唷齁~大家好,歡迎來到英文庫,我是 Min 👋,今天要來介紹的是被動句。
什麼是被動句呢?身為中文母語者的我們,對於這概念應該不陌生,畢竟中文也是有被動句的。例如,你常因為做錯事而受媽媽處罰,就可以說「媽媽常處罰我」,或是「我常被媽媽處罰」,前面那句是主動句,後面那句就是被動句啦 😀。
被動的句型在文法書上叫做「被動語態」(passive voice)。 可是,「語態」、「主動語態」、「被動語態」聽起來都過於學術,你也應該沒有想當語言學家 😆。為了避免你頭昏眼花,咱們就先別管「被動語態」這個專有名詞了吧,用「被動句」就好 😀。在這一篇,咱們一起來搞清楚英文被動句的用法吧,Ready? Let’s go! 💃
什麼是被動句?何時適合用?
我先把前面舉的兩個中文例句並排,讓你比較一下它們的差別:
主動句:My mom punishes me often.
媽媽常處罰我。
被動句:I am punished by my mom often.
我常被媽媽處罰。
主動句:Someone stole my hat yesterday.
昨天,有人偷了我的帽子被動句:My hat was stolen yesterday.
昨天,我的帽子被偷了。
什麼時候要用被動句呢?第一個可能性是做動作的那一方是誰並不重要,或是你不清楚是誰,就適合用被動句,例如:
My cell phone was stolen yesterday.
我的手機昨天被偷了 。➡ 誰偷的?不是重點
The internet was invented in 1989.
網路是 1989 年發明的。➡ 誰發明的?不是重點
The laptop was repaired.
那台筆電被修理了。➡ 誰修的?不是重點。
另一個可能性是,當你想要用接受動作的那一方開頭當主詞(因為它才是主角), 比如說,你在跟朋友介紹一首歌,可能就會說出下面的句子。在這個時候,主角是歌曲,而不是作曲人,所以會用 This song 當主詞。
This song was written by top songwriters in Taiwan.
這首歌是台灣頂尖的作曲人寫的。
如何形成被動句?
英文沒有「被」這個字,而是在動詞的部分做變化,所以想把句子變被動,要採用以下的方式:
1. 被動結構是:be 動詞 + 過去分詞 (p.p.)
2. be 動詞要符合原本句子的時態
3. 後面如果要接做動作的那一方,都是固定在前面先加介系詞 by
來看例句最清楚。 以下例句都是最單純的現在簡單式來示範,更複雜的時態變化會在後面解釋。動詞用粗體表示,「 by + 做動作的那方」會畫底線。
主動:Their maid cleans their home every day.
被動:Their home is cleaned by the maid every day.
他們家每天都是由那個女傭打掃。
主動:His parents pay his bills.
被動:His bills are paid by his parents.
他的帳單都是由爸媽支付的。
主動:My big brother does my homework.
被動:My homework is done by my big brother
我的功課都是由哥哥做的(咦)。
主動:My dad drives me to school every morning.
被動:I am driven to school by my dad every morning.
我每天早上都是由爸爸送我到校。
對了,被動句後面不見得都有「 by + 做動作的那方」,就跟中文的被動句一樣,有時也會不提做動作的是誰,例如:「我被打了」、「我被咬了」。什麼時候會省略呢?最常見的情況是:做動作的主詞不知道是誰、不重要,或是對方已經知道是誰了。假如想表達「我每天都餵貓的」,主動和被動的句型如下:
主動:I feed the cat every day.
被動:The cat is fed by me every day.
這種時候我還講 by me 等於是廢話了嘛 😂,所以當然很適合說「 The cat is fed every day. 」就好 👌。
被動句的時態變化
以上的例子都是用現在簡單式,但是如果是更進階的時態呢?你還記得這個規則嗎?
2. be 動詞要符合原本句子的時態
比如說,如果本來的主動句是過去簡單式,被動句的 be 動詞也用過去簡單式 was / were,後面再加 p.p.。
主動:My dog ate the food.
