2. Verbs: Active vs. Passive

3. Active and Passive Verbs
When we talk about active and passive verbs, we usually talk about voice.
In passive voice:
the subject doesn’t do anything, they just passively receive an action
In the active voice:
the subject does something; they perform an action
Joanna was scratched by the cat.
Passive: Joanna receives the scratch.
The cat scratched Joanna.
Active: The cat performs the scratching.

4. Active and Passive Verbs
Passive voice always includes “blah verbs” (is, are, was, being, etc.). Use the active voice wherever possible:
Karate lessons are being taken by Roberta. (passive)
Roberta takes karate lessons. (active)
Answers to the survey were sought by Dr. Eggleston. (passive)
Dr. Eggleston seeks answers to the survey. (active)

5. Practice Active vs. Passive
Change all passive verbs to active verbs:
Sheila was the winner of the race.
Sheila won the race.
The computer was destroyed by a lightning bolt.
A lightning bolt destroyed the computer.
The entire book was read by only two students in the class.
Only two students in the class read the entire book.
The boy was scratched by the cat.
The cat scratched the boy.
My essay was graded by Mr. Black.
Mr. Black graded my essay.

6. Practice Active vs. Passive
Change all passive verbs to active verbs:
Action on the proposal is being considered by Dr. Dennis.
Dr. Dennis is considering action on the proposal.
The door was slammed by my friend.
My friend slammed the door.
Announcements of reading topics will be published in the newspaper each week.
The newspaper publishes announcements of the reading topics each week.

7. Exciting Verbs
Even when we change from active to passive, we need to also make sure the active verb is exciting. Change these to more interesting verbs:
The tiger ate the antelope.
The tiger devoured the antelope.
The Buffalo hurt the hunter.
The Buffalo gored the hunter.
He uses time wisely when writing essays.
He maximizes time when writing essays.
The lion ate the gazelle.
The lion gobbled the gazelle.

8. Exciting Verbs (cont.) He was hurt by the boxer.
The boxer bludgeoned him.
The pedestrian was run over by the school bus.
The school bus mangled the pedestrian.
I had a disagreement with the referee.
I argued with the referee
I had dinner with the sheriff.
I dined with the sheriff.