In English, passive voice constructions are commonly used to shift the focus of the sentence from the subject to the action or the object receiving the action. The sentence, ‘The patient was taken good care of at the hospital,’ contains a passive voice structure that might be confusing for some learners, particularly when considering omitted parts of the sentence.
What is Passive Voice?
Passive voice in English occurs when the subject of the sentence is the recipient of the action, rather than the doer of the action. This is formed using a form of the verb ‘to be’ (in this case, ‘was’) followed by the past participle of the main verb (‘taken’). The agent of the action (who is doing it) is sometimes omitted if it’s not necessary or if it’s implied.
In the sentence, ‘The patient was taken good care of at the hospital,’ the focus is on the patient, who is receiving the action (being taken care of), but the subject performing the action is not explicitly mentioned.
Understanding the Omitted Part: ‘by them’
In the given sentence, it is implied that someone or a group (e.g., hospital staff or caregivers) is taking care of the patient, but the agent (the ‘doer’ of the action) is not mentioned. The sentence could be expanded to include this information, like so: ‘The patient was taken good care of by them at the hospital.’ Here, ‘by them’ indicates the agent performing the action, which in this case is the hospital staff or caregivers.
It’s common for sentences in passive voice to omit the agent, especially when the focus is meant to be on the action or the recipient of the action. In many cases, if the agent is obvious or unimportant, it’s simply left out.
Why Are Agents Omitted in Passive Voice?
In passive constructions, omitting the agent is a stylistic choice often made to keep the focus on the object or the recipient of the action, rather than the person or group performing the action. This can be especially useful when the agent is unknown, irrelevant, or already implied by the context.
For example, in the case of the sentence ‘The patient was taken good care of at the hospital,’ the focus is on the patient’s well-being and the fact that they were cared for, not on who specifically performed the action. If the identity of the caregiver is obvious or not necessary to the message, omitting the agent is both natural and acceptable.
Conclusion: Is ‘by them’ Implied?
Yes, in the sentence ‘The patient was taken good care of at the hospital,’ the phrase ‘by them’ is implied, even though it is not explicitly stated. The structure of the sentence follows the rules of passive voice, where the agent is often omitted when it is not crucial to the sentence’s meaning. Understanding this subtlety in passive voice constructions helps improve both comprehension and writing skills in English.
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