ACTIVE
AND PASSIVE VOICE
Active Voice:
When the subject of a verb performs an action the verb is said to be in the
active voice. The effect of the action may or may not fall on an object, that
is, the verb may or may not have an object.
Examples: The
boy kicked the ball.
The girl cries.
In the first
sentence, ‘kicked’ is the verb or the action; the ‘boy’ is the subject or the
‘doer’ who performs that action; and the ‘ball’ is the object on whom the
effect of that action is directed. In the second sentence, ‘cries’ is the verb
or the action; and the ‘girl’ is the subject or the doer of that action. There
is no object because the effect of the girl’s crying cannot be directed at
another object.
Passive
Voice: When the object of a verb appears to perform an action so that the
effect of that action appears to fall on the subject the verb is said to be in
the passive voice.
Examples: The
work was completed on time.
The song was sung beautifully by the
singer.
A sentence in
the active voice can be converted to form a sentence in the passive voice.
Examples: A
film was watched by us.
A kite was flown by me.
Rules for
changing voice:
• Only sentences containing transitive
verbs can be changed from the active voice to the passive voice. A subject—that
is, a ‘doer’ of the action—is required to change a sentence from the passive to
the active voice.
Examples: My mother cut the fruit.
The fruit was cut by my mother.
Here, the
object ‘fruit’ is acted upon by the doer ‘mother’.
Reasons to use the passive voice:
1. The agent (doer) of the action is unimportant.
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Example: The pyramids were built thousands of years ago.
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2. The agent is unknown.
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Example: Several robberies were committed during the
night.
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3. The agent is common knowledge, and mentioning it would
be redundant.
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Example: George Bush was elected in 2000.
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4. The writer desires to control focus of sentence.
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to
de-emphasize the agent’s role in the action
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Example: The alarm was triggered by my son. [Passive
construction shifts focus away from the son’s responsibility.]
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to
emphasize the party receiving the action
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Example: Jack was kicked by Jill.
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Reasons to use the active voice:
The active voice is shorter and more direct.
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Compare:
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Active: The waiter dropped the tray of
food.
Passive: The tray of food was dropped by the waiter. |
The active voice is less awkward and clearly states
relationship between subject and action.
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Compare
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Passive: Your request for funding has
been denied by the review committee.
Active: The review committee denied your request for funding. |
The active voice sentence pattern propels the
reader forward through your writing thus avoiding weak prose.
Identifying
Passive Voice Verbs:
Verbs have two voices: active and passive.
In active voice sentences, the verb expresses
the action in the sentence, the subject performs the action, and the object is
the recipient of the action. Active sentences follow the pattern:
subject-verb-object.
Jill kicked Jack.
In a passive voice sentence, the subject and
object flip-flop. The subject becomes the passive recipient of the action.
Jack was kicked by Jill.
The passive voice requires a "double verb" and will always consist of a form of the verb "to be" and the past participle (usually the "en/ed/t" form) of another verb. Example: is kicked
Writers should be familiar with the forms of "to be" so that they can easily identify the passive voice in their work.
Review the forms of "to be": am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been
Note the forms of "to be" in the examples of the verb "to kick" in various forms of the passive voice:
is kicked----------------had been kicked
was kicked-------------is going to be kicked
is being kicked---------will be kicked
has been kicked-------can be kicked
was being kicked------should be kicked
Often passive voice sentences will contain a "by" phrase indicting who or what performed the action. Passive sentences can be easily transformed into active sentences when the object of the preposition "by" is moved to the subject position in the sentence.
Passive: The cookies were eaten by the children.
Active: The children ate the cookies.
Passive: The tunnels are dug by the gophers.
Active: The gophers dug the tunnels.
(Used with permission from Oregon State University Business Writing web page by Donna Shaw www.orst.edu )
Example:
Simple present tense
Active: He drives the car.
Passive: Car is driven by him.
Simple past tense
Active: The government built a new road in the city
Passive: A new road was built in the city by the government
Present continuous
Active: The waves are washing away the sandcastle.
Passive: The sandcastle is being washed away by the waves.
Past continuous
Active:
Jimmy was making our costumes.
Passive:
Our costumes were being made by Jimmy.
Present
perfect
Active:
I have seen that movie.
Passive:
That movie has been seen by me
Past
perfect
Active:
The hunter had caught a fox.
Passive:
A fox had been caught by the hunter.
Modals
(must)
Active : You must obey the traffic rules.
Passive: The traffic rules must be obeyed.
Haris
Krisnadi
4SA02
19610032
