Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Passive
Voice
Active vs. Passive Voice
A sentence is written in the active voice
when:
The subject of the sentence performs the action.
The person/thing performing the action is named
before the verb.
EXAMPLE:
My grandfather took me to my first horse show.
NOT: I was taken to my first horse show by my
grandfather.
Another example
Active voice:
My dad taught me to fish.
Passive voice:
I was taught to fish by my dad.
The Passive Voice
The passive voice occurs when the action is
happening upon the subject.
Examples:
My grades were severely affected by my
missing assignments.
I am seriously hurt financially by the
government shut-down.
Key words to search for to identify passive
voice:
Is am are
was were
be being been
Have has had
Active voice sentences
When you write in the active voice, sentences
are typically shorter and clearer.
Active
The principal was overwhelmed by the
students and their disrespect.
Passive
Active vs. Passive Voice
Which of these are active and which are
passive?
Lots of houses were destroyed by the
tornado.
Passive
The students stormed the building.
Active
How would you change the
following sentences?
The dog was hit by the car.
The car hit the dog.
Lots of houses were destroyed by the
tornado.
The tornado destroyed the houses.
The principal was overwhelmed by the
student’s disrespect.
The students’ disrespect overwhelmed the
principal.
How would you fix these
sentences.
The building was stormed by the students.
The students stormed the building.
The basketball team was defeated by their
arch rivals.
Their arch rivals defeated the basketball
team.
The club was founded by Ron and Peggy.
Peggy and Ron founded the club.
In the following paragraph,
you will: