Active and Passive Voice

Active/Passive Voice Basics

Constructing active and passive voice:

ACTIVE VOICE

Doer/Actor (subject)

Verb in active voice

object of action

Examples: Nancy bought the dress. Bobs girlfriend threw his baseball memorabilia out the window. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Beautiful models wore fancy dresses. The doctor pronounced him dead.

PASSIVE VOICE

object of action

verb in passive voice (form of "to be" + past participle)

by actor (optional)

Examples: The dress was bought by Nancy. Bobs baseball memorabilia was thrown out the window by his girlfriend. The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell. The fancy dresses were worn by beautiful models. He was pronounced dead.

Using active and passive voice:

In active voice, the subject acts. In passive voice, the subject is acted upon. Passive voice is not always taboo. Passive voice emphasizes the action while active voice emphasizes the actor. Use whichever is appropriate. o Writers might use passive voice if the doer is unknown or if the accomplishment is more important than the subject. A verb is not passive just because it is in the past tense. To be passive, the construction should be a form of to be + the past participle. To identify active voice, check to see whether the subject is the doer . In active voice, the subject is the doer; s/he completes the action. In passive voice, something is being done to the subject, and the doer may not always be identified.

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Active and Passive Voice

Changing to Active from Passive Voice

Generally, sentences in passive voice fall into two scenarios; they either have a hidden subject or an unnamed subject. To switch to active voice, simply identify and appropriately place the subject so that the subject is the one acting.
Scenario 1: Your subject is hiding in the predicate. a. Ask yourself, Is the subject the doer or the receiver? b. The subject may be hidden in the sentence, typically using the phrase by___. c. Then, REARRANGE the sentence to make the subject perform the action. Ex: Passive-The cruise tickets were bought by James. Active- James bought the cruise tickets. Ex: Passive- The groceries are being picked up by Fay. Active- Fay is picking up the groceries. Ex: Passive- The walkway is a creation of John. Active- John created the walkway.

Scenario 2: Your sentence completely lacks a doer. a. Ask yourself, Who or what should be my subject? b. Then, CREATE/IDENTIFY a subject to perform the action. Ex: Passive- The new school is being built this week. Active- Construction workers are building the new school this week. Ex: Passive- The money was hidden in a blue bottle. Active- Someone hid the money in a blue bottle. Ex: Passive- The boiled eggs will be peeled and deviled in a few minutes. Active- Dad will finish peeling and deviling the boiled eggs in a few minutes.

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