You are on page 1of 26

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE

VOICE

WHAT ARE VOICES OF


VERB?

VOICES OF VERB
In traditional grammar, voices of verb is defined as
the quality of verb that indicates whether its subject

acts or is acted upon.

It has two types: the active voice and the passive

voice.

WHAT IS AN ACTIVE
VOICE?

THE ACTIVE VOICE


In an active voice sentence, the subject ( the one who
does the action in the sentence) is clearly stated as the

subject.
The thing that the subject does something to ( the
direct object) comes after the verb.
Subject--Verb--object

WHAT IS A PASSIVE
VOICE?

THE PASSIVE VOICE


In a passive voice sentence, the thing that the subject does
something to, is placed as the subject of the sentence.

The subject (the one who does the action) is placed after the
subject, usually in a prepositional phrase.
In fact, sometimes the subject is hidden or not even mentioned.

LETS LOOK AT SOME


EXAMPLES OF ACTIVE VOICE
Kathy wrote an essay.
Carly made an apple pie.

The subject of the sentence performs the action.

EXAMPLES OF PASSIVE VOICE


Example 1: An essay was written by Amy.
(here, the subject is mentioned)
Example 2: An essay was written.
(here the subject is not mentioned)

*note: In passive voice , the verb is often followed with By

WHY IS ACTIVE VOICE USED


IN MOST OF THE WRITING
DONE IN SCHOOL AND AT
WORK?
Active voice focuses attention on the subject, which brings
clarity and forcefulness to your writing.
Studies show that active voice sentences (where the subject

is stated first) are easier to understand than passive voice


sentences.

LETS LOOK UP MORE


EXAMPLES:
Active voice: Students consider topics for the next essay.
Passive voice: Topics for the next essay are being considered by
the students.
*The active voice is less wordy

THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT


PASSIVE VOICE CANT OR
SHOULD NOT BE USED.

THIS BRINGS US TO WHEN


S H O U L D YO U U S E PA S S I V E VO I C E ?
1. When the receiver of the action is more important than the
subject

Active voice: RCCC rewarded Amy the best student prize.

Passive voice: Amy was rewarded the best student prize.

Here the emphasis is placed on Amy the receiver of the prize

not the school that rewarded her.

2. When you consciously try to minimize the role of the subject


or the subject is not known
o Active voice: Kris could not complete the year book

because his team misplaced the data gathered.


o Passive voice: The year book was not completed
because the data were misplaced.
3. When you write about scientific, technical, or natural
processes
o Active voice : The trucks delivered the merchandise to

the grocery stores.


o Passive voice: The merchandise is delivered to the
grocery stores.

TO RECAP WHAT WEVE TALKED


ABOUT:
o A sentence in which the subject performs the action is in
active voice.
o A sentence in which the subject receives the force of the
action of the verb is in passive voice.

STEPS ON HOW TO
CONVERT ACTIVE TO
PASSIVE

1. Move the active sentence's direct object


into the sentence's subject slot.

2. Place the active sentence's subject into


a phrase beginning with

the preposition by.

3. Add a form of the auxiliary verb be to the


main verb and change the main verb's
form.

STEPS ON HOW TO
CONVERT PASSIVE TO
ACTIVE

1. Move the passive sentence's subject into


the active sentence's direct object slot.

2. Remove the auxiliary verb be from the


main verb and change main verb's form if
needed.

3. Place the passive sentence's object of the


preposition by into the subject slot.

ACTIVE OR PASSIVE?
I ate a piece of chocolate cake.
The librarian read the book to the students.
The money was stolen.
They are paid on Fridays.

As you can see it is important to understand sentence


structures to better determine what voice to use
but remember to use active voice in most of your writing
as it makes reading easier and more interesting.

THANK YOU

You might also like