ACTIVE & PASSIVE VOICE

1. ACTIVE & PASSIVE VOICE

2. Voice is another strange word to use for verbs and again, the word "voice" has nothing to do with speaking deeply, loudly, or softly. The "voice" of a verb has to do with whether or not the subject of a sentence acts upon something else (as agent) or whether the subject is acted upon (by an agent). The verb is active, when the subject (agent) does the action (verb) to something (object).The verb is passive, when the subject takes the action upon itself.

3. Active Voice In sentences written in active voice, the subject performs the action expressed in the verb; the subject acts. In each example above, the subject of the sentence performs the action expressed in the verb.

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.

5. Sometimes the use of passive voice can create awkward sentences, as in the last example above. Also, overuse of passive voice throughout an essay can cause your prose to seem flat and uninteresting. In scientific writing, however, passive voice is more readily accepted since using it allows one to write without using personal pronouns or the names of particular researchers as the subjects of sentences (see the third example above). This practice helps to create the appearance of an objective, fact-based discourse because writers can present research and conclusions without attributing them to particular agents. Instead, the writing appears to convey information that is not limited or based by individual perspectives or personal interests. You can recognize passive voice expressions because the verb phrase will always include a form of be, such as am, is, was, were, are, or been. The presence of a be-verb, however, does not necessarily mean that the sentence is in passive voice. Another way to recognize passive-voice sentences is that they may include a "by the..." phrase after the verb; the agent performing the action, if named, is the object of the preposition in this phrase.

6. Choosing Active Voice 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.

8. Sentences in active voice are also more concise than those in passive voice because fewer words are required to express action in active voice than in passive.

9. In each of these examples, the passive voice makes sense because the agent is relatively unimportant compared to the action itself and what is acted upon.

10. Changing active to passive If you want to change an active-voice sentence to passive voice, consider carefully who or what is performing the action expressed in the verb, and then make that agent the object of a "by the..." phrase. Make what is acted upon the subject of the sentence, and change the verb to a form of be + past participle. Including an explicit "by the..." phrase is optional.

11. In each of these examples, the passive voice is useful for highlighting the action and what is acted upon instead of the agent.

12. Some suggestions 1. Avoid starting a sentence in active voice and then shifting to passive.

13. 2. Avoiddangling modifierscaused by the use of passive voice. A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence.

14. In most English sentences with an action verb, the subject performs the action denoted by the verb.These examples show that the subject is  doing the verb's action. Because the subject does or "acts upon" the verb in such sentences, the sentences are said to be in the active voice.

15. One can change the normal word order of many active sentences (those with adirect 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.

16. 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 thepreposition by

17. 3.Add a form of the auxiliary verbbe 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.

19. SOME EXAMPLES ~I broke the window. • The window was broken.  • The window was broken by me. ~The boys ate all of the pie. • All of the pie was eaten. • All of the pie was eaten by the boys. ~With the money from her mother's life insurance Diane bought a new car and took a trip to Europe. • With the money from her mother's life insurance a new car was bought and a trip to Europe was taken.

20. ~ Martha asked the professor a question. • The professor was asked a question by Martha. ~ Before the semester was over, the new nursing program had been approved by the Curriculum Committee and the Board of Trustees. • Before the semester was over, the Curriculum Committee and the Board of Trustees had approved the new nursing program. ~ With five seconds left in the game, an illegal time-out was called by one of the players. • With five seconds left in the game, one of the players called an illegal time-out.

21. ~ Later in the day, the employees were informed of their loss of benefits by the boss herself. • Later in the day, the boss herself informed the employees of their loss of benefits. ~ The major points of the lesson were quickly learned by the class, but they were also quickly forgotten by them. • The class quickly learned, and then quickly forgot, the lesson's major points. ~ For several years, Chauncey was raised by his elderly grandmother. • Chauncey's elderly grandmother raised him for several years. (However, the first version puts more emphasis on Chauncey than it does on the grandmother, and there's nothing really wrong with that.).

22. ~ The teacher's lack of sympathy surprised me. (However, if you wish to emphasise the fact that _I_ was surprised -- as opposed to the effect itself or its source -- then there's nothing wrong with the sentence.). • The teacher's lack of sympathy surprised me. (However, if you wish to emphasise the fact that _I_ was surprised -- as opposed to the effect itself or its source -- then there's nothing wrong with the sentence.). ~ Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper." The original sentence actually puts a bit more emphasis on the author's name, and there is really nothing wrong with that sentence. • Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper." The original sentence actually puts a bit more emphasis on the author's name, and there is really nothing wrong with that sentence.

23. ~ Tall buildings and mountain roads were avoided by Raoul because he had such a fear of heights. • Raoul avoided tall buildings and mountain roads because he had such a fear of heights. ~ "The Yellow Wallpaper" was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. • Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper."