Active and Passive Voice

1. Active and Passive Voice

2. Active Voice • A sentence is in the active voice when the subject performs the action of the verb. • The dog chewed the bones from our steaks. • What is the subject? What is the verb? Is the subject performing the action of the verb?

3. Passive Voice • A sentence is in the passive voice when the subject receives the action of the verb. • The bone from our steak was chewed by the dog. • What is the subject of the sentence? • What is the verb? • Is the subject performing the action of the verb?

4. Which Sentence? • Which sentence places more importance on the dog? • The dog chewed the bones from our steaks. • The bone from our steak was chewed by the dog.

5. Active Voice • The active voice is a stronger, more direct way of expressing ideas. It emphasizes the subject. • Use the passive voice if you want to emphasize the receiver of the action, or if you do not know who the performer is, or if the performer is unimportant. • Romeo and Juliet was performed. • Who performed it? Not important. • The theater was burned. • Who burned the theater? You may not know. • The president was elected. • Who was elected president? IMPORTANT. USE ACTIVE VOICE.

6. Change these to Active • The paper was read by the grandfather. • The party was thrown by a few friends. • A dish at the restaurant was served by our waiter. • The play was performed by the actors.

7. Change these to Passive • The tiger chased the gazelle. • The sirens lured the sailors to their deaths. • My aunt baked a delicious apple pie. • Many students failed the test.