The problem of translation of passive constructions.

English and Russian passive forms are different both in type of form constructions and in frequency.

English passive voice is used more frequently due to the various types of construction it occurs in. Whereas Russian passive voice construction is formed only by transitive verbs requiring a direct object when used as an active voice structure, English passive is classified into four types of construction:

a) direct passive: A book was given to him. It has a corresponding Russian passive voice form: Книгабыладанаему.

b) indirect passive: He was given the book. This form is translated by the corresponding Russian active voice verb in the impersonal sentence: Емудалиэтукнигу.

c) prepositional passive: The article was not referred to. – Наэтустатьюнессылались. The corresponding Russian impersonal sentence is also with the active verb.

d) adverbial passive: The room hasn’t been lived in. When translated into Russian, the passive construction is substituted by an active one, sometimes a subject of the sentence is introduced: Вкомнатениктонежил/неживет.

Thus, only one type of English passive construction has a direct correspondence in Russian. But not all English direct passive constructions can be transformed into Russian passive, since the verb transitivity in English and Russian does not coincide. Cf. to enter the room – войтивкомнату, to join the party – вступитьвпартию, to follow somebody – следоватьзакем-то, to attend the meeting – присутствоватьнасобрании, to influence somebody – влиятьнакого-то: The next morning this event was reported by all the papers. – Наследующееутрообэтомсобытиисообщиливсегазеты.

Care should be taken when translating English parallel passive verbs, since they may correspond in Russian to the verbs of different cases: He was trusted and respected. – Емудоверялииегоуважали. In this case the Russian sentence requires repetition of the pronominal object (ему – его); otherwise, the sentence would sound grammatically incorrect (*Емудоверялииуважали).

As for passive forms, there are two types in English: be-passive and get-passive. The latter is mostly used to indicate the starting point of the action: They got married. – Онипоженились. The get-passive is also used to express negative connotation, when the object of the action undergoes something unpleasant or dangerous: He got hurt. – Онушибся.(Он обиделся.) He got injured in a road accident. – Он получил травму во время дорожной аварии.

In Russian there are also two passive verb forms. They derive from the parallel synthetic and analytical forms: строился – былпостроен. The difference between the forms is either semantic or stylistic. As for their meanings, the analytical form denotes a state, whereas the synthetic form expresses a process: Домбылпостроенэтойбригадой. – Домстроилсяэтойбригадой. In English this difference is translated by the Simple and the Progressive forms, respectively: The house was built by this team. – The house was being built by this team. When no agent of the action is mentioned, the Russian synthetic verb form can be substituted in English by the prepositional noun predicative: Мостстроитсяспрошлогогода. – The bridge has been under construction since last year. Or the difference between the forms can be stylistic: while the analytical form is used in literary or academic works, the synthetic form in colloquial speech can also denote a fact, not a process, thus corresponding to the English the house was built by this team.

As for the synonymy of the indefinite personal active and passive forms in Russian, the difference lies in style: the passive form is more formal: George was invited to spend the month of August in Crome. – Cf. 1) ДжорджбылприглашенпровестиавгуствКроуме.

2) Джорджа пригласили провести август в Кроуме.

One challenge of translating is the English “double passive”. It takes place when the main predicate is used in the passive voice and the following infinitive is also passive: The treaty is reported to have been signed by both parties. In translation, the predicate can be substituted by the active verb: Сообщают, чтодоговоружеподписанобеимисторонами. The principal clause can also be substituted by a parenthetical one: Каксообщают, договоружеподписанобеимисторонами. Or the passive infinitive can be substituted for the active one, so that the sentence subject turns into the sentence object: The prisoners were ordered to be shot. – Былоприказанорасстрелятьпленников. Finally, there might be a substitution by the noun: The music is intended to be played on the piano. – Музыкапредназначенадляигрынафортепьяно.