Welcome to the Virtual Classroom This presentation looks at ACTIVE and PASSIVE VOICE

Active and Passive Voice The skill of a writer is to communicate thoughts through the written word, and to use language with clarity to tell a story. The use of active or passive voice determines the style of writing. “In most cases the active voice is preferred to the passive voice. The active voice is stronger than the passive, and therefore produces more powerful sentences.”

If the subject of the sentence is the person or thing doing the acting, then the verb is in active voice.” “If the subject of the sentence is the person receiving the action, then the verb is in passive voice. e.g. The vet placed the dog gently on the operating table, but he knew the chance for success was slim. Active or Passive?

The vet placed the dog gently on the operating table. The dog had been placed gently on the operating table by the vet

Construction of Active Voice Sentences Subject + Active Verb + Object e.g. The VET (Subject) + placed (Active Verb) + the DOG (Object)

Transform to Passive Voice When changing active to passive voice, make sure you keep the same verb tense. If the subject is X and the object Y The Active is X + (VERB) + Y The Passive is Y + (VERB) + X e.g. The dog (Y now X) had been placed gently on the operating table by the vet (X now Y) who knew a successful outcome had been slim.

GRAMMAR CHECKERS can assist you with active and passive voice because they signal (use green underlining) passive verbs. As the writer, you have to decide whether you want your sentences to be in active or passive voice. If passive verbs are signaled and you decide to write in active voice, then you can just rewrite your sentence.

Deciding: What Voice should I use? When deciding whether to use the active or passive voice, think about the purpose of the sentence and the audience for whom it was intended. Then determine which part of the sentence is more important - the action itself or the person or thing doing the acting

When to Choose Passive Voice In scientific writing e.g. Twenty cc of acid was poured into the beaker When the writer wants to say something indirectly e.g. The fence had fallen and Tommy was too small to stop it. When the person performing the action is unimportant or just unknown e.g. My report was deleted by the computer Avoid responsibility e.g. The cigarette ads were designed to attract the young smokers

Examples of Active Voice The small child shivered and turned his head away Tommy saw the fence was falling Using active voice makes your meaning clear for readers, and keeps the sentences from becoming too complicated and wordy

Convert from active to passive Tommy saw the fence was falling The small child shivered and turned his head away Julie will give a presentation to the class The vet gave the dog an injection Remember the formula X becomes Y (Subject becomes Object) Y becomes X (Object Becomes Subject)

A few useful links Copy and paste the url into your browser to access the site.

There is no exercise attached to this session, however I encourage you to practice changing Passive to Active voice until you feel comfortable with this important technique.