Active and Passive Voice

Voice Voice - a characteristic of verbs which indicates the relation of the verb’s action to its subject. Voice of a verb may be either “active” or “passive.”

Active Voice Active voice - the subject is acting in a sentence. Example: Cindy steered the boat. “Steered” is an active verb because it allows the subject to undertake an action.

Passive Voice Passive voice - used when the subject is being acted upon in a sentence. Example: The mountain’s peak was reached by Ed Danvers. “Was reached” - passive because it indicates that the subject (peak) is receiving an action.

Uses Both constructions are grammatically correct. Active voice - more effective in academic and business writing because it is simpler and more direct. Passive construction - effective only when the doer of the action is unknown or irrelevant. Examples The cruiseliner was hijacked. The ball was hit. The town was quarantined.

Recap Active voice verbs: Verbs that indicate the sentence’s subject as actively acting: Marvin hit the ball. Passive voice verbs: Verbs that indicated the sentence’s subject as being acted upon: The ball was hit by Marvin

Practice - Directions: Rewrite the following sentences, changing them so that each is written in a consistent voice. Before I began my research, only German fascism was studied by me. Professor Warren assigned each group a research project; however, the documentary sources were not located. For the opening flag ceremony, a dance was choreographed by Kema Jones to Bill Withers’ song “Lean on Me.” When the tickets are ready, the travel agent notifies the client. Each ticket is then listed on a daily register form, and a copy of the itinerary is filed. Seismologists have examined data concerning the recent earthquake, and reports will be filed.

Essay Evaluation Read the essay through completely. Re-write five sentences where they use passive voice and make it active. If you can’t find five places, write down as many as you can and then for the remaining sentences, copy down examples where they use active voice. What are the three major weaknesses of this paper? What are the three major strengths? Do they have all of the necessary parts to their body paragraphs? Evaluate each (positives/negatives). Do they have all of the necessary parts to their introduction and conclusion? Evaluate each (positives/negatives). What grade would you give this paper?