Lesson 5

Lingua e
Cultura inglese
Prof.ssa Fabiana Loparco
Michael Vince - Grazia Cerulli
New Inside Grammar
Oxford, Macmillan, 2009
Università degli Studi di Macerata
Dipartimento di Scienze della Formazione, dei Beni Culturali e del Turismo
Classe: L-19
Anno Accademico 2014/2015
Lesson number: 5
1. The passive
2. Passivo personale e impersonale (personal and
impersonal passive)
3. As, like
1. Il passivo/The passive
Tutti i tempi passivi si formano con l’ausiliare to be + participio passato del verbo
Tempo
Esempio
Simple Present
The man is taken to hospital
Present Progressive
The man is being taken to hospital
Present Perfect
The man has been taken to hospital
Simple Past
The man was taken to hospital
Past Progressive
The man was being taken to hospital
Past Perfect
The man had been taken to hospital
Future I
The man will be taken to hospital
Future II
The man will have been taken to hospital.
1. Il passivo/The passive
Tutti i tempi passivi si formano con l’ausiliare to be + participio passato del verbo
Tempo
Esempio
Conditional I
The man would be taken to hospital
Conditional II
The man would have been taken to hospital
Con la forma passiva sottolineiamo l'azione stessa e chi/che cosa la svolge passa in secondo piano
I tempi del Present Perfect Progressive e del Past Perfect Progressive non esistono nella forma
passiva. In questi casi utilizziamo le forme del Present Perfect e del Past Perfect.
Dalla forma attiva alla forma passiva
Trasformando una frase dalla forma attiva nella forma passiva avviene quanto segue:
• il complemento oggetto della frase attiva diventa soggetto della frase passiva
• il soggetto della frase attiva si omette o viene aggiunto con by alla fine della frase
• utilizziamo il verbo ausiliare nella sua forma coniugata
• dietro be mettiamo il verbo principale al past participle.
Soggetto
Verbo
Oggetto
Forma attiva
A car
hit
the man.
Forma passiva
The man
was hit
(by a car)
Esempi per tutti i tipi di tempi
Tempo
Forma attiva
Forma passiva
Simple Present
Someone injures the man
The man is injured (by someone)
Present Progressive
Someone is injuring the man
The man is being injured (by someone)
Present Perfect
Someone has injured the man
The man has been injured (by someone)
Simple Past
Someone injured the man
The man was injured (by someone)
Past Progressive
Someone was injuring the man
The man was being injured (by someone)
Past Perfect
Someone had injured the man
The man had been injured (by someone)
Future I
Someone will injure the man
The man will be injured (by someone)
Future II
Someone will have injured the man
The man will have been injured (by
someone)
Conditional I
Someone would injure the man
The man would be injured (by someone)
Conditional II
Someone would have injured the man
The man would have been injured (by
someone)
Variazioni ortografiche verbi regolari
(Per le forme irregolari del verbo vedere la tabella a pp. 496-498 di New
Inside Grammar o il sito: http://www.corsi-di-inglese.eu/verbi-irregolari/elenco-verbi-irregolari-inglesi.php)
- Si aggiunge solo –d se il verbo termina in –e:
live – lived; die - died; free - freed
– La –y preceduta da consonante diventa –i:
study – studied; carry – carried; cry – cried
- La –y non muta, però, se pr: eceduta da vocale:
stay – stayed; play – played
- Monosillabi e bisillabi con accento sull’ultima sillaba raddoppiano la consonate finale quando è preceduta
da una sola vocale:
stop – stopped; plan – planned; prefer – preferred
- Vocali terminanti in –l preceduta da una sola vocale raddoppiano la –l in inglese britannico:
travel – travelled; rebel – rebelled; in inglese americano raddoppiano la –l solo se l’accento
cade sull’ultima sillaba: rebelled, traveled
- Verbi in –ic aggiungono una –k:
picnic - picnicked
Ulteriori punti di attenzione:
È possibile usare get in alternativa all’ausiliare to be soprattutto quando si parla di avvenimenti
che accadono in modo improvviso o inaspettato
Malcolm has already got fined twice for speeding
They got stuck in a lift for 2 hours
Il passivo è spesso usato per evitare soggetti impersonali come one, you, people… È un modo
frequente di rendere il “si” passivante italiano
You can see the Milky Way quite clear on starry nights
The Milky Way can be seen quite clear on starry nights
Exercises
Inserisci i verbi nella forma giusta del passivo.
• I
don’t
have
to
go
to
the
newsstand
because
the
paper
(deliver) ________________________________ to our house every day.
• When Kylie went to school, she (pick) ________________________________ up by her
parents every day.
• You
need
not
clean
the
bathroom.
(clean/already) ________________________________ by someone else.
• When I came home, dinner (cooked/not) ________________________________ yet.
It
Exercises
Inserisci i verbi nella forma giusta del passivo.
• I don’t have to go to the newsstand because the paper is delivered to our house every
day.|Simple Present|Simple Present nella frase principale, indicatore: every day
• When Kylie went to school, she was picked up by her parents every day.|Simple
Past|Simple Past nella frase principale, indicatore: every day (tutti i giorni nel
passato)
• You need not clean the bathroom. It has already been cleaned by someone
else.|Simple Present nella frase principale|Present Perfect nella passiva, indicatore:
already (azione antecedente)
• When I came home, dinner had not been cooked yet. |Simple Past nella frase
principale|Past Perfect nella passiva, indicatore: yet (azione antecedente)
Exercises
Trasforma le frasi nella forma passiva. Utilizza lo stesso tempo della forma attiva.
