如何使用被動語態_風聞

被動語態很容易理解，但在使用時是有策略的，它可以成為作家們一個重要的能耐。被動語態讓作者將句子與周圍環境聯繫起來，把焦點放在動作的賓語而非主語上。讓我們看一下摘自2018年《紐約時報》雜誌中的一段文字：

The Murphy bed offered a solution. Each morning, we wake up, pile pillows and blankets in the corner and push the bed up, where it slips into an upright frame so discreet that your eye slides right over it. Presto: The bedroom is transformed into a work space. At night, the contraption is flipped down again, the linen goes back on and we take advantage of a minor engineering marvel ….

這是一段關於一個狹窄公寓的空間介紹。第二句説到把牀推起來，第三句是關於卧室的變化，第四句又説到牀的變化。使用主動語態就會讓焦點從牀上移開，擾亂了段落的統一性。我們試着用主動語態替換第三句和第四句：

The Murphy bed offered a solution. Each morning, we wake up, pile pillows and blankets in the corner and push the bed up, where it slips into an upright frame so discreet that your eye slides right over it. Presto: we transform the bedroom into a work space. At night, we flip the contraption down again, put the linen back on and take advantage of a minor engineering marvel ….

這段文字就從關於牀轉移到了要睡覺的人。

被動語態也讓作者們能引出情況並詳細解釋。另一篇來自《紐約時報》雜誌名為Americans Want to Believe Jobs Are the Solution to Poverty. They’re Not的文章中，我們看到某段初始用到被動語態：

American workers are being shut out of the profits they are helping to generate.（美國工人被排除在他們幫助創造的利潤之外。）

段落中後續的部分回答了被動動詞所提及的複雜問題。用主動語態改寫句子就會丟失解釋性，並且重複説明。這就會是：

The decline of unions, the imbalance of the economy, and the loss of good-paying jobs are shutting American workers out of the profits they help to generate.

有時，及物動詞的代詞也可以是一個很長又很複雜的名詞，所以需要放在句尾。下面是一篇來自《紐約客》文章的例子，文章名為The Mystery of People Who Speak Dozens of Languages：

The word“hyperpolyglot” was coined two decades ago, by a British linguist, Richard Hudson, who was launching an Internet search for the world’s greatest language learner.

要是你試着把以上句子轉換成主動語態，句子就會失去平衡，自我崩塌。於是，我們可以看到：

Two decades ago, a British linguist, Richard Hudson, who was launching an Internet search for the world’s greatest language learner, coined the word “hyperpolyglot.”

最後，在定語從句和並列從句中，為了並行性或一致性通常有必要採取被動語態。這裏還有兩個來自《大西洋報》的例子：

But, from a small sample of prodigies who have been tested by neurolinguists, responded to online surveys, or shared their experience in forums, a partial profile has emerged.

He estimated that hundreds of people were either trapped by the waters or remaining in place to protect their homes from looters.

要是將這些例子改寫為主動語態就會很彆扭。

我們可以找到許多類似的優雅的被動語態例句。被動語態是一個非常有用的工具，當我們在使用之時甚至都沒有注意到它的存在。喬治·奧威爾（George Orwell）曾解釋到，在拙劣的寫作中“任何可能的情況下都優先使用被動語態而不是主動語態，而名詞結構代替了動名詞。”