Active and Passive Voice

Review of Sentence Structure: Order of most sentences is Subject, Verb, Object (SVO) Molly ran home Subject Verb Object Subject: the one doing the action Object: the thing receiving the action

Definitions Active Voice – a verb in this tense expresses an action performed by its subject. The blazing fire destroyed the walls. Passive Voice – a verb in this tense expresses an action done to its subject. The walls were destroyed by the blazing fire.

Passive Voice The object in an active sentence becomes subject of passive. In passive, the subject is in a prepositional phrase. Active: She grows corn on her farm. Passive: Corn is grown on her farm. Active: She will plant the corn in 2 weeks Passive: The corn will be planted in 2 weeks.

Passive Voice Notice the change in verb tense: Active: The students took the test. Passive: The test was taken by the students. Active: I remember the Alamo. Passive: The Alamo was remembered by me.

Passive Voice Verbs in passive sentences have the following construction: “to be” verb + -ed/-en form of verb. Active: I remember the Alamo. Passive: The Alamo was remembered by me.

When to Use Passive Voice When performer of action is difficult to specify. The mayor was elected by a landslide. When you don’t know who performed an action. My brother’s bicycle was stolen yesterday. When you don’t want to give away the performer’s identity. Vicious rumors have been spread about him.

Remember, however, that active voice writing is much more direct and forceful.

Identifying Active/Passive Voice The art of Lucia Wilcox was admired by many artists around the world. Her blindness during the last years made her final works particularly interesting. Exhibits of her paintings were shown in art galleries all over the world. Her blindness occurred suddenly, though not unexpectedly. It was caused by a tumor near the optic nerve.