Differences in the Comprehension of Passive Voice in German- and English-Speaking Children

Abstract

This study tested the understanding of sentences in active and passive voice in 60 German and 46 British preschool children. In German and English passive sentences, the object of the active phrase appears in the topic position. Whereas the German language also allows active sentences with the object as topic, English nearly always requires the sequence subject-predicate-object. Participants listened to 24 active and passive sentences that differed in plausibility (likely, neutral, or unlikely). Their understanding was tested by asking them to either choose a correct line drawing depicting the sentence or to act it out with dolls. Results showed no effect of the plausibility of an event. However, English children did not exhibit a full comprehension of passives until they were about 1 year older than German children. It is concluded that this is due largely to how the passive relates to the rest of a language’s grammar.