Ways of conveying the passive voice constructions

It is common knowledge that the quantitative representation of the passive voice constructions in English by far exceeds that in

Ukrainian. This is not reflected, naturally, in translation since En­glish passive constructions are far from always transplanted to Ukrai­nian sentences. The much larger quantity of passive constructions in English is explained 1). by the ability of not only the direct but also of the indirect and prepositional objects to perform the function of the subject to the predicate in the passive voice; 2). by the ability of several intransitive verbs to become transitive and take a direct object, and consequently form the passive voice (cf. Her dog is often walked by her brother. The office is run by Mr.Brown). No transposi­tions of such type are possible in Ukrainian where only the direct object can be transformed into the subject of the sentence in the passive voice. Nevertheless, the meaning of the passive voice may sometimes be maintained, though expressed then not with the help of the analytical means. This can be seen from the following English sentence:

He was offered a betterjob of Йому кимсь пропонувалась

some sort of somebody or other, нібито якась навіть краща
(Saroyan) робота.

Parallel to this Ukrainian version and less common or less faithful is one more version and way via the active form of the verbal predi­cate: йому буцімто хтось пропонував кращу роботу or: йому нібито десь пропонували кращу роботу. A similar expression is also pos­sible in English: some sort of somebody offered him a better job, which the author (Saroyan) ignored in his sentence above.

Some ways of expressing the passive voice in both languages may coincide in form and structure, as can be seen in the first sen­tence below; others should be transformed (as in the second sen­tence), in order to achieve faithfulness in translation:

She was faintly disturbed by Вона була дещо

what mother had said. (Maugham) стурбована тим, що сказала

If the U.N. peace plan is. їїмати.
implemented, frozen Serb assets Якщо план мирного

in the USA would be released, врегулювання ООН буде
(USA Today) здійснений. заморожені рахунки

Сербііу США... будуть відпущені.

The passive constructions in the above sentences, however, may not necessarily be rendered into Ukrainian through passive equiva­lents only. Other contextual variants may also be suggested by the translator, for example: вона була трохи стурбована - її трохи

 

турбувало, рахунки будуть відпущені - рахунки розморозять/ відпустять.

Nevertheless, English passive forms referring to present tense have mostly no structural equivalents in Ukrainian where the auxiliary verb to be (є) is usually omitted and the past participle acquires other morphological (e.g., finite form) and semantic expression. Cf.:

Rescue efforts are being ham- Рятувальним роботам

pered by dozens of aftershocks, перешкоджають повторні
below-freezing temperatures, поштовхи і температура, що
(Ibid.) падає нижче нуля.

One more faithful Ukrainian transformation of this passive sen­tence construction may be achieved by way of conveying it through the so-called middle voice form or -ся/-сь verb: Рятувальні роботи утруднюються повторними підземними поштовхами і тем­пературою, що падає нижче нуля.

Depending on the form of the passive construction and still more on the lexical verbal meaning, this voice form may have in Ukrainian some still other transformations, which express the same meaning of the passive construction; they may acquire the following outer forms of expression in Ukrainian:

a) that of an indefinite personal sentence/clause:

«I am told that pork-packing Кажуть, що в Америці

is the most lucrative profession пакування свинини- найбільш

after politics in America.» прибуткова праця після

(O.Wilde) політики.

b) that of a single predicative word/simple nominal predicate:
«They're prepared to sacrifice «Вони ладні пожертвувати

everything to satisfy their yearn- всім, аби задовольнити/
ing.» (Maugham) здійснити своє прагнення.»

c) a finite form of the verb/simple verbal predicate:

He has never been answered. Його ще ніхто і ніколи не

(B.Aidiss) спростував.

d) an indefinite personal past participle ending in -ho/ -to:

It is a sound instinct of the Це здоровий глузд простого

common people which persuades люду переконує його, таким

that this all, that needs to be said, чином, що все те, що треба

is said. (Maugham) сказати. - сказано.

The room had certainly been У кімнаті безперечно

transformed. (I.Murdoch) зроблено перестановку.

e) any other contextual and structural substitution of the En­glish passive voice predicate verb:

«I must be left to myself for а «Мені треба якийсь час

while.» (Hemingway) побути самому/самим із со-

бою.»
«If Isabel had come in then, I «Якби Ізабель була зайшла

suppose I'd be married to Larry тоді, мабуть зараз я була б
now.» (Maugham) замужем за Пері.»

The passive structure sense units of both the English sentences, as can be seen, are practically translated into Ukrainian in a descrip­tive way, i.e., avoiding their source language outer structure. Never­theless grammatically correct, though literal and stylistically not quite appropriate or justified, would also be passive variant constructions in Ukrainian: 1). Я мусив бути залишений самим; 2). Я була б замужем/ була б одружена з Пері.

Not infrequently the Ukrainian past participle in its predicative function may be one, if not the only possible passive form equivalent of the English passive construction in Ukrainian, as in the following sentence:

«Their children slept, their «їхні діти спали, і (їхня)

gate was shut for the night.» брама була зачинена на ніч.»
(Fitzgerald) (І браму за чинили на ніч?)

