Active and Passive Participle constructions
In an active construction the subject is the performer of an action, and
the action is passed over to the object.
Студент делает домашнее задание.
The student is doing the homework.
Собрание
решило этот
важный
вопрос.
The meeting has decided this
important issue.
Whereas in the passive
construction the object of the active construction becomes the grammatical
subject and the subject of the active voice becomes the grammatical object.
In the passive construction the
predicate is denoted by a transitive verb.
Домашнее задание делается студентом.
The homework is done by the student.
Этот
важный
вопрос
решён собранием.
This important issue has been
decided the meeting.
The predicate of a passive
construction is either a verb with the particle
-ся or a short form participle
passive.
An active construction may generally
be replaced by a passive construction and vice versa:
Read carefully the following Active
and Passive Constructions
Active
Этот
завод
производит
мотоциклы.
This factory produces motorcycles.
Passive
Мотоциклы производятся этим
заводом
The motorcycles are produced by
the factory.
Active
Учитель проверяет домашнее задание.
The teacher is correcting the homework
Passive
Домашнее задание проверяется учителем.
The homework is corrected by the
teacher.
Active
Инженер
создал
проект здания.
The engineer has drawn up the plan
of a building.
Passive
Проект здания создан инженером.
The plan of a building has been
drawn up by the engineer.
Active
Наша
группа
выполнила
план.
Our group has fulfilled the plan.
Passive
План выполнен нашей
группой.
The plan has been fulfilled by our
group.
When an active construction is
replaced by a passive one, the direct object becomes the subject and the
subject becomes the object in the instrumental.
If the predicate of an active
construction is an imperfective verb, then the predicate of the corresponding
passive construction will be a verb with the particle -ся. Perfective
verbs with the particle -ся is used in a passive construction in a few cases. When
used such verb should be conjugated according to the number and gender of the (grammatical) subject.
As a rule such sentences describe
either actions or phenomena which do not depend on man's will or transition
from one state into another.
Комната осветилась
ярким светом.
The room was filled with bright
light.
Поля
покрылись снегом.
The fields became covered with
snow.
If the predicate of an active
construction is a perfective verb, then the predicate of the corresponding
passive construction is a short-form participle passive
Проект здания создан инженером.
The plan of a building has been
drawn up by the engineer.
Работа закончена нашей
группой.
The work has been completed by our
group.
Compare:
Поля
покрылись
снегом
The fields became covered with
snow.
Поля
покрыты
снегом.
The fields are covered with snow.
A passive construction does not
always contain an object in the instrumental denoting the performer or
instrument of action:
В этом
магазине продаётся
компьютер.
Shoes are sold in this shop.
Книги
в библиотеке
выдаются
с
9 часов.
Books can be borrowed from the
library from 9 o'clock.
Магазин открыт.
The shop is open.
Комната
убрана.
The room has been tidied up.
Все
билеты
проданы.
All the tickets are sold out.
Это
место занято.
This seat is taken.
When such a passive construction
is replaced with an active one, the resulting sentence is indefinite-personal sentence. (indefinite-personal sentence see here under)
Книги
в библиотеке
выдают с 10
часов.
They lend books at the library
from 10 o'clock.
Комнату
убрали.
They have tidied up the room.
Passive constructions with an
object denoting the performer in the instrumental are not common in colloquial
speech. They are typical of official language.
Работа
будет
закончена им
к вечеру.
The work will be completed by him
by the evening.
Passive constructions without an
object in the instrumental are common in various styles of speech.
В
этом
магазине
продаются
газеты и
журналы.
Newspapers and magazines are sold in
this shop.
Все
книги проданы.
All the books are sold out.