Using passive voice
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Passive voice and transitivity | page 2 of 2 |
Verbs rarely or never used in passive voice
Most transitive verbs can be used freely in passive voice. There are, however, some exceptions.
Some linking verbs 
which indicate how things are related in time,
space, meaning, amount and so on can be passivised:
Not only was the dismissal a great event, but it was preceded by months of riveting political news. (Bank of English)
The positive male force is represented by a figure found in one of the Grimms' fairy stories, "Iron John". (Bank of English)
However, many linking verbs cannot be passivised, even though they involve two things:
Tomorrow's flight will cost $1 million. (SCMP 4/8/92)
A passive version of this clause is not possible:
$1 million will be cost by tomorrow's flight.
For further information about linking verbs which can and cannot be passivised, see 
Using passive voice: Passive voice with linking verbs.
In addition, some transitive verbs representing actions are rarely passivised because their meanings are generally incompatible with the passive. The most common include:
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Teaching implications
A common mistake of Hong Kong students is to use the passive voice form with intransitive verbs. Students need to be aware that a verb which cannot take an object cannot be used in the passive. It is helpful for them to have access to good dictionaries in which they can check for themselves the transitivity status of verbs they are unsure of.
For information about some of the problems that students have with this, see 
Using passive voice: Students' problems (p 2).
Verbs rarely or never used in passive voice
