ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

In active voice the subject of the sentence is doing the action of the verb.
Examples: I saw Fred.
Jamie spoke to the boys who were fighting.
The noise bothered Joanna.

In passive voice the subject of the sentence is receiving the action of the verb. The
subject in this case does not “do” anything, it is acted upon by something else
Examples: Fred was seen by me.
The boys who were fighting were spoken to by Jamie.
Joanna was bothered by the noise.
Passive voice is formed by using a form of the verb “to be” along with the past
participle of the verb.

Spellchecker on your computer will often catch passive voice and ask if you want to
change it to active voice. In general, active voice is a little more interesting and vivid. “I
kicked the chair” is more interesting than “the chair was kicked by me.”

However passive voice can be very useful. It can be useful when the person or force
doing the action is unknown. “She was mugged yesterday” sounds a little better than “a
mugger mugged her yesterday.” A lot of times people use passive voice to avoid fault or
blame. People might say “an error was made” rather than “I made an error” or
“cigarette ads were designed to appeal to kids” rather than “you designed cigarette ads
to appeal to kids.”

EXERCISES: Decide whether the following sentences are written in the active
or passive voice.

1. I told him what I thought about him. ___________________

2. He thought that he knew everything. ___________________

3. It was written in stone. ___________________

4. We received news of our brother’s good fortune. ___________________

5. The hatches were promptly closed. ___________________

6. People are frequently given the wrong impression. ___________________

7. Les Miserables was written by Victor Hugo ___________________

8. The cat sat on the mat. ___________________

 9. The mat was sat on by the cat. ___________________

10. You will be made well by this medicine. ___________________

11. The twister left a path of destruction. ___________________

12. A path of destruction was left by the twister. ___________________

13. James was chosen by Kathy to be her assistant. ___________________

Rewrite the following sentences, changing from active to passive voice.

1. Mike Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear.

2. Tourists visit Stonehenge.

3. I handed my essay to the Professor.

4. Richard’s sarcastic comments angered Claudia.

Rewrite the following sentences, changing from passive to active voice.

1. The wound was examined by the doctor.

2. You will be teased if you go out wearing that shirt.

3. David was tricked out of his money by the con artist.

4. This article was written by my friend.