• He invents silly things.
________________________________________________________________
• I am reading a book.
________________________________________________________________
• She has signed the contract.
________________________________________________________________
• A car hit me.
________________________________________________________________
Exercises
Trasforma le frasi nella forma passiva. Utilizza lo stesso tempo della forma attiva.
• He invents silly things
Silly things are invented by him
• I am reading a book
A book is being read by me
• She has signed the contract
The contract has been signed by her
• A car hit me.
I was hit by a car
2. Passivo personale e impersonale
Quando una frase attiva in inglese ha due oggetti (oggetto diretto e oggetto indiretto), entrambi
possono diventare il soggetto della frase passiva. Con verbi come give, ask, answer, tell, send, show,
teach, offer, promise, pay di norma la persona (il complemento di termine/oggetto indiretto) diventa il
soggetto della frase passiva (personale). La normale forma passiva esiste, ma è poco usata.
Soggetto
Forma del verbo
Oggetto diretto
Oggetto indiretto
forma attiva
Someone
has given
first aid
to him
forma passiva
(personale)
He
has been given
first aid
(by someone)
forma passiva
First aid
has been given
to him
(by someone)
They sent me a letter
I was sent a letter
They have offered her a new job
(meno comune: A letter was sent to me)
She has been offered a new job
The police asked us a lot of questions
We were asked a lot of questions (by the police)
They are showing the students a documentary
After they had told him, Tom understood
The students are being shown a documentary
After he had been told, Tom understood
Notate l’uso della costruzione personale anche nei verbi che reggono una preposizione come speak of,
listen to, send for, laugh at…
Everybody speaks well of him
They didn’t listen to me
He is well spoken of (by everybody)
I wasn’t listened to
We have already sent for the doctor
I hate people laughing at me
The doctor has already been sent for
I hate being laughed at
Passivo impersonale
Molti verbi di enunciazione e del pensiero vengono utilizzati senza oggetto, perché introducono una
frase secondaria. I verbi tipici per questa categoria sono i verbi di “dire” e “pensare” come say, report,
think, know, belive, suppose, consider, expect. Abbiamo quindi bisogno di una forma impersonale per
formare il passivo: questa forma del passivo viene chiamata passivo impersonale (impersonal passive).
Spesso utilizziamo il pronome it per costruire la forma impersonale.
People say (that) this corner is an accident black spot.
It is said that this corner is an accident black spot.
In inglese possiamo però anche prendere il soggetto della frase secondaria e trasformarlo in soggetto
della frase passiva aggiungendo la frase secondaria come costruzione infinitiva. In questo tipo di
costruzioni il verbo è seguito dall’infinito presente o passato: si usa l’infinito presente nel riferirsi a
situazioni ancora attuali, l’infinito passato per riferirsi a situazioni passate.
It is thought that the hostages are in good health
The hostages are thought to be in good health
It was known that the area was dangerous
The area was known to be/to have been dangerous
It is reported that a meteorite fell into the North Sea last night
It was supposed he had bribed the judge
A meteorite is reported to have
fallen into the North Sea last night
He was supposed to have bribed the judge
In inglese il passivo impersonale si usa soltanto con i verbi di enunciazione e del pensiero. Altri tipi di
frasi che non possono essere espresse con il passivo impersonale devono essere costruite diversamente.
Qui si va spesso ad alta velocità
People often drive too fast here.
Exercises
Forma delle frasi con l'impersonal passive (entrambe le forme)
• They think that he earns a lot of money
______________________________________________
• Visitors say that these museums have wonderful exhibits
______________________________________________
• Everybody knows that this sculpture is the artist’s greatest work
______________________________________________
• The police assume that the arrested man has robbed the bank
______________________________________________
Exercises
Forma delle frasi con l'impersonal passive (entrambe le forme)
• It is thought that he earns a lot of money / He is thought to earn a lot of money
• It is said that these museums have wonderful exhibits / These museums are said to
have wonderful exhibits
• It is known that this sculpture is the artist’s greatest work / This sculpture is known
to be the artist’s greatest work
• It is assumed that the arrested man has robbed the bank / The arrested man is
assumed to have robbed the bank
3. As, like…
Sia as sia like possono essere usati come
preposizioni.
As significa “in qualità di”, “avente
funzione di”
Like indica uguaglianza o somiglianza
As an inspector, Dick can examine all the
documents.
Like an inspector, Dick can examine all
the documents.
Per introdurre una frase completa di
soggetto e verbo si usa as anche per He studied medicine as his father had
indicare uguaglianza o somiglianza
before him
(Like è tuttavia usato in inglese
americano o molto colloquiale)
Nota: Ricordate che as è inoltre usato come congiunzione di tempo e di causa
Tempo: As a young man… As we were walking…
Causa: As we’d got up very early…
As time passed…
Per approfondire ed esercitarsi:
New Inside Grammar
Lesson & excercises
pp. 242-245; 253-257
English Children’s
Literature
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
Author: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
Publication date: September 21, 1931