Is there a passive voice in Nigerian Pidgin?

Voice is a grammatical term that describes the relationship between the action/state expressed by a verb, and the subject and object in a sentence. When the subject performs the action, the verb is in the active voice. When the subject is the target of or undergoes the action, the verb is considered to be in the passive voice. The active voice is used when we want to be clear and direct. The passive voice is used to emphasize the action, the recipient of the action, or when the doer of the action is irrelevant/unknown.

Unlike English language, Nigerian Pidgin does NOT have a canonical passive voice. This is important to keep in mind when translating from English to Nigerian Pidgin. English writing, especially formal writing like news articles and academic papers, features a lot of sentences in the passive voice. When translating to Nigerian Pidgin, there are a number of strategies you can employ to handle this:

Make the actor the subject

If the actor is known, you can simply use the active voice.

Examples:

  • The mouse is being chased by the cat.
    • Correct: Di cat dey chase di mouse.
    • Wrong: Di mouse déy chased by di cat.
  • Our house was sold by an experienced realtor.
    • Correct: Na experienced realtor wey sell awa house.
    • Wrong: Awa house bin déy sold by experienced realtor.

Use an impersonal pronoun

If the actor is not known, you can use an impersonal pronoun like dem or person.

Examples:

  • Money was stolen from the house.
    • Correct: Person steal money from di house.
    • Wrong: Money bin déy stolen from di house.
  • This machine is used for boring holes.
    • Correct: Dem dey use dis machine bore holes.
    • Wrong: Dis machine déy used to take bore holes.

Use topic fronting

This involves moving the actor to the beginning of the sentence in order to make it the topic.

Examples:

  • The chairs were imported from Canada by my father.
    • Correct: My father, e bin import di chairs from Canada.
    • Wrong: Di chairs bin déy imported from Canada by my father.
  • Football is played by the girls.
    • Correct: Di girls, dem dey play football.
    • Wrong: Football déy played by di girls.

Stative vs passive constructions

Stative and passive constructions are similar. Passive constructions must be translated to the active voice in Nigerian Pidgin, but stative constructions don’t have to change. Thus, it’s helpful to be able to distinguish between the two.

Stative

Examples:

  • When I arrived, the door was closed.
    • Correct: Wen I arrive, di door bin déy closed.
    • Incorrect translation: Wen I arrive, dem close di door.
  • Nigeria is known for its music and movie industries.
    • Correct: Dem sabi Nigeria for im music and movie industries.
    • Correct: Nigeria déy known for im music and movie industries.

Passive

Examples:

  • At 10 pm, the door was closed by the security guard.
    • Correct: Di security guard bin close di door by 10 pm.
    • Wrong: By 10 pm, di door bin déy closed by di security guard.
  • Nigeria was known by the imperialists then.
    • Correct: Di imperialists bin know Nigeria by dat time.
    • Wrong: Nigeria bin déy known by di imperialists by dat time.

Scroll to Top