In active voice, the subject performs the action of the verb. In passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb. If you feel like you need a little more than that, keep reading.
What is passive voice?
The subject of a sentence is the person or thing that sentence is about.
The passive voice is when an action happens to the subject.
In terms of format, passive voice generally combines a form of the verb to be with a past tense verb. In the sentence “Peter Parker was bitten,” for example, the to be verb is was and the past tense verb is bitten. The action (bite) is being performed upon the subject (Peter Parker), so this sentence is written in the passive voice.
Most sentences written in passive voice feature an agent that’s performing the action. For example, the above sentence could also be written as “Peter Parker was bitten by a spider.” Here, the agent (a spider) is performing the action on Peter.
Active Voice
In active voice, the subject itself performs the action rather than having the action performed upon it.
So you can think of this subject as actively doing things. For example, “The spider bit Peter Parker.” The spider is now the subject of the sentence, and performs the main action (bit) on Peter. So this sentence is written in active voice.
In active voice, the object of the sentence (typically a noun that receives the action) comes directly after the verb. Here, the object is Peter. (Sentences written in active voice don’t always need an object.)
Changing passive voice to active voice
To change passive voice to active voice, make the agent of the sentence into the subject, and turn the old subject into the object.
For example, this is a passive sentence: “The article is being read by most of my class.” The agent is most of my class, and the subject is the article.
Written in the active voice, this sentence would be “Most of my class is reading the article.” Here, the new subject is most of my class and the object is the article.
Advantages of passive and active voice
Active voice tends to sound more direct in tone because the subject leads the sentence. Asking “Why didn’t you answer your phone?” sounds more direct and authoritative than “Why wasn’t your phone answered by you?” It also makes the sentence sound much more clear.
Passive voice works well in instances when the agent is unclear, or when you want to de-emphasize the agent. It’s frequently used in scientific writing to neutralize perspective. This is particularly helpful when describing a specific process, as in “The flask was filled with a transparent solution.”
Passive Voice
What is the passive voice?
In general we tend to use the active voice. That is when a subject does an action to an object.
- Somebody stole my laptop. (subject = Somebody / action(verb) = stole / object = my laptop)
he passive voice is used when we want to emphasize the action (the verb) and the object of a sentence rather than subject. This means that the subject is either less important than the action itself or that we don’t know who or what the subject is.
- My laptop was stolen. (The object – now the subject = My laptop / action= was stolen)
- Passive: Napa Valley is known for its excellent wines.
- Active: [Many people] know Napa Valley for its excellent wines.
- Passive: Twenty civilians were killed in the bomb explosion.
- Active: Someone killed twenty civilians in the bomb explosion.
The passive agent
When we know who the subject is, we put it at the end with by. We call this an agent.
- Passive: The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. (agent =Leonardo Da Vinci )
- Active: Leonaro Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa.
Most writing instructors and editors recommend against using the passive voice, when possible. The reason for this is that when you use the active voice, your writing is clearer and less complicated.
- Active: While Mr. Taