Passive and Active Voice

Active Voice Shows the subject of the sentence is performing the action (to a receiver of action—the direct object) The boy ate the potato. Then he ran around the block for twenty minutes. After that his mother scolded him. S + V + DO

Passive voice Shows the subject of the sentence is the recipient of the action Switches the Subject and DO The potato was eaten by the boy. The boy ate the potato The boy was scolded by his mother. The mother scolded the boy. S (DO) + V + DO (S)

Passive voice formula Be verb (am, is, are, was, were, been, being, be) Past participle of verb (-ed unless irregular) SOMETIMES prep phrase starting with “by”

How to detect passive voice If you can add “by zombies” after the verb, and it still makes sense, it’s passive voice The money was spent The car was hit The boy was running. The car was hit by the oncoming truck The tree was knocked over by the storm

Practice: Passive or Active? The librarian read the book to the students. The employees are paid every Friday. I washed my car three weeks ago. His hair was cut by a professional stylist. The national anthem is always sung at football games.

Uses of Passive Voice When the real subject or causer of action is not as important and not the emphasis (and not even mentioned) Everyday children are harmed by bus drivers When intentionally hiding the real subject or causer of action in a sentence Politician= Mistakes were made When intentionally trying to minimize the guilt of the subject The theft was committed by the young man.

Writing a passive voice sentence All my time ____________ in doing homework. The game _______________ by only two students. The universe _________________ by God. The homework must ________________ in on time.