Associations between verbs and passive voice

Associations between verbs and passive voice




Some verbs usually take the passive voice; other verbs are rare in the passive.
P 6.7.1 Verbs that are common in the passive voice
The following lists identify the verbs most strongly associated with passive voice:
Verbs occurring over 90 per cent of the time in the passive voice:
aligned (with), based (on), born, coupled (with), deemed, efected, entitled
(to), flattened, inclined, obliged, positioned, situated, stained, subjected (to)
Verbs occurring over 70 per cent of the time in the passive voice:
approved, associated (with), attributed (to), classified (as), composed (on,

confined (to), designed, diagnosed (as), distributed, estimated, grouped
(with), intended, labelled, linked (to/with), located (at/in), plotted,
recruited, stored, viewed
This shows the verbs with the strongest preference for passive voice. There are a
few verbs that almost always occur in the passive, for example be born and be
reputed:
Brandon Lee was born in Oakland, California. (NEWST)
The deal is reputed to be worth £lm. NEWS^)
Other verbs, like be based on, be deemed, be positioned, and be subjected to, are
grammatical in both the active and passive voice, but they are used over 90 per
cent of the time in the passive voice:
The material was deemed faulty. (NEWS)
Anyone found guilty of drinking alcohol may be subjected to 80 lashes of a
cane. (NEWS)
They were based on his book 'The Principles of Quantum Mechanics'. (ACAD