Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

VERBS USUALLY ONLY FOUND IN THE PASSIVE

486

Some verbs are most typically used in the passive rather than the active voice.

These include:

Were you born in Bristol, Mary?

(used in the past tense: Are you born in Bristol, Mary?)

They 

were deemed unsuitable as foster-parents. 

They 

were taken aback by the violence of the film’s ending. 

DESERVE, NEED, REQUIRE, WANT WITH A PASSIVE MEANING

487

Deserve

, need, require and want can be followed by an active -ing form structure

although the grammatical subject is the affected participant of the process

denoted by the verb, thus creating a meaning similar to a passive voice structure:

The picture’s dark, very dark. It 

needs restoring.

(similar to: It should be restored.)

Your jacket 

wants cleaning.

(similar to: It should be cleaned.)

Û

also 475b Active versus passive voice in Word order and focus

A–Z

75 Want

be born

be deemed

be populated

be stranded

be strewn

be taken aback

802 | The passive

Cambridge Grammar of English

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Speech representation

Introduction

488

Reporting verbs

489

Panel: Say versus tell 489a

Punctuation

490

Punctuation and direct 

speech 490a

Punctuation and indirect 

speech 490b

Reporting and reported clauses

491

Position of the reporting 

clause 491a

Tense and aspect in reporting 

verbs

492

The past simple 492a

The present simple 492b

The present progressive 492c

The past progressive 492d

Viewpoint: time and place

references

493

Deictic expressions (now, here)

493a

Tense backshift 493b

Backshift and modal verbs 493c

Personal pronouns 493d

Reports of statements

494 

Reports of questions

495

Reports of polar (yes-no) and 

alternative questions 495a

Reports of wh-questions 495b

Voice in the reporting clause

496

Speech reports introduced by 

nouns

497

Quoting and attributing

498

Reporting verbs and speech acts

499

Reports in speech and writing

500

Subject-verb inversion 500a

Reports of questions and answers

500b

Representing vocal and emotional 

characteristics 500c

Adjuncts and reporting verbs 500d

Free direct and free indirect speech 

and thought 500e

Reports in conversation

501

Direct versus indirect reports 501a

Topics, openings and closings 501b

Checking, recapping and 

summarising 501c

Dramatisation and narrative 501d

Panel: Use of I says, go, be and 

be like

501e

Use of discourse markers in direct 

reports 501f

Speech reports in specific registers

502

Newspaper headlines 502a

Impersonal reports in formal 

registers 502b

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804 | 

Speech representation