![]() ![]() ![]() Other times you might want to emphasize the recipient, so you would put it at the front in the sentence where it gets the most attention. Sometimes you simply don’t know who or what performed an action (news stories often use passive voice sentences), or you deliberately want to leave out who or what performed an action because it’s obvious or unimportant. Not every passive verb can or should be made active. Fred’s peers selected him to serve on the student council.Put the agent or doer in at the beginning of the sentence followed by the verb (rearrange the sentence, in other words).Fred was selected by his peers to serve on the student council.Locate the agent who/that performs the action.Fred was selected by his peers to serve on the student council.Also, you can look for any ‘ by the’ phrases (something was done by someone). Identify the passive verb: find the “to be” verb (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been).and files were stolen (doesn’t specify who or what ransacked it-either because it is unknown or because the writer has chosen to put the focus of the sentence on the office being ransacked rather than who ransacked it). It essentially shifts the reader’s focus to what happened rather than who or what did it, which in certain situations may work to your advantage. For example, consider the following sentence: “Mistakes were made.” This sentence is problematical (and potentially unethical-see previous chapter on ethics) because it leaves out who made the mistakes, thereby deflecting blame and accountability. Passive voice also occurs when the agent is missing or left off. Passive: Jackie was given a gift by her mother.Passive: The man was bitten by the dog.Passive voice occurs when the subject is the recipient of the action. Active: Jackie’s mother gave her a gift.Subject-verb constructed sentences are the clearest and most effective way to communicate information. In technical writing, it is almost always preferable to put the subject at the front of the sentence, followed by an active verb. The person or object performing an action is called the agent. Active VoiceĪctive voice occurs when the subject of the sentence performs the action of the sentence. Good writing keeps passive voice to a minimum and uses active voice whenever possible. However, passive voice, instead of making a paper sound more professional, actually makes the writing unclear, hard to follow, and, at times, even boring. New writers often use the passive voice because they think it sounds more professional. ![]() To create an authoritative or factual tone.įor example, ‘Pupils are not allowed in the dining hall after 1:45 p.m.English verbs have two voices- active and passive.Because we don't know or do not want to say who performed the action.įor example, ‘I had the feeling that I was being watched.’ - I don’t know who was watching me.To show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action.įor example, the castle was built in 1066 - we are interested in the castle, not in who built it.Reasons to use the passive voiceĪlthough the active voice is usually the preferred choice, there are sometimes good reasons to use the passive voice: ‘The exam was passed by the pupil’ would change to ‘The pupil passed the exam’. Rewrite the sentence so that the subject in the 'by' phrase is closer to the beginning of the sentence. One way to avoid using the passive voice is to look for a ‘by’ phrase. Who scored the goal? Doesn’t the writer know? Converting sentences to active voice Passive sentences can cause confusion because they can be vague about who is responsible for the action. (7 words)Īctive : The teacher collected the books. Passive : The books were collected by the teacher.Using the active voice in a sentence often means less words are used than in the passive voice. ![]()
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