Session 8

主动与 被动
 Active vs. Passive
 They arrived at the summit on the fifth
day.
 The fifth day saw them at the summit.
 (Halliday)

 A behavioral pattern vs. A psychological pattern

 What people have done to the world vs. What the

world reflects of people’s behaviour
 Active vs. Passive

 一进房间他就闻到了一股浓烈的花香。
 一进房间一股浓烈的花香扑鼻而来。

 Psychological process of apperception vs.

The role of the real world on apperception
Active Voice vs. Passive Voice

 Voice enables us to look at actions in

a sentence from two perspectives,
without any change to the fact.
 (Quirk)

eg. The butler murdered the master.

The master was murdered by the
butler.
 Active Voice vs. Passive Voice

 Passive ≠ the opposite of Active

 (J. Vendryes)

∴ Active voice emphasizes the action itself.

Passive voice emphasizes the condition
after the action is taken.
 Active Voice vs. Passive Voice
 eg. My brother broke the teapot.
 (active, dynamic)
 The teapot was broken by my
brother.
 (passive, condition of the teapot)
 The teapot was broken.
 (passive, condition)
 The teapot is broken.
 (passive, stative)
 English vs. Chinese
 English: 1) more variations of verb forms
 2) clear division between man and
 nature
 3) distinction between being subjective
 and objective
 4) no strong need to emphasize ‘doer’
 Chinese: 1) few variations of verb forms
 2) unity of man and nature
 3) no clear distinction between being
 subjective and objective
 4) always emphasizes ‘doer’
Examples Analysis:
 1. 我生于北京，在广州参加工作。
 I was born in Beijing, and joined the
workforce in Guangzhou.
 I was born in Beijing, and got
employed in Guangzhou.

 2. 老虎被 他们打死了。
 老虎被打死了。
 老虎打死了。
Passive Voice: A Closer Look
 1.Syntactic Passive:
 passive voice in the form and structure
as being ‘passive’
 2. Notional Passive
 passive voice not in the form and
structure as being ‘passive’, but offering
a passive notion
 (Jesperson)
Syntactic Passive
 1. 施动者方面的原因
 1 ）说不清施动者
 eg. Tom was killed in World War 2.
 2 ）不必说出施动者
 eg. China fought against Russia in the
women’s volleyball match and Russia was
beaten.
 3 ）不愿意说出施动者
 eg. Some rude comments on the plan were
made at the board meeting.
Syntactic Passive
 2.受动者方面的原因
 1 ）心理上的原因
 eg. Madame Currie will long be
remembered as the discoverer of
radium.
 2 ）信息结构上的原因
 eg. Unfortunately, this message was
not put across by the speaker.
Syntactic Passive
 3.修辞的需要
 subject, cohesion, etc.

 4.文体的需要
 science, journalism, business, etc.
Notional Passive
 1. 由及物动词或系动词构成的谓语表示事物特
征。
 eg. The new book reads well.
 The dish smells wonderful.
 The rice is cooking.
 The suggestion needs further
 consideration.
 2. 由系动词 + 介宾短语构成系表结构表示事物
状态。
 eg. The railway is under construction.
Translating Active Voice into
Passive Voice (C – E)
 1. 无主句
 10% -- 40% Chinese sentences are
without a subject.
 eg. 装配和调试的时候应该把所有零件
清洗干净。
 When being assembled and adjusted,
all parts should be cleaned.
Translating Active Voice into
Passive Voice (C – E)
 2. 泛指人称句
 Sometimes Chinese sentences take a
generic person as the subject.
 eg. 众所周知，改革开放二十年来经济发展
取得了显著的成绩。
 It is well known that marked success has
been attained in economic development since
China implemented the policy of reform and
opening-up some 25 years ago.
 Translating Active Voice into
Passive Voice (C – E)
 3. 话题评说句
 eg. 这个问题我们正在研究。
 This problem is being considered (by us).
 eg. 这些工作中遇到的困难应当给予高度重视。
 Great attention should be given to the
difficulties in the work.
 eg. 长江上已经建起了上百座大桥。
 Over 100 bridges have been built across the
Yangtze River.
Translating Active Voice into
Passive Voice (C – E)
 4.“ 由”字句
 eg. 这个任务由小刘完成。
 This task will be completed by Xiao
Liu.
 eg. 所有被邀请出席会议的国家都由政
府首脑代表。
 All the countries that are invited to
attend the meeting will be represented
by the heads of their governments.
Translating Active Voice into
Passive Voice (C – E)
 5. “ 把”字句
 eg. 你把她吓得哭了起来。
 She was scared to tears (by you).
 eg. 把我冷得直哆嗦。
 I was made shivering by the cold air.
Examples Analysis

 我们两国人民贸易的交往可以追溯 到很
久以前。
 Trade contacts between our two
peoples can be traced back to long time
ago.
Examples Analysis

 团结统一，深深地印在 中国人的民族意
识中。
 Solidarity and unity have been inscribed
in the hearts of the Chinese people as
part of their national identity.
Examples Analysis

 在美国的对华政策上，现在显然经济利
益放在 比较重要的位置上。
 In terms of the China policy of the US,
obviously economic interest is now
placed on a more important position.
Examples Analysis

 品牌名称是能看得见 、能说出来 、能写

出来的，而品牌标识是只能看得见 而不
能说出来 的。
 A brand name can be seen, spoken out
and written out, whereas a brand logo
can only be seen instead of being
spoken out.
Examples Analysis

 秦朝的时候，修建 了交通要道，统一 了
文字和货币，并且把长城连接 了起来。
 During the Qin Dynasty, a road system
was developed, writing and coinage
were standardized and the Great Walls
were joined into one.
Examples Analysis

 对发展中国家提供 经济援助，应当严格
遵守受援国的主权，不附带任何政治、
经济条件。
 Economic assistance to the developing
countries should be granted in strict
observance of the sovereignty of the
recipient countries with no political or
economic conditions attached.
Examples Analysis

 这两份文件都是花了大工夫 的，我看都
是比较成熟的。
 Much effort has been put into the
drafting and in my opinion, both
documents are well thought out.
 Both documents have been drafted with
great efforts and seem quite well-done.
 Translating Passive Voice into
Active Voice (E – C)
 1. 被动句正译（谓词）
 2. 还原主语或调整句式
 3. 动词译为名词
 4. 谓词后由 by 引导的短语转化成由“因为
”、“由于”等引导的短语或从句
 Examples Analysis (It …)

 It is hoped that … 希望…

 It is reported that … 据报道…
 It is said that … 据说…
 It is supposed that … 据推测…
 It must be admitted that … 必须承认…
 It must be pointed out that … 必须指出…
 It will be seen from this that … 由此可见…
 Examples Analysis (It …)

 It is asserted that … 有人主张…

 It is believed that … 有人认为 / 相信…
 It is generally considered that … 大家认为…
 It is well known that … 大家知道…

（众所周知…）
It will be said that … 有人会说…
It was told that … 有人曾经说…
Examples Analysis

 Implementation of international human

rights standards must be pursued with
great efforts.
 贯彻人权标准的工作必须大力进行 。
Examples Analysis

 Inthe past two centuries, China was

repeatedly invaded by foreign powers.
 在过去的两百年中，中国曾不断遭受 外
国列强侵略 。
Examples Analysis

 The novel of Mr. Ba Jin has been

translated into and published in many
languages.
 巴金先生的小说已经翻译成多种文字出
版。
Examples Analysis
 The opening of China in foreign trade,
investment and technology will transform her
economy very soon. These forecasts have
been received with mixed feelings by
Southeast Asian countries.
 中国在对外贸易、引进外资和技术方面实行的
开放政策，不久就会使它的经济改观。面对这
一预测，东南 亚国家 的心 情是复 杂的 。
Examples Analysis

I believe that our differences are greatly

overshadowed by issues which bind us
and strengthen our relationship.
 我认为，同那些把我们联结在一起并使
我们之间关系更加紧密的问题相比，我
们之间的分歧也 就算不了什 么了 。
Examples Analysis
 Ifreligious leadership assumes a
stronger and constructive role, then
positive steps could be made in
overcoming the tensions among groups
of different faiths.
 如果宗教领导人能够发挥更强有力的建
设性作用，那么，（我们）应该采取 积
极的步骤来克服不同信仰团体之间的紧
张关系。
Examples Analysis

 The problems of refugees should be

dealt with in an integrated manner.
 难民问题的处理 应采用综合的方法。
Examples Analysis

 The relationship between the two

countries was characterized by mutual
understanding.
 这两国关系的特点 是相互谅解。
Examples Analysis

 Natural disasters can be defined as

great and sudden misfortunes or terrible
accidents that can do great harm to
human beings.
 自然灾害的定义 是，能够给人类带来巨
大伤害的大规模突发灾祸或可怕的事故
。
Examples Analysis

 It
is a long way from Beijing to London.
The distance has sometimes seemed to
be compounded by historical,
philosophical and political gaps in our
outlooks.
 北京和伦敦相距遥远。这个距离有时似
乎更加扩大了，因为历史上、哲学上和
政治上，我们的观点差异甚大。
Examples Analysis

 The processes of economic

regionalization and integration have
been reinforced by the recent
agreement on the establishment of a
free trade zone.
 经济区域化及一体化的趋势有所加强，
因为最近达成了建立自由贸易区的协定
。
Examples Analysis
 Such a viewpoint, particularly prominent in
the developing countries, is reinforced by the
widely-held belief that it is not the peaceful
application of nuclear that is endangering the
survival of mankind.
 这种观点在发展中国家中尤为突出，这种观点
的加强是因为 存在着一种普遍持有的看法，即
和平利用核能并没有危及人类的生存。
Examples Analysis

 Liberalization of trade and investment

has been influence by the expansion
and intensification of regional
integration efforts.
 由于区域一体化努力的普遍加强，贸易
和投资的自由化已受到了影响。