英语和汉语一样，其动作都有主动和被动之分，汉语中不是所有的动词都可采用被动结构；同样道理，英语中也有不少动词不能用于被动结构，即被动语态。英语中，除不及物动词---即后面不能加宾语的动词不能用于被动语态外，还有下列情况不能使用被动语态的结构： 一、表示静态、容纳、适合等的及物动词。例如： She has a nice car． The woolen coat fits her well． 二、宾语是动词不定式、动名词。例如： They promised me to go with me． Mr．Smith wanted to have a try． I enjoy listening to pop music． 三、宾语是反身代词。例如： She hurt herself this morning． They warned themselves to be careful． 四、宾语是人身上的一部分或器官。例如： He put his hand on his chest and began to cough． I could hardly believe my ears． 五、宾语是相互代词。例如： They help each other in study． We must learn from each other． 六、表示地点、处所、机构、团体、组织的名词作宾语。例如： She joined the Party last year． My dad reached Beijing this afternoon． 七、宾语表示行为、方式，在意义上相当于状语。例如： She did her best． We shall make up our minds． 八、宾语表示数量、重量、长度、大小等，在意义上相当于状语。例如： They walked two miles． The film lasted one and a half hours． This desk weighs 10kilograms． 九、系动词sound，look，become，appear等也不能用于被动语态。例如： Miss Li became a doctor ten years ago． This plan sounds a good one． 十、一些词，如happen，take place，occur，last，belong to等等，在汉语角度看来可用被动结构，但英语只能用主动结构。例如： Great changes have taken place in my hometown since 1949． This car belongs to my uncle． 十一、及物动词及其宾语在意义上构成不可分割的固定词组。例如： I made faces to have the baby laugh． We should never lose heart． 十二、一些宾语从句也不能变成被动语态，否则意义就变了。例如： I knew that I was wrong then．（我认识到当时我错了。） It was known that I was wrong then． ＝I was known to be wrong then．（人们知道当时我错了。） 十三、当宾语是抽象名词时。例如： We showed special interest in science． 十四、当宾语为同源宾语时。例如： We lived a hard life in the old days． 总之，能否用被动语态，除了应了解英语的一些语法规则之外，还要充分考虑汉语的说话习惯，掌握其普通规律，同时注意一些特殊情况，否则就会出现"中国式英语"，也没法学到"地道的英语"。