Transcript Active and Passive Voice

Active and Passive
Voice
Voice
• The voice of a verb tells whether the
subject of the sentence performs (agent)
or receives (receiver) the action.
• In English there are two voices: passive
and active.
Active and Passive
Voice
Active Voice In active voice, the subject
performs the action expressed by the
verb:
• The student wrote a song.
• The dog bit the mailman.
Active and Passive
Voice
Passive Voice In passive voice, the
subject receives the action expressed by
the verb:
• A song was written by the student.
• The mailman was bitten by the dog.
Active and Passive
Voice
EX. The mailman was bitten by the dog.
• The mailman has become the subject of
this sentence, but he isn't performing the
action; the dog is the one doing the
biting.
Active and Passive
Voice
Forming Tenses of Passive Verbs
The passive voice always consists of two
parts: a form of the verb "to be" + past
participle.
Active and Passive
Voice
The use of the passive
voice is not necessarily
grammatically incorrect,
but it is stylistically
undesirable
Active and Passive
Voice
Problems with Passive Voice:
• Passive voice obscures or loses part of the
substance (the actor) of a sentence.
• When you use passive voice, the receiver
of the action (object) becomes the subject
of the sentence; and the actor appears in
a prepositional phrase after the verb
Active and Passive
Voice
Problems with Passive Voice:
• a. Calisthenics were conducted by the
Coach.
• Calisthenics (subject) were conducted
(verb) by the Coach (actor).
(Calisthenics is not the actor.)
Active and Passive
Voice
Problems with Passive Voice:
• Worse yet, you can leave the actor out
completely and still have a good English
sentence. This means you have eliminated part
of the substance.
• Your pay records were lost.
• Your pay records (subject) were lost (verb).
(No actor)
Active and Passive
Voice
Problems with Passive Voice:
• This construction is beneficial for sources
that wish to elude blame:
• Mistakes (subject) were made (verb).
Active and Passive
Voice
Problems with Passive Voice
Passive voice is less efficient than active voice.
Active writing usually requires fewer words to
get the same message to your audience.
Active: George ate the chocolate bar.
Passive: The chocolate bar was eaten by George.
Active and Passive
Voice
Appropriate times to use Passive Voice:
1. Use passive voice when you want to
emphasize the receiver of the action.
• Passive: Your mother was taken to the hospital.
• Active: An ambulance took your mother to the
hospital.
Active and Passive
Voice
Appropriate times to use Passive Voice:
2. Use passive voice when you don't know
who performed the action.
• Passive: The rifle was stolen.
• Active: A person stole the rifle.
Active and Passive
Voice
Appropriate times to use Passive Voice:
3. Distance is created by the writer with the
passive voice. 