2017-07-05 Grammar: passive with "get"

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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Passives with “Get”:

passive: [be] + past participle, the receiver of the action is the subject
We can use [get] instead of [be], especially in informal English. In this case, “do”, “does”, and “did” are necessary for simple present and past questions and negatives.
Matt wasn’t picked up from work yesterday. = Matt didn’t get picked up from work yesterday.
Are you paid every two weeks or twice a month? = Do you get paid every two weeks or twice a month?
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Passives with “get” are uncommon for inanimate objects, and almost never used with verbs of creation, such as “built”, “born”, “made”.

My house got painted by a professional paint crew. - This is okay, though “was” might be more common.
*The Mona Lisa got painted by Leonardo da Vinci. - WRONG, because the Mona Lisa didn’t exist before the action of painting.
The Mona Lisa got stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia. - This is okay, because it existed before he stole it and then “received” this action.
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p. 55 exercise 9 - Choose the correct form of “get” or “be” for each sentence.
1 were (maybe “got”)
2 was/got
3 being (not “getting” because in this case “developed” is a verb of creation)
4 gets (not “is”, because the focus is on the action, not the state)
5 get (maybe “be”)
6 be/get
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Many participles are also adjectives which can describe ongoing states or conditions.
	examples: married, divorced, stolen, broken
When we want to focus on the action (of becoming this state), we frequently use “get”.
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The same distinction between “be” and “get” also exists for normal adjectives that aren’t participles.
You get sick over the course of a day or two, and then you are sick for a week or two.
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“I was married yesterday.” - Most people will think this means now you’re divorced.
“I got married yesterday.” - Everyone will understand that you had your wedding yesterday.
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With “get” (but almost never “be”), we can use passive in perfect progressive tenses.
“People have been getting married in churches for centuries.”
“Police increased patrols of the neighborhood because cars had been getting stolen at a very high rate.”
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Some verbs are never passive.
- intransitive verbs: Verbs that don’t have receivers can’t be passive.
- transitive verbs that describe states
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The verb “bear” is almost always passive when it is about childbirth.
Jeff was born in Kansas.
*Jeff’s mother bore him in Kansas. (We would say she had him in Kansas.)
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Reasons to use passive instead of active:
- To focus on the receiver of the action (and not on the agent)
- When the agent is unknown - My car was stolen last night.
- When the agent is obvious - English is spoken in 52 countries.
- To be more indirect and possibly polite - Students are expected to attend 80% of their classes.
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p. 57 exercise 11 - Why is the passive used in each of these sentences?
1 The agent is obvious.
2 technical/academic writing, continuing focus on the receiver
3 continuing focus on the lines, obvious agent
4 focus on the receiver, obvious agent
5 unknown agent
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Homework: p. 59-60 - Complete the paragraphs with the correct active or passive forms.