Is there a passive for the sentence "Be quiet."?

Question

How to say "Be quiet.", which is a command, in passive voice?

Is there a stylistic need for a this or is it just out of curiosity? — Mitch, Oct 08 '12 at 02:59

score 24 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 07 '12 at 11:51

24

Only transitive verbs can form passive constructions and be is not a transitive verb.

answered Oct 07 '12 at 11:51

Barrie England

140,205

score 12 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 07 '12 at 14:17

12

Quiet is a predicate adjective, and almost all predicate adjectives are intransitive. Passive can only apply to a transitive predicate.

Be is an auxiliary verb, required to hold the tense for the predicate adjective; no auxiliary verb ever governs Passive. Indeed, the Passive construction uses be itself.

edited Oct 07 '12 at 14:17

RegDwigнt

97,231

answered Oct 07 '12 at 13:17

John Lawler

107,887

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 07 '12 at 16:23

1

It seems like "Silence would be appreciated." captures the meaning without being a command.

answered Oct 07 '12 at 16:23

DQdlM

1,578

Ergwun · Answer 4 · 2012-10-08T13:15:04.423

1

"Let yourself be quieted" is a command in passive voice. While grammatically correct, it is also extremely convoluted, and sounds awkward.

"Let yourself be quietened" would be another British English variant, but no less awkward.

edited Oct 08 '12 at 13:15

answered Oct 08 '12 at 02:19

Ergwun

1,675

1

'Quieten'? This is less than rare, it is unheard of in American English. – Mitch Oct 08 '12 at 02:58
@Mitch I've updated the answer to offer the American version, and more importantly to offer a command that actually uses the passive voice. – Ergwun Oct 08 '12 at 13:17
@Mitch It's on the rise ... Ngrams: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=quieten&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=28&smoothing=3&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cquieten%3B%2Cc0 – Greybeard Jan 22 '21 at 12:06
@Greybeard Yes and seems to be acceptable by some. But always compare rises against the common alternatives, 'quieten' almost flat lines next to 'quiet' (as a verb). It still sounds like a malapropism to me. – Mitch Jan 22 '21 at 15:54

score -1 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 22 '21 at 11:18

-1

Be quiet : according to my point of view,this sentence will need verb to request to be into passive otherwise it won't change

answered Jan 22 '21 at 11:18

Hafashimana Désiré

1
1

Please support your claim with references, examples, an explanation, etc. See How to reference material written by others and How do I write a good answer?. – niamulbengali Jan 22 '21 at 11:28

score -1 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 07 '12 at 16:25

-1

Try this:

The unruly class was quieted down by the teacher sharply whacking her yardstick on her desk.

answered Oct 07 '12 at 16:25

tchrist

134,759

Is there a passive for the sentence "Be quiet."?

6 Answers6

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