easily
used in a passive sentence. On the other hand , we cannot transform sentences like
something happened yesterday or Ali came early into passive in the same way.
However, we can use other structures to express the meaning of passive. For example,
the first sentence will be It was said that something happened. The second sentence as
cannot be used in the passive even by using other structures that give the meaning.
The passive in Arabic is defined by AL-Aansary G. as the deletion of the subject
and then all its rules apply to the object, and if there is no object, the rules of the subject
apply to the phrase or the base form of the verb. In Arabic, what makes a difference
between an active and a passive sentence is the direction of the action of the verb with
regard to the subject. That is, the subject is the receiver of the action of the passive verb.

VOICE SYSTEM IN ENGLISH AND ARABIC

2- Slot numbers:
To know about the number of slots resulting in the passive form , lets study this
example:
Active:

kataba

l-

waladu

wrote

def.

boy

addars
def.

lesson

the boy wrote the lesson

In the above active Arabic sentence, the verb kataba (=wrote) is transitive, the
subject is l- waladu (= the boy) m and the object is addars (=the lesson). Thus, the three
slots are filled in the active sentence. To use the passive voice for this sentence , we will
say:
Passive:

kutiba

addars

was written

def. lesson

the lesson was written

The passive sentence in Arabic resulted in only two slots after the deletion of the
agent slot which was the subject of the active sentence. The remaining two slots are the
verb kutiba (=was written) and the object addars (=the lesson) and it is not possible to
keep the agent l- waladu (=the boy). Thus, Arabic differs here in the number of slots
remaining after the transformation process from active to passive voice. This is why
Khalil (1993:169) concluded that:

VOICE SYSTEM IN ENGLISH AND ARABIC

Arab grammarians have always described the passive in Classical
Arabic (CA) as an agentless construction. English, unlike CA, has both
agentless and agentive passive constructions.
The argument of external agent in Arabic and that Arabic is not completely
agentless was raised by Saad (1982: 169) who suggested that the external agent already
exists in the Arabic passive voice in the agentive by-phrases: biwaasitat by
9ala yadi at the hands of. To
means of , min qibal on the part of, or
apply Saads suggestion to the previous Arabic example, the passive sentence will be:

Passive:
l-

waladu

def. boy

biwaasitst

kutiba

by

was written

addars
def. lesson

the lesson was written by the boy

The argument of using an external agent exists but it cannot be generalized to the
Arabic passive structures in the Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or to the Classical
Arabic (CA). In this way, we can suppose that the external agent notion in the Arabic
passive voice is an overgeneralization or a kind of interference between Arabic and
English, especially use by translators who apply English forms and styles on their Arabic
translations from English. This can be justified, on the part of translators, as a trial
towards honesty in translation, but this violates Arabic styles and sentence constructions.

VOICE SYSTEM IN ENGLISH AND ARABIC

3- Verb Form:
In English, the passive form of verbs is made in all English tenses . the process is
to begin the passive sentence with the object of the active sentence , then we put be
according to the tense of the main verb, and at last we put the past participle of the main
verb followed by the subject of the active sentence. The following table (Betty & Stacy,
pp. 214) gives examples of most passive forms in English:

Tense Forms of the Passive

Active Passive
(a) simple present
(b) present progressive
(c) present perfect*
(d) simple past
(e) past progressive
(f) past perfect*
(9) simple future
(h) be going to
(i) future perfect*

Mary helps the boy.

Mary is helping the boy.
Mary has helped the boy.
Mary helped the boy.
Mary was helping the boy.
Mary had helped the boy.
Mary will help the boy.
Mary is going to help the boy.
Mary will have helped the boy.

The boy is helped by Mary.

The boy is being helped by Mary.
The boy has been helped by Mary.
The boy was helped by Mary.
The boy was being helped by Mary.
The boy had been helped by Mary.
The boy will be helped by Mary.
The boy is going to be helped by Mary.
The boy will have been helped by Mary.

