English Grammar - The Passive Voice ...and zombies

英语语法——被动语态……还有僵尸

Today I'm at St. James's Park in London, which is right next to Buckingham Palace

我今天在伦敦的圣詹姆斯公园，就在白金汉宫旁边

It's all blurry you can't really see it

背景真的很模糊，也许你并不能看到它

but trust me that is Buckingham Palace

但是请相信我，那儿真的是白金汉宫

The passive form: What is it why do we use it?

被动语态：什么是被动语态，我们为什么要运用被动语态？

Hey dude!

哥们儿！

What are you doing?

在干什么呢？

Me? I'm just enjoying the water and the sun!

我？我正在嬉水呢，也享受一会儿阳光！

Oh that's nice! Some water, sun, it's all very relaxing, and...

真是不错！嬉水、晒太阳，很是轻松，而且……

Whoa! What's happening?!

喔噢！怎么了？！

What? What?

什么？

oh man! Something bit me!

老兄！有东西咬了我一下！

Oh mate! That sucks

哥们儿！那真是倒霉

Ah! What bit you?

那……什么咬了你一口？

I don't know

不知道

Is it bleeding bad?

你血流的严重吗？

Oh that's pretty bad, huh?

挺严重的啊！

I don't feel good

我有点儿不舒服了

Ah, that's awful

啊，太糟了

well let me take your mind off that for a second

不过，现在先别想那茬儿了

In English, what is the structure of a sentence?

英语中，一个句子的结构是怎样的？

What?!

什么？！

Sentence structure?

句式结构？

oh I I really don't want to talk about grammar

我现在真的不想谈论语法问题

Oh come on! We're doing a lesson!

别介啊！我们正在上课呢！

what do I need?

我们需要哪些部分？

I don't know, a subject

这……一个主语

...and?

还有呢？

A verb

动词

A verb! Good! and what else?

动词！真棒！还有呢？

an object

宾语

Please get an ambulance or something

快叫救护车来

Yeah yeah, an ambulance, great idea! I'll phone a helicopter or something!

这就去，叫救护车，就听你的！我马上就去打电话叫一架直升机过来！

but first, that sentence!

但是首先，那句话中！

You said "Something bit me"

你说的是“有东西咬了我一口”

what?

嘛？

yeah I think a shark bit me

哦，我想是一只鲨鱼咬了我

Are you sure it was a shark?

你确定那是一只鲨鱼吗？

Dude! It's the ocean! Sharks bite!

哥们儿！这是大海！鲨鱼也确实咬人啊！

Maybe it was a shark

也许那是一只鲨鱼

Maybe it was Nemo

也许那仅仅是尼莫

Maybe it was me

更或许，是我咬了你

so if you don't know the subject

那么，要是你并不知道主语

the action is more important

而动作行为在句子中更重要

you should use the...?

那你应该用……？

Why haven't you called an ambulance!?

你怎么还没有叫救护车！？

That's right! The passive form

没错！被动语态

So "Something bit me" becomes "I was bitten by something"

那么“Something bit me”就成了“I was bitten by something”

or just "I was bitten"

或者仅仅是“I was bitten”

So, "something bit me" - That's an active sentence

“something bit me”——这是一个主动语态的句子

and it changes to

它变成了

"I was bitten by something"- A passive sentence

“I was bitten by something”——一个被动语态的句子

now this happened in the past

而这件事发生在过去

so that version of B will be a past tense

那么be就应该用过去过去式

"was" or "were"

“was”或是“were”

Well the subject is "I"

而主语是“I”

So it's not "were"

那么就不应该是“were”

"was" - "I was"

而是“was”——“I was”

and that verb will always be in "Verb 3" / The past participle

而后面那个动词的形式就应该是被动分词

It doesn't matter if it's a future tense past tense or present tense

这个句子的时态其实并不重要，无论它是将来时、过去时或是现在时

that verb is always verb 3, past participle,

动词总是以过去分词的形式出现

so "bite" - it's always "bitten"

那么“bite”就应该是“bitten”

"I was bitten"

“I was bitten”

Be careful and remember that when you use a passive voice

注意，当你运用被动语态的时候

it completely changes the direction of the verb

动词的指向关系就被完全的改变了

so let me give you an example:

例如：

This sentence is an "Active sentence"

这个句子是“主动语态”

A zombie is biting me

A zombie（僵尸）is biting me（正在咬我）

Let's use the same subject but change it to "passive"

保留先前的主语，但是把句子转化成“被动语态”

now it means this...

那就成了……

Come here zombie!

僵尸，上啊！

zombie is being bitten

zombie（僵尸）is being bitten（正在被咬）

So be careful, it completely changes who receives the action

请注意，这就完全改变了动作行为的接受方

so why do we use the passive?

那么，为什么我们要用被动语态呢？

Is it just to sound more formal?

难道是因为听起来更正式一点？

I mean yeah it does sound more formal but that's not the only reason

可能吧，这样确实感觉更正式一些，但是这并不是唯一的原因

We already learned one reason

我们已经知道了一个原因

it's because we don't know the subject

我们并不知道主语是哪个

"Something bit me" - "I was bitten by something"

“something bit me”——“I was bitten by something”

Maybe we don't know it, or maybe it's just really really obvious

也许我们不知道主语，也有可能主语确实很明显

like this example

例如

You are being arrested

你被捕了

Who by!? haha! ...I'm sorry

被谁呢！？哈哈哈！……抱歉

in both cases the action is more important

在已经提到的两种情况中，动作本身更加重要

the action is the focus of the sentence

动作行为是句子组成的核心

but there is one last reason

但是还有最后一个原因

and this could be more useful in social situations or political situations

被动语态在社交场景或是政治场景中更加实用

Let's see the passive voice first:

先来看看这个被动语态的句子

"I acknowledge that mistakes were made here"

“我承认 mistakes were made here”

and he's right mistakes were made

他说得没错，mistakes were made

mistakes were made here

mistakes were made here

a serious mistake was made

a serious mistake was made

clearly mistakes were made

很显然 mistakes were made

Hmm interesting! Let's hear the "Active voice"

有意思！听一听“主动语态”的句子

"I think I made a mistake"

“我想 I made a mistake”

"yeah I take responsibility for it"

“我会为此负责”

and there you have it!

你大概已经知晓

in an active voice you can see the subject taking responsibility for the action

主动语态中，你会发现主语会为行为负责

whereas in the passive voice

但是到了被动语态中

you can avoid responsibility

你就能避免相关责任

so maybe you want to avoid responsibility for an action...

那么，要是你想避免为某个行为负责

you can use the passive voice

你可以使用被动语态

I'm gonna go knock on the Queen's door, and see if she wants to come out and play

我准备去敲敲女王的大门，看看她想不想出来一起找些乐子吧