Understanding Voices

1. Understanding Voices Active and Passive Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

2. Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

3. Active Voice In sentences written in active voice, the subject performs the action expressed in the verb; i.e., the subject acts. In each example above, the subject of the sentence performs the action expressed in the verb. Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

4. Passive Voice • In sentences written in passive voice, the subject receives the action expressed in the verb; the subject is acted upon. The agent performing the action may appear in a "by the . . ." phrase or may be omitted. The passive voice emphasizes the action being performed rather than the person doing the action. Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

5. Changing the Voice: Active to Passive • Consider carefully who or what is performing the action expressed in the verb. • Then make that agent the object of a "by the..." phrase. • Make what is acted upon the subject of the sentence • Change the verb to a form of be + past participle. • Including an explicit "by the..." phrase is optional. Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

6. Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

7. Active  Passive: Change of Pronouns During conversion from active to passive voice, pronouns change cases as follows: • I  Me • He  Him • She  Her • They  Them • We  Us • You  You Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

8. Passive Voice of Commands • While changing commands from active to passive voice, do the following: • Let + new subject (previous object) + be + Past Participle • For example: Give him some money. (active voice) Let him begiven money. (passive voice) Make the bed. (active voice) Let the bed bemade.(passive voice) Take care of everyone. (active voice) Let everyone betaken care of. (passive voice) Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

9. Passive Voice of Questions • When the question begins with do, does or did: to be + new subject + Past Participle • Did you understand the lesson ? (active) • Was the lesson understood by you ? (passive) • When the question begins with auxiliary verbs (will/can/could etc.): auxiliary verb + new subject + be + Past Participle • Will Neha buy a scooter ? (active) • Will a new scooter bebought by Neha ? (passive) Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

10. Passive Voice of Questions… • When the question begins with have/has: have/ has + new subject + been + Past Participle • Has Rita read the books? (active) • Have the books been read by Rita ? (passive) • In case of WH questions (who/what/when/why/where): Question word + to be + new subject + Past Participle • When did Padma shut down the computer ? • When was the computer shut down by Padma ? Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

11. Sentences with Two Objects • In case of sentences with two objects, i. e.Direct & Indirect objects, prefer the indirect or personal object. For example: • Ram gave Hari a present. (active voice) Indirect Direct • Hari was given a present by Ram. (passive voice) • Begin with direct object if you want to highlight it. For example: • Government gave food and medicines to the flood victims. (active voice) Direct Indirect • Food and medicines were given to the flood victims by the government. (passive voice) Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

12. Exceptions… There can be no passive voice of: • Sentences with intransitive verbs. (verbs that don’t require an object). For example: • He went home. • This shirt costs Rs. 300/- • Some transitive verbs (verbs that require an object) also don’t have passive forms. For example: • He has a car. • We got a lot of emails. • Verbs followed by reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself, himself , herself, themselves) do not appear in passive voice. For example: • He hurt himself. • They looked after themselves. Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

13. Changing the Voice: Passive to Active • Find the agent in a "by the..." phrase OR • Consider carefully who or what is performing the action expressed in the verb. • Make that agent the subject of the sentence, and change the verb accordingly. Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

14. Changing the Voice: Passive to Active • Sometimes you will need to infer the agent from the surrounding sentences which provide context. agent not specified; use most likely agents such as "we" Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

15. Finding the Right Voice…Active vs. Passive • Though the meaning of the sentence doesn't change with a change in voice, the attitude does. • Both voices have their own purposes and must be used with discretion. • It is important to choose the voice that best suits your purpose whether in Spoken or Written English. Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

16. Passive Voice… • The passive voice emphasizes the action being performed rather than the person doing the action. • The passive voice has two main uses: • To present ideas objectively (Showing that the results are more important than the person doing the work) e.g. “The surveys were tabulated.” • To avoid using names or assigning blame e.g. “An unfortunate error has occurred.” • Hence passive voice is preferred in Scientific or technical writing. Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

17. Passive Voice: A Word of Caution… • But overuse of passive voice in any kind of writing or talk, makes it boring and difficult to understand. • In everyday conversations, active voice should be preferred and passive voice should be used only when: • The subject or doer of the action is unknown. OR • When you want to maintain aloofness or objectivity. Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

18. Active Voice • The active voice is preferred for most type of business writing because it is shorter, more personal, and more forceful. • In active voice sentences, the subject of the verb performs the action. • In most nonscientific writing situations, active voice is preferable to passive for the majority of your sentences. • Even in scientific writing, overuse of passive voice or use of passive voice in long and complicated sentences can cause readers to lose interest or to become confused. • Sentences in active voice are generally--though not always-- clearer and more direct than those in passive voice. Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

19. Exercise • I left the window open last night and let all the mosquitoes in. • Verification of passwords must be done on a daily basis by security personnel. • I cannot approve your loan until you have provided us with collateral. • We made a major error by spelling our client’s name wrong in the report. • You failed to submit the application before the due date. • We should not have ordered a separate phone line for each person in the office. • The software was installed incorrectly on your computer. Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

20. Answers • The window was left open and all mosquitoes were let in last night by me . • Security personnel must do the verification of passwords on a daily basis. • Your loan cannot be approved by us until we have been provided collateral by you. • A major error was made by us by spelling our client’s name wrong in the report. • You failed to submit the application before the due date. (No passive voice.) • A separate phone line should not have been ordered by us for each person in the office. • We installed the software incorrectly on your computer. Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

21. Any Questions ? Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon

22. Prithviraj Thakur, Department of English, G. S. Science, Arts and Commerce College, Khamgaon