Transcript Active vs. Passive Voice

Active vs. Passive
Voice
Developed by
Ivan Seneviratne
Why should writers think about their
verbs?
“Verbs are the most important of all
your tools. They push the sentence
forward and give it momentum.
Active verbs push hard; passive verbs
tug fitfully.”
-- William Zinsser,
On Writing Well
What is Active Voice?
In the Active voice, the subject performs the
action.
For example:
Joseph draws a picture.
 Joseph is the subject and he is doing
something (drawing).
When to use active voice
 Use active voice unless you are required or have very
specific reasons for doing otherwise.
 Active voice generally leads to more concise writing.
 It clarifies who is performing the action.
Remember: Staying active is a healthy practice, especially
in your writing!
What is passive voice?
In passive voice the subject is acted upon.
For example:
The picture was drawn by Joseph.
In this case, the drawing is the subject and it is being
acted upon by Joseph.
When to use passive voice
Use passive voice when you do not wish to emphasize
the subject of the sentence.
Example:
Smoking is prohibited. (passive)
The management prohibits smoking. (active)

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The passive sentence takes attention away
from management, so they do not have to be
in the role of the “bad guys.”
Passive Voice (con’d)
Also use passive voice when you wish to emphasize
what happened and the person or thing acting is
unknown or unimportant.
Example
Poisonous gases were found in six factories.

The use of passive emphasizes the finding of
gases, not who found them.
Note: Because passive voice often leads to awkward or wordy
constructions, use passive voice sparingly and with good reason.
Overview
Active Voice: Subject does the action
Passive Voice:
action happens to the subject.
uses form of “to be” or “am, is, are, was, were, being,
been” plus a past participle.
A past participle is the ed form of regular verbs for
irregular verbs: en, n, t
There is no reason to stay here.
This was the situation.
It is sometimes hard to forgive.
The boy was impressed by Ms. Jones.
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Ivan’s Matrix
Passive
(be+V4)
Simple
Progressive
Perfect
Present
am
is + V4
are
am
is +being+ V4
are
has +been+V4
have
Past
was + V4
were
was +being+V4
were
had +been+V4
will+be+V4
*
*
Future
Active vs. Passive (1)
TENSE
ACTIVE
PASSIVE
Present
Simple
Jane writes the letter.
The letter is written by Jane.
Present
Jane is writing the letter.
Progressive
The letter is being written by Jane.
Present
Perfect
The letter has been written by
Jane.
Jane has written the letter.
Active vs. Passive (2)
TENSE
ACTIVE
PASSIVE
Past
Simple
Jane wrote the letter
The letter was written by Jane
Past
Jane was writing the letter The letter was being written by Jane
Progress.
Past
Perfect
Jane had written the letter The letter had been written by Jane
Simple
Future
Jane will write the letter
The letter will be written by Jane
Change the following sentences into
passive
1. They have arrested him for shoplifting.
He has been arrested for shoplifting.
2. People in Chile speak Spanish.
Spanish is spoken in Chile.
3. They are repairing your car now.
Your car is being repaired now.
4. Solar power drives this car.
This car is driven by solar power.
5. The Chinese invented paper.
Paper was invented by the Chinese.
6. They do not sell stamps in bookshops.
Stamps are not sold in bookshops.
7. Somebody will tell you where to go.
You will be told where to go.
8. Philip Kotler wrote the marketing management
book.
The marketing management book was written by Philip
Kotler.
9. The company has imported new computers from
Japan.
New computers have been imported by the company
from Japan
10. The personnel manager is still considering your
application.
Your application is still being considered by the personnel
manager.
Summary
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Use active voice unless specified otherwise.
Make sure the subject is acting and not being
acted upon.
Use the verb form of words with suffixes
Place subjects in front of the action they perform
(this often eliminates to be verbs)
Avoid to be forms of verbs
This presentation is developed by Ivan Seneviratne © 2007
purely for personal use.
[email protected]