被動:The food was eaten by my dog.
食物是被我的狗吃掉的 。
或者,如果本來的主動句是用現在完成式,被動句的 be 動詞就也要用現在完成式 has / have been,後面再加 p.p.。
主動:The girl has drunk the juice.
被動:The juice has been drunk by the girl.
果汁已經被那個小女孩喝了。
底下就來看一下每個時態的被動是如何變化的吧。
主動句 | 被動句 | |
現在簡單式 | I make a cake. | A cake is made. |
過去簡單式 | I made a cake. | A cake was made. |
未來簡單式 | I will make a cake. | A cake will be made. |
未來簡單式#2 | I am going to make a cake. | A cake is going to be made. |
現在進行式 | I am making a cake. | A cake is being made. |
過去進行式 | I was making a cake. | A cake was being made. |
未來進行式 | I will be making a cake. | A cake will be being made. |
現在完成式 | I have made a cake. | A cake has been made. |
過去完成式 | I had made a cake. | A cake had been made. |
未來完成式 | I will have made a cake. | A cake will have been made. |
現在完成進行式 | I have been making a cake. | 不會有被動說法 |
過去完成進行式 | I had been making a cake. | 不會有被動說法 |
未來完成進行式 | I will have been making a cake. | 不會有被動說法 |
對了,你看,完成進行式用被動的話,句子會很難唸或是很不自然,所以母語人士也不會用。如果你需要複習一下時態 👉 進來這裡看看 12時態懶人包!再來看看更多的例句加強印象。
主動句 | 被動句 | |
現在簡單式 | I wash the dishes. | The dishes are washed. |
過去簡單式 | I washed the dishes. | The dishes were washed. |
未來簡單式 | I will wash the dishes. | The dishes will be washed. |
未來簡單式#2 | I am going to wash the dishes. | The dishes are going to be washed. |
現在進行式 | I am washing the dishes. | The dishes are being washed. |
過去進行式 | I was washing the dishes. | The dishes were being washed. |
未來進行式 | I will be washing the dishes. | The dishes will be being washed. |
現在完成式 | I have washed the dishes. | The dishes have been washed. |
過去完成式 | I had washed the dishes. | The dishes had been washed. |
未來完成式 | I will have washed the dishes. | The dishes will have been washed. |
被動句的4個小補充
接下來的小補充, 1、2 是最需要特別注意的!3、4 都可以有餘力才看,3 是進階一點的用法,書面語常見到,4 是有些文法書會提醒的,所以這邊也順帶一提。
小補充 1 : 該用被動的時候沒用
如果你想說「這首歌是周杰倫寫的」,歌沒有生命,不會自己寫自己,而是被人寫的,所以需要使用被動句。中文不會每次都出現「被」,很多人就會忘記要用被動,直接說「 The song wrote by Jay Chou. ❌」,正確的英文應該是:
The song was written by Jay Chou. ⭕️
The song wrote by Jay Chou. ❌
這個概念一點都不難,聰明的你應該已經懂了,來看其他例句加強印象。
⭕️ The movie is made by Ang Lee.
❌ The movie made by Ang Lee.
那部電影是李安拍的。⭕️ The car was broken by the teenager.
❌ The car broke by the teenager.
車子是那個青少年弄壞的。⭕️ My smartphone was fixed by my brother.
❌ My smartphone fixed by my brother.
我的手機是我哥哥修理的 📱。
小補充 2:不該用被動的時候用了
不及物動詞(=後面不需要加受詞的動詞)是沒有被動的,只能用主動句型,學生最常誤用的動詞有這 ✋ 個:sell、take place、happen、belong to、consist of,來看看你知不知道它們的正確用法吧。
▶ sell(銷售):對,對,我知道,課程沒有生命,並不會自己賣自己。但是,這個字在英文有個含義本身就是 be bought,這時是屬於不及物,就不用被動喔。
His online course was sold well. ❌
His online course sold well. ⭕️
他的線上課程賣得很好 👍。
▶ happen(發生):很多學生會說成 What is happened?(發生了什麼事?)或 Something bad is happened.(有不好的事發生),這都是不對的喔!應該是要說「 What happened? 」或「 Something bad happened.」才是正確的,再看一個例子吧。
The accident was happened last night. ❌
The accident happened last night. ⭕️
昨天發生了意外。
▶ take place(舉行):大家在學校一開始學「舉辦」時是用 hold,要表示會議下週舉辦時,會說 The meeting will be held next week,所以很多學生學到 take place 時,會以為句型是一樣的,可是,take place 這個動詞片語的含義是 happen,所以也跟 happen 一樣,是不用被動句的喔,例如:
The meeting will be taken place next week. ❌
The meeting will take place next week. ⭕️
會議下週舉行。
▶ belong to(屬於):在中文我們會說「某物是屬於某人的」,有些學生可能是受中文影響,但 belong to 是不用加 be 動詞的喔!
The iPad is belonged to him. ❌
The iPad belongs to him. ⭕️
那台 iPad是他的。
▶ consist of(由……組成):英文表示「組成」時有兩組常用的片語,一個是「consist of」,一個是「be composed of」,然後很多人就會搞混這兩組,講成 be consisted of,快趁現在一次記清楚吧,consist of 只用主動喔!
The article is consisted of three parts. ❌
The article consists of three parts. ⭕️
那篇文章共有三部分。
小補充 3:表示客觀的被動句型
假如你想表達「天氣預計很快就會好轉」,由於天氣是被人預期會好轉,所以可以用 the weather 當主詞,像下面這樣:
The weather is expected to get better soon.
比較特別的是,在母語者的習慣用法裡,他們也會借用 It 來當主詞 ,用 It is expected that 的固定句型開頭,然後把 the weather 移到後面,變成這樣:
It is expected that the weather will get better soon.
天氣預期很快就會好轉 ⛅。
像這樣「預期某個情況會發生」時,就可以使用這樣的句型。這一類句型有些母語者會覺得比較客觀,因為是用 it 當主詞,會比較不痛不癢 😂,所以也常應用在表達「據說」、「大家都相信某件事」、「某事被建議如何」時的情況,來看例句:
He is said to be the richest person in the country.
➡ It is said that he is the richest person in the country.
據說他是那個國家最好野的人 💰。
The boss is believed to have several girlfriends.
➡ It is believed that the boss has several girlfriends.
大家都相信老闆有好幾個女朋友 🤫(咦)。
Everyone is suggested to wear a mask.
➡ It is suggested that everyone should wear a mask.
建議是大家應該都要戴口罩 😷。
小補充 4:感官動詞的被動句
如果句子的動詞是 see(看)、hear(聽)這一類的感官動詞,要使用被動句時,跟後面的動詞中間需要加一個 to 來隔開喔!這應該不難理解,因為沒加 to 的話,會比較不好讀。比方說:我想表達「警衛看到有個美女進了那位男演員的家」,來看以下的示範:
主動:The guard saw a beautiful woman enter the actor’s apartment.
被動: A beautiful woman was seen enter the actor’s apartment by the guard. ❌(好難讀 😣)
被動: A beautiful woman was seen to enter the actor’s apartment by the guard. ⭕️(較好讀 😄)
在 seen 跟 enter 的中間加上 to 後,整個句子比較一目了然。再來看其他例句吧。
The cat was seen to eat the rat.
有人看到貓吃了那隻老鼠 🐱。He was heard to talk to himself.
有人聽到他自言自語。The students were heard to discuss the math problem.
有人聽到那幾個學生討論數學題。
That’s it, folks!
喔耶!看完了,你好棒噢 🎉!恭喜你搞定被動句的文法了,被動的概念很單純,主要就是動詞區的變化需要特別注意而已 👀。然後很多人的問題是看的時候都覺得自己會了,結果換自己說或寫時就會卡住或亂掉,所以要盡量多練習 output (輸出)喔,才會真的熟悉被動句的用法 💪!
還有其他英文的問題嗎?快去英文庫 🆒 的其他地方逛逛吧。