ACTIVE VS. PASSIVE VOICE “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

Active Voice In a sentence using active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action expressed in the verb. Ex. The dog bit the boy.

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).

Passive voice Use of the Passive Voice We use the passive when: we want to make the active object more important or we do not know the active subject Example: President Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald. My wallet was stolen to be verbs include am, is, are, was, were, been, being, be, have, has, had

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.

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) The passive sentence takes attention away from management, so they do not have to be in the role of the “bad guys.”

Active vs. Passive Active: The dispatcher is notifying police that three prisoners have escaped. Passive: Police are being notified that three prisoners have escaped.

Active or Passive? Surgeons successfully performed a new experimental liver-transplant operation yesterday.

Active is the correct answer Surgeons successfully performed a new experimental liver-transplant operation yesterday

Active or Passive? A new experimental liver-transplant operation was performed successfully yesterday

Passive is the correct answer A new experimental liver-transplant operation was performed successfully yesterday

Which sentence uses the passive voice? A house was built at the end of the road. The spider built a web. I finished building my airplane. I am building a dog house.

Correct answer. #1. A house was built at the end of the road.

Which sentence is in the active voice? 1. The cupcakes were supplied by Ms. Jones. 2. The students were put to sleep by the boring teacher. 3. The teacher put the students to sleep with her boring lecture. 4. Towards the raft swam a shark.

Correct answer 3. The teacher put the students to sleep with her boring lecture.

Rewrite the following sentences by changing nouns to verbs. The two scientists could not arrive at a conclusion on anything. They held discussions on several topics. However, neither could put forth a proposal for a plan. They only made a translation of previous studies.

Possible Answers The two scientists could not conclude anything. They discussed several topics. However, neither proposed a plan. They only translated previous studies.

Changing From Passive to Active Voice Another way of preserving active voice is by placing the noun/s doing the action before the verb. Try it! The seeds were scattered by Jessica. A healthy harvest is expected by Jessica and her father.

Answers Jessica scattered the seeds. Jessica and her father expected a healthy harvest.

Revise by avoiding to be verbs Houses were destroyed by the storm. The cake was eaten by me. Inexpensive ways for people to have fun are provided by parks. Oxygen was discovered in 1774 by Joseph Priestley. A kitten was chosen by the family to have as a pet.

Possible Answers The storm destroyed houses I ate the cake. Parks provide inexpensive fun. Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen in 1774. The family chose a kitten as a pet.

Practice quiz https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-voice_quiz.htm

Works consulted Ebest, Sally Barr and Charles T. Brusaw. Writing from A to Z. Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing, 2000. Keen, Michael and Katherine H. Adams. Easy Access. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2002. Troyka, Lynn Quitman. Quick Access. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001. University Learning Center UP: PC 247 / BB: ACI 160 Developed by Jeniffer Viscarra