According to Arabic, the passive verb has only two forms ; the present and the
past. In general terms, the past tense, which consists of the radicals (f-9-l), is known to
take the surface passive form (fu-9i-la), by inserting the case marker called dammah to
the first radical , the kasrah to the second radical, and the fathah after the last radical.
The following are examples of transforming past Arabic verbs into passive :
Radicals

Active form

Passive form

n-k-l

nakala (= moved )

nukila

d-r-b

Daraba (=hit past)

duriba

We can notice the differences here between English and Arabic passive forms by
comparing the examples given for both languages. One of the most important differences
actually unique in Arabic- is the internal change in the verb using the diacritics: fatha,
dammah and kasrah. Thus the change here is related mainly to the pronunciation of the

VOICE SYSTEM IN ENGLISH AND ARABIC

verb, unlike English. English on the other hand changes the form of the verb through
adding the copula in all forms of passive.
The present tense in Arabic carries out a similar process to form the passive . that
is , if we have the verb yaf9al in the active form, we insert the damma after the first
radical and fatha after the third radical. Thus the resulting passive form is yuf9alu.
The following are more examples for transforming a present verb into passive.
Radicals

Active form

Passive form

y-n-k-l

yankelu (= move )

yunkala

y-d-r-b

yadrebu (=hit present)

yudraba

As the past dorm in Arabic, the changes is internal and related to the word
pronunciation. There is no use of copulas also, unlike the English passive form that uses
copulas in all tenses.

VOICE SYSTEM IN ENGLISH AND ARABIC

4- Uses of Passive:
In English passive is used for many reasons, which may be similar or different from
reasons for using the passive form in Arabic. Mark Foley and Diana Hall (2008:104)
mentioned that style, clarity, as well as meaning are all reasons for using passive forms in
English. These reasons are various and a acceptable. The use of passive in English can be
summed up (according to Language and Learning Online) as:
1- If the 'actor' is not known.
e.g. Oil was discovered off the coast of Australia.
2- If the 'actor' is not important.
e.g. The report has been published.
3- If it is considered desirable to conceal the identity of the 'actor'.
e.g. The results are invalid as the correct testing procedure was not followed.
4- If an impersonal tone is needed for academic writing.
e.g. In this report, the stress fields in a C-shape plate will be analysed.
5- If an impersonal tone is also used for process descriptions.
e.g. First, the raw materials are loaded into a container ...

The uses of passive voice in Arabic has some of the previous English uses of
passive but it differs in some uses. Neama F.(1973 - pp 47) suggests that we use the
passive form and delete the subject if we know the actor, do not know the actor ,
afraid of the actor , or if we do not want to harm the actor of the verb. Arabic , thus
has a kind of uniqueness in the last to uses.

VOICE SYSTEM IN ENGLISH AND ARABIC

5- Conclusion:
This paper is a tiny trial in the field of contrastive linguistics tackling a
grammatical point; passive voice in English and Arabic. It discussed the definition of
passive in English and Arabic; the verb passive form in English, and Arabic and how
they are completely different; the number of slots in the sentence, and the change in
number in the two languages discussed; and finally, the reasons for which passive
forms are used in both English and Arabic.

VOICE SYSTEM IN ENGLISH AND ARABIC

References
Mark Foley & Diane Hall. (2003). Advanced Learners Grammar. Harlow, England:
Longman.
Betty S. & Stacy A. Understanding and Using English Grammar. Fourth edition.
Enoland: Longman.
Khalil, A. (1993) Arabic translation of English Passive Sentences: Problems and
Acceptability Judgments. Papers and Studies in Contrastive Linguistics 27.
Saad, G. 1982. Transitivity, Causation and Passivization: A Semantic Study of the Verb
in Classical Arabic. London: Kegan Paul International.
Khafaji, R. Arabic Translation Alternatives for the Passive in English. Jordan, Mafraq:
Al-Bayt University.
Arabic References
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Online References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_passive_voice
http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/grammar/engineering/passive/1.1.xml