Chapter II: Passive Verbs

The _cases of nouns_ are a fruitful theme for investigation and discussion. In the progress of these lectures, this subject has frequently engaged our attention; and, now, in introducing to your notice the passive verb, it will, perhaps, be found both interesting and profitable to present one more view of the nominative case.

Every sentence, you recollect, must have one _finite_ verb, or more than one, and one _nominative_, either expressed or implied, for, without them, no sentence can exist.

The _nominative_ is the _actor_ or _subject_ concerning which the verb makes an affirmation. There are three kinds of nominatives, _active, passive_, and _neuter_.

The nominative to an _active_ verb, is _active_, because it _produces_ an action, and the nominative to a _passive_ verb, is _passive_, because it _receives_ or _endures_ the action expressed by the verb; for,

A Passive Verb denotes action _received_ or _endured_ by the person or thing which is the nominative; as, "The _boy is beaten_ by his father."

You perceive, that the nominative _boy_, in this example, is not represented as the _actor_, but as the _object_ of the action expressed by the verb _is beaten_; that is, the boy _receives_ or _endures_ the action performed by his father; therefore _boy_ is a _passive_ nominative. And you observe, too, that the verb _is beaten_, denotes the _action_ received or endured by the nominative; therefore _is beaten_ is a _passive_ verb.

If I say, John _kicked_ the horse, John is an active nominative, because he performed or produced the action; but if I say, John _was kicked_ by the horse, John is a passive nominative, because he received or endured the action.

The nominative to a _neuter_ verb, is _neuter_, because it does not produce an action nor receive one; as, John _sits_ in the chair. John is here connected with the neuter verb _sits_, which expresses simply the state of being of its nominative, therefore _John_ is a neuter nominative.

I will now illustrate the active, passive, and neuter nominatives by a few examples.

I. Of ACTIVE NOMINATIVES; as, "The _boy_ beats the dog; The _lady_ sings; The _ball_ rolls; The _man_ walks."

II. Of PASSIVE NOMINATIVES; as, "The _boy_ is beaten; The _lady_ is loved; The _ball_ is rolled; The _man_ was killed."

III. Of NEUTER NOMINATIVES; as, "The _boy_ remains idle; The _lady_ is beautiful; The _ball_ lies on the ground; The _man_ lives in town." You may now proceed to the conjugation of passive verbs.

Passive Verbs are called _regular_ when they end in _ed_; as, was _loved_; was _conquered_.

All Passive Verbs _are formed_ by adding the _perfect participle_ of an active-transitive verb, to the neuter verb _to be_.

If you place a perfect participle of an active-transitive verb after this neuter verb _be_, in any mood or tense, you will have a _passive_ verb in the same mood and tense that the verb _be_ would be in if the participle were not used; as, I am _slighted_; I was _slighted_; he will be _slighted_; If I be _slighted_; I may, can, _or_ must be _slighted_, &c. Hence you perceive, that when you shall have learned the conjugation of the verb _be_, you will be able to conjugate any passive verb in the English language.

The regular passive verb to _be loved_, which is formed by adding the perfect participle _loved_ to the neuter verb to _be_, is conjugated in the following manner:

TO BE LOVED.--INDICATIVE MOOD. Pres. Tense _Sing_. I am loved, thou art loved, he is loved. _Plur_. We are loved, ye _or_ you are loved, they are loved.

Imperf. Tense. _Sing_. I was loved, thou wast loved, he was loved. _Plur_. We were loved, ye _or_ you were loved, they were loved.

Perfect Tense. _Sing_. I have been loved, thou hast been loved, he has been loved. _Plur_. We have been loved, you have been loved, they have, &c.

Pluper. Tense _Sing_. I had been loved, thou hadst been loved, he had been, &c. _Plur_. We had been loved, you had been loved, they had been, &c.

First Future. _Sing_. I shall _or_ will be loved, thou shall _or_ wilt be loved, he, &c. _Plur_. We shall _or_ will be loved, you shall _or_ will be loved, they, &c.

First Future. _Sing_. I shall have been loved, thou wilt have been loved, he, &c. _Plur_. We shall have been loved, you will have been loved, &c.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. Pres. Tense _Sing_. If I be loved, if thou be loved, if he be loved. _Plur_. If we be loved, if ye _or_ you be loved, if they be loved.

Imperf. Tense. _Sing_. If I were loved, if thou wert loved, if he were loved. _Plur_. If we were loved, if you were loved, if they were loved.

This mood has six tenses:--See conjugation of the verb to _be_.

IMPERATIVE MOOD. Pres. Tense. _Sing_. Be thou loved, _or_ do thou be loved. _Plur_. Be ye _or_ you loved, _or_ do ye be loved.

POTENTIAL MOOD. Pres. Tense. _Sing_. I may, can, _or_ must be loved, thou mayst, canst, _or_ must, &c. _Plur_. We may, can, _or_ must be loved, you may, can, _or_ must, &c.

Imperf. Tense. _Sing_. I might, could, would, _or_ should be loved, thou mightst, &c. _Plur_. We might, could, would, or should be loved, ye _or_ you, &c.

Perfect Tense. _Sing_. I may, can, _or_ must have been loved, thou mayst, canst, &c. _Plur_. We may, can, _or_ must have been loved, you may, can, &c.

Plup. Tense. _Sing_. I might, could, would, _or_ should have been loved, thou mightst, couldst, wouldst, _or_ shouldst have _Plur_. We might, could, would, _or_ should have been loved, you might, could, would, _or_ should have been loved, they, &c.

INFINITIVE MOOD. Pres. Tense. To be loved. Perf. Tense. To have been loved.

PARTICIPLES. Present, Being loved. Perfect _or_ Passive, Loved. Compound, Having been loved.

NOTE. This conjugation of the passive verb _to be loved_, is called
the _passive, voice_ of the regular active-transitive verb _to
love_.

Now conjugate the following passive verbs; that is, speak them in the first pers. sing, and plur. of each tense, through all the moods, and speak the participles; "to be loved, to be rejected, to be slighted, to be conquered, to be seen, to be beaten, to be sought, to be taken."

NOTE 1. When the perfect participle of an _intransitive_ verb is
joined to the neuter verb _to be_, the combination is not a passive
verb, but a _neuter_ verb in a _passive form_; as, "He _is gone_;
The birds _are flown_; The boy _is_ grown_; My friend _is arrived_."
The following mode of construction, is, in general, to be preferred;
"He _has_ gone; The birds _have_ flown; The boy _has_ grown; My
Friend _has_ arrived."

2. Active and neuter verbs may be conjugated by adding their present
participle to the auxiliary verb _to be_, through all its
variations; as, instead of, I teach, thou teachest, he teaches, &c.,
we may say, I am teaching, thou art teaching, he is teaching, &c.;
and, instead of, I taught, &c.; I was teaching, &c. This mode of
conjugation expresses the continuation of an action or state of
being; and has, on some occasions, a peculiar propriety, and
contributes to the harmony and precision of language. When the
present participle of an active verb is joined with the neuter verb
to be, the two words united, are, by some grammarians, denominated
an active verb, either transitive or intransitive, as the case may
be; as, "I am writing a letter; He is walking:" and when the present
participle of a neuter verb is thus employed, they term the
combination a neuter verb; as, "I am sitting; He is standing."
Others, in constructions like these, parse each word separately.
Either mode may be adopted.

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