A typical passive construction contrasts with a basic active construction, its subject corresponds to the object of the active and the active subject is expressed as an oblique phrase or dropped, it is pragmatically restricted vis-à-vis the active, and it is marked on the verb by an affix or auxiliary. Passives that lack verbal coding (e.g. Bahamian Creole I christen in that church) also occur quite widely. Passives may also be atypical in other ways, e.g. Singlish John give his boss scold 'John was scolded by his boss', where the active subject becomes the object of the passive auxiliary give.