The common English passive voice constructions with the prepo­sitional object as their subject have generally no equivalent passive constructions in Ukrainian. These are rendered then with the help of the indefinite personal forms of the verb (sometimes through reflexive verbs):

«Why do you not answer when «Чому ви не відповідаєте,

you are spoken to?» (Galsworthy) коли до вас звертаються?»

І may say that he is rightly Я можу сказати, що у

looked upon by all the publishing видавничих колах його business as one of the mainstays справедливо вважають однією of literature in America. (Leacock) з головних постатей в

американській літературі.

Consequently, some English passive voice constructions often change their outer and inner form and become active voice forms in

 

гіг

Ukrainian. The main concern of the translator, in this case then, must be not so much the structural form of a source language sense unit, than its contextual meaning and, respectively, its form of realization/ presentation in the target language.

Exercise I. Offer possible Ukrainian non-passive trans­forms/outer forms for the English passive voice constructions and translate the sentences into Ukrainian.

1. He was haunted by a fear. 2. Also he was rendered self-conscious by the company. (London) 3. It (furniture) was given to us as a wedding present by Mr. Bradley's father. 4. They entertained lavishly and were lavishly entertained. 5. Gregory Brabazov was in Chicago at the time the purchase was made and the decoration (of the house) was entrusted to him. 6. I had recently brought out a successful novel - and I had no sooner arrived than I was inter­viewed. 7. There are men who are possessed by an urge so strong to do some particular thing that they can't help themselves. 8. He was so incommunicable that I was forced to the conclusion that he had asked me to lunch with him merely to enjoy my company. 9. But here she encountered in her husband an obstinacy, which she had not for years been accustomed to. 10. She was puzzled by Isabel. 11. «I'm told she's rather good.» (Maugham) 12. She might have been asked to go too. 13. What luck that the boy had not been caught by that ghastly war. He might so easily have been killed, like poor Jolly twenty years ago out in the Transvaal. (Galsworthy) 14. «I'm afraid a lot of your private papers were burned.» (Leacock) 15. And when the Indian veteran came there, he was told the blunt truth. (D.Carter) 16. «I suppose in about a fortnight we shall be told that he has been seen in San Francisco.» (Wilde) 17. Immediately after their marriage Couperwood and Aileen jour­neyed to Chicago direct and they were given there the best room that Frencout provided for the time being. 18. Caroline, or Sister Carry - was possessed of a mind rudimentary in its power of obser­vation and analysis. 19. In certain emergencies he was called to assist his father, and was paid for it. (Dreiser) 20. - only after a minute did she realize that she had been awakened by a knock at their saloon door. (Fitzgerald) 21. People have been asking those questions for thousands of years and they could be answered, surely they'd have been answered, by now. (Maugham) 22. «We've been sort of pals and it's not my business to talk unless I'm spoken to.» (J.K. Jerome) 23. Clovis was sent for in haste, and the development

of the situation was put before him."(H.Munro) 24. We were ques­tioned, all of us. (Defoe) 25. The door was opened by a tall and stout Negro butler with white hair and we were ushered into the drawing-room. 26. Most of the actors wanted to think Logan was crying be­cause he was being arrested. (L.Hughes) 27. «I am urgently needed at Apia,» said Dr. Macphail. 28. «Young Bossiney has been run over in the fog and killed.» 29. «Water was given her.» (Galsworthy) 30. He was beaten. 31.1 was surprised that I had been asked to this party. 32. The two persons, who were hustled away, did not take it well. 33. They were made for the third Duke of Dorset and they're almost priceless. 34. She was a trifle taken aback that it had all gone so easily. 35. «I presume that in a day or two we shall be fixed up for the rest of the season.» (Maugham) 36. «I was desired by that gentleman to identify the wearer of a very uncommon coat - a bright blue dress coat, with a gilt button, displaying a bust, and the letters «P.C.» (Dickens) 37. «Was Coleman being told here and now, as a newcomer, not to rock the boat?»¹ (Hailey) 38. «Mr. Afghan North was robbed and he made a complaint.» 39. «The car had been built on a special chassis in America.» (Fitzgerald) 40. She was received only by Ting-a-Ling, who had his back to the fire, and took no notice beyond a stare. (Galsworthy) 41.1 was wired for. (C.Doyle) 42. Some things had been lost sight of. (Galsworthy) 43. The bed had not even been lain on. (Dickens) 44. She was told that a message could be left for him. (M.Wilson) 45. Do not pass judgement, that you may not be judged. 46. You either make both tree and fruit to be rotten; for the tree is known by its fruit. (Bible). 47. She hastened around to the side entrance and was taken up by the elevator to the fourth floor. (Dreiser) 48. «Not a word of it, in my interpretation, is actually spoken.» (S. Leacock) 49. «They're not the sort of people I've been brought up with.» 50. Isabel appeared to be delighted and Mrs. Bra­dley was reassured. 51. She was rather pretty and I was rather taken with her. 52. Face and neck were deeply burnt by the sun. (Maugham). 53. «Sophia, I'm not going to be talked to like this.» (Bennett) 54. One leg was gone and the other was held by tendons and part of the trousers and the stump twitched and jerked as though it were not connected. (Hemingway) 55. His coming had not been looked for. (Greene) 56. He was given up to his dream. (K.Mansfield) 57.1 was wanted in the dining-room. (Bronte)

¹ to rock the boat (coll.) підривати авторитет установи.