In a passive sentence, the subject does not perform the action in
the sentence. In fact, the action is performed on it.
Examples:
Examples:
- Anita was driven to the theatre.In this example, "Anita" is the subject of the sentence - subject of the verb "was". However, she did not perform the action of the verb "to drive". The action was done to her; she was the recipient of the action.)
- Nowadays, kites are protected.("kites" - passive subject, i.e., the action is being done to them)
- The olives are stoned and crushed in this area. ("olives" - passive subject, i.e., the actions are being done to them)
Examples:
- Anita was driven to the theatre by Carla.
- Nowadays, kites are protected by law.
- The olives are stoned and crushed in this area by my son.
One can
change the normal word order of many active sentences (those with a direct object)
so that the subject is no longer active, but is, instead, being acted
upon by the verb - or passive.
Note in these examples how the subject-verb relationship has changed.
Because
the subject is being "acted upon" (or is passive), such
sentences are said to be in the passive voice.
NOTE: Colorful
parrots live in the rainforests cannot be changed to passive voice
because the sentence does not have a direct object.
To change
a sentence from active to passive voice, do the following:
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
Because
passive voice sentences necessarily add words and change the normal doer-action-receiver
of action direction, they may make the reader work harder to
understand the intended meaning.
As the
examples below illustrate, a sentence in active voice flows more
smoothly and is easier to understand than the same sentence in passive
voice.
It is
generally preferable to use the ACTIVE voice.
To change
a passive voice sentence into an active voice sentence, simply reverse the
steps shown above.
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.
Because
it is more direct, most writers prefer to use the active voice whenever
possible.
The
passive voice may be a better choice, however, when
- The doer of the action is
unknown, unwanted, or unneeded in the sentence.
Examples :
- The writer wishes to
emphasize the action of the sentence rather than the doer of the action.
Examples :
- The writer wishes to use
passive voice for sentence variety.
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