Abstract

The passive voice is a common phenomenon in English and Chinese. In recent years, as the development of cultural exchange between China and western countries, the passive voice in English and Chinese has become more and more concerned. This paper will analyze and compare the English passive voice and Chinese passive voice from the perspectives of syntax, semantics and usage respectively.

English and Chinese belong to different language systems, English is alphabetic and Chinese ideograms. English emphasizes the twists and turns of the vocabulary, the structure of the sentence and the cohesion of the text. And Chinese is concerned with the meaning of words. In the passive voice, the subject of sentence is not the agent of the movement but patient. There are some special structures to express passive meaning both in Chinese and in English. In English, some preposition phrases and adjectives can also be seen as the use of passive voice.

Due to the cultural differences between the East and the west, the emotion given by the passive vocabulary is also different. The Chinese passive voice expresses more feelings, while the English passive voice is more objective.

The geographical environment of the Eastern and Western countries is different, and the way of thinking in the west and the east is influenced by the climate and the lifestyle. Westerners are accustomed to logical thinking, while Chinese people are better at understanding. Different ways of thinking and different language systems lead to different ways of expression.

 By comparing, we can learn more about the characteristics of Chinese and English, and help the English and Chinese to better understand each other. It is hoped that through the discussion of this paper will contribute to the bilingual teaching and learning, and contribute to the development of English-Chinese translation.

Keywords: English  Chinese  passive voice

Content

摘要：

Abstract:

Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction- 4 -

1.1 Research significance- 4 -

1.2 Definition of passive voice in English and in Chinese- 4 -

1.3 Previous study of passive voice in English and in Chinese- 5 -

1.4 Purpose of the comparison- 5 -

1.5 Framework of this paper- 5 -

Chapter 2 Classification of Passive Voice- 7 -

2.1 structural passive construction and semantic passive construction- 7 -

2.2 Semantic passive construction in English- 7 -

2.3 Classification of passive voice in Chinese- 8 -

Chapter 3 The semantic role of subject in passive voice- 9 -

3.1 Semantic role- 9 -

3.2 the semantic role of subject in passive voice- 9 -

Chapter 4 The agent of passive voice- 10 -

4.1 The omission of agent in passive voice- 10 -

4.2 The reinsertion of the agent- 10 -

Chapter 5 Pragmatic feature of passive voice- 12 -

5.1 Pragmatic feature of passive voice in English- 12 -

5.2 Pragmatic feature of passive voice in Chinese- 12 -

Chapter 6 Pragmatic function of passive voice- 14 -

6.1 Pragmatic function of passive voice in English- 14 -

6.2 Pragmatic function of passive voice in Chinese- 15 -

Chapter 7 The frequency of use of passive voice in English and in Chinese- 16 -

Chapter 8 Conclusion- 17 -

Bibliography- 18 -

Acknowledgments- 19 -