PhrasesExercise
Using (a) as a model, identify the two elements of the passive in each
of the following sentences:
a. This book was writt en by a nice derangement of linguists.
b. The current global warming was predicted by scientists almost
fifty years ago.
c. The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
d. Global warming is caused by excessive hydrocarbon use.
e. Passive sentences are marked by a form of be and a verb in its
past participle form.
f. Movies are intended to communicate ideologies.
Can the passive be occur with the progressive be? Sentence (58) shows that it can:
(58) That song is being sung poorly.
(58) also shows that the passive be follows the progressive be. We can represent
the structure of the verb phrase in (58) as:
(59)
BE
Ving Ven
Finally, we can combine all of the auxiliaries above into a single verb phrase.
Can you think of what such a verb phrase might be? Let’s look at it structur-
ally:
(60)
HAVE
BEen
BEing Ven
sung