1. Active versus Passive Voice Verbs Strong Verbs Equal Strong Writing

2. Active Verbs The subject performs the action expressed in the verb; the subject acts. Steve loves Amy. Subject + verb + object

3. Passive Voice The subject receives the action expressed in the verb; the subject is acted upon. Amy is loved by Steve. Amy is the subject, but she isn’t doing anything. Rather, she is just the recipient of Steve’s love.

4. Passive Voice A ‘‘to be’’ verb is not necessarily a passive voice verb. I am holding a pen. (active) The pen is being held by me. (passive)

5. Passive Voice Sentences are awkward have obscured meaning are wordy are flat and uninteresting

6. The math exam was failed by over half the students. Half the students failed the math exam. The brakes were slammed on by her as the car sped down the hill. She slammed on the brakes as the car sped down the hill. Action on the bill is being considered by the committee. The committee is considering action on the bill.

7. The book is being read by most of the class. Most of the class is reading the book. Results will be published in the next issue of the journal. Researchers will publish their results in the next issue of the journal. Mistakes were made. We made mistakes.

8. Lesson Plan Resources http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_actpass.html http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/active-voice-versus-passive-voice.aspx