Interpreter Prep- DEALING WITH THE PASSIVE VOICE

When a sentence is written, it can either be written in active voice or passive voice.

• Active voice describes a sentence where the subject performs the action stated by the verb. For example: John changed the flat tire. • Passive voice describes a sentence where the subject is acted upon by the verb. For example: The tire was changed by John. In most cases, writing sentences in passive voice is discouraged because it can obscure the subject of the sentence, and confuse the reader. It also usually creates a wordy and awkward sentence construction.

DEFINING PASSIVE VOICE

Every sentence contains, at minimum, a subject and an action. The subject is the person or thing the sentence is about, and the action is what the subject is doing.

When a sentence is in active voice, the subject is doing the action and the subject typically comes before the action in the sentence. For example:

• I swim. I is the subject. Swim is the action. The subject doing the action comes before the action, so it is immediately clear to the reader who is doing what.

When a sentence is in passive voice, the subject is being acted on by the verb and the subject typically comes after the action. For example:

• Swimming is something I do. Here, the action is swimming. The subject is I. The sentence is in passive voice, since the person doing the action (I) is not mentioned until after the action

Some sentences also contain objects- the thing being acted upon. This can make it more difficult to determine whether the sentence is in passive voice. For example, here is a sentence in active voice:

 Anna hits the ball. Anna is the subject. Hits is the action. The ball is the object. That same sentence in passive voice reads:

 The ball is hit by Anna. • The ball is the object - not the subject of the sentence. The ball is not doing an action. Therefore, it should be after the subject (Anna)

Tips to Recognize the Passive Voice In order to recognize that a sentence is in passive voice, watch out for these keywords:

• Be, Is, Are, A, Was, Were, Has been, Have been, Will be, Being

Sometimes you will be interpreting and something will not sound right or will not even make sense. It may be because what you are interpreting is in the passive voice and many times the word order (syntax) will need to be changed for your utterance to be coherent!

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES FROM OUR SIGHT TRANSLATION LESSON: COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

1) Yearly tests are advised… ( passive voice: we recognize the passive voice because the focus is placed the action and not on the subject which in this case is not even mentioned- it does not say who advises the yearly tests, only that they are advised). How do we deal with this? We can use the passive “se” in Spanish which is a more “active” construction, easier to understand, more natural sounding!

SE aconseja realizar pruebas anuales… Anuales pruebas son aconsejadas…

2) You must also be told… Se le debe decir tambien… Usted debe también ser dicho….

3) Periodic blood tests will be requested… Se solicitaran analisis de sangre periódicos… Periodicos análisis de sangre serán solicitados

THINK OF USING THE PASSIVE “SE” (or Pasiva-Refleja) WHEN SOMETHING YOU ARE TRYING TO INTERPRET SOUNDS WEIRD OR UNNATURAL-