BUSINESS ENGLISH - 05/05/2015
LESSON 9
UNIT 12
PASSIVES
We use an active verb to say what the subject does:
“It’s a big company. It employs two hundred people”;
“My grandfather was a builder. He built this house”.
We use a passive verb to say what happens to the subject:
“Two hundred people are employed by the company”;
“This house is quite old. It was built in 1930”.
How to form the passive.
Present simple: to be (am/is/are) + past participle (seen /
told / invited, etc.)
Present continuous: to be (am/is/are) + being + past
participle:
“They are cleaning the room” (Active) :“The room is
being cleaned” (Passive)
Past simple: to be (was/were) + past participle
“Somebody cleaned this room” (Active) :
“This room was cleaned yesterday” (Passive)
Past continuous
“Somebody was cleaning the room when I arrived”
(Past continuous Active)
“The room was being cleaned when I arrived” (Past
continuous Passive)
Was/were + being + past participle
Present perfect :
“The room looks nice. Somebody has cleaned it”
(Present perfect Active)
“ The room looks nice. It has been cleaned (Present
perfect Passive)
Past perfect:
“The room looked nice. Somebody had cleaned it”
(Past perfect Active)
“The room looked nice. It had been cleaned” (Past
perfect Passive)
FIGURES OF SPEECH
THEY ARE PART OF OUR EVERYDAY LANGUAGE
THE USE OF SIMILITUDES AND ANALOGIES BETWEEN
OBJECTS, ANIMALS, PLANTS, COLORS AND THE
HUMAN BODY TO NAME OTHER OBJECTS OR
ABSTRACT CONCEPTS DOMINATES ENTIRE WHOLE
SECTIONS OF OUR VOCABULARY.
MANY COMMON AND SPECIALIZED TERMS
ARE VERY CREATIVE: DRAGON FLY
(LIBELLULA) - GRASSHOPPER (CAVALLETTA)
– RAINBOW (ARCOBALENO) - HOUR-GLASS
(CLESSIDRA) - CRANE (GRU MECCANICA).
IDIOMS, OR SET PHRASES, USE SIMILITUDES,
METAPHORS, METONIMIES, HYPERBOLES,
AND SO ON: TO BREAK THE ICE - TO HAVE A
GREEN EYE (TO BE JELOUS) - DEVIL’S BONES
(DADI) - HONEST AS A MIRROR, ETC.
THE FIGURATIVE USE OF A WORD EXTENDS IT
MEANING AND ITS EXPRESSIVE POTENTIALS:
BEAR MARKET - ‘FAT PROFITS FOR NO-FAT
SNACKS’ - TO KILL A BILL (BOCCIARE UN
PROGETTO DI LEGGE) - BOND BULLS - RED
TAPE AROUND THE WORLD - THE IRON LADY
A DEFINITION OF METAPHOR:
TWO DIFFERENT ELEMENTS ARE COMBINED
VIA ANALOGY. THUS A QUALITY, NORMALLY
RECOGNISED AS BELONGING TO A
PARTICULAR AREA OF LEXIS, IS USED TO
APPLY TO ANOTHER MORE UNUSUAL AREA:
TIME IS RUNNING OUT! SUGGESTS THAT TIME
IS NOT A RENEWABLE RESOURCE.
THERE ARE DIFFERENT KINDS OF METAPHORS:
ANTHROPOMORPHIC METAPHORS OR
PERSONIFICATION: WHITE KNIGHT (AN
ORGANIZATION THAT RESCUES A COMPANY FROM
BEING BOUGHT AT TOO LOW A PRICE), PREDATOR (AN
ORGANIZATION THAT EPLOITS OTHER
ORGANIZATIONS), LEADER (EDITORIAL).
1.
ANIMAL METAPHORS:, GALOPPING INFLATION,
LEGAL EAGLE (AVVOCATO), LAME DUCK (POLITICO
CHE HA PERSO CREDIBILITA’), DARK HORSE
(CANDIDATO POCO NOTO MA CON BUONE
POSSIBILITA’), BUG (MICROSPIA), CATS AND DOGS
(AZIONI DI SCARSO VALORE), WATCHDOG COMMITTEE
(COMMISSIONE DI SORVEGLIANZA), CASH COW
(SETTORE AD ALTO RENDIMENTO DI UN’AZIENDA),
SHARK (USURAIO).
2.
3. CONCRETIVE METAPHORS: PLATFORM
(PIATTAFORMA ELETTORALE), IRON CURTAIN,
RAINBOW COALITION (COALIZIONE DI
INTERESSI DIVERSIFICATI), POLITICAL
TSUNAMI, TO INUNDATE THE MARKET, PIE
CHART, EMIGRATION OF CAPITAL.
4. EUPHEMISTIC METAPHORS: FRIENDLY
MERGER (FUSIONE), FRIENDLY FIRE.
SIMILITUDE OR SIMILE

IT IS LIKE A METAPHOR, BECAUSE IS A
COMPARISON BETWEEN TO DIFFERENT
ENTITIES, BUT IS MORE EXPLICIT AS IT USES: LIKE, AS, RESEMBLE, LOOK LIKE:

BENT AS A BOOMERANG, TO STING LIKE A
BEE, ALMOND-SHAPED EYES, CLEAR AS
CRYSTAL, NATIVE-LIKE COMPETENCE.
METONYMY AND SYNECDOCHE
ENTAILS THE SUBSTITUTION THE NAME OF A
THING WITH THE NAME OF AN ATTRIBUTE
OF IT OR OF SOMETHING CLOSELY RELATED.
THUS IT DOES NOT SUGGEST NEW
ANALOGIES (LIKE METAPHOR), BUT ARISES
WITH TERMS THAT ARE IN A RAPPORT OF
CONTIGUITY. IT HAS EFFECTIVE OUCOMES.
SYNECDOCHE: A LESS COMPREHENSIVE
TERM IS USED FOR A MORE COMPREHENSIVE
ONE, AND VICEVERSA: ‘A SAIL IN THE SEA’ (I
REALLY MEAN A SAILBOAT: I’M MENTIONING
A PART OF THE OBJECT).
METONYMY IS ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR
THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEXICON. VERY
EXPRESSIVE.
THERE ARE MANY KINDS OF METONIMIES:
1.
2.
PLACE FOR THE EVENT: PEARL HARBOR,
KYOTO, BOLOGNA.
BUILIDNG/PLACE FOR THE INSTITUTION:
THE WHITE HOUSE, IL COLLE, DOWNING
STREET, FLEET STREET (UK PRESS),
PENTAGON.
3. THE OBJECT FOR THE PERSON: A SUIT, BLUE COLLAR
(OPERAIO), WHITE COLLAR (IMPIEGATO), PINK COLLAR
(LAVORATRICE), THE BENCH (MAGISTRATURA), THE
CROWN (MONARCHIA UK), RED COAT (BRITISH
SOLDIER).
4. THE INSTITUTION/INSTRUMENT FOR THE PEOPLE:
THE TIMES (JOURANLISTS), THE SAX (SAXOPHONE
PLAYER)
5. THE DATE FOR THE EVENT: SEPTEMBER 11,
DECEMBER 25
CAN YOU IDENTIFY THE METONYMY?
1. SOME NEW FACES WERE SEEN AT THE PARTY
MEETING.
2. WASHINGTON ATTACKED BEIJING
3. THE FILM WAS ONE OF HOLLIWOOD’S BEST
4. SHARES ROSE SHARPLY AT WALL STREET
YESTERDAY
5. OSAMA BIN LADEN ATTACKED THE WORLD
TRADE CENTER
CAN YOU IDENTIFY THE METAPHOR?
1. THE WEATHER TURNED SCHIZOPHRENIC AT THE
WEEKEND.
2. MALTA FEARS IT WILL SINK UNDER A GROWING
TIDE OF MIGRANTS
3. WE ARE BEING BOMBARDED WITH INQUIRIES.
4. THE EPISODE EFFECTIVELY DIED A NATURAL
DEATH.
5. I WILL NOT BE HELD TO RANSOM BY SUCH A
QUESTION.
HOMEWORK: Do the exercises on the ‘Dispense’ (they have an
answer key) + FINISH UNIT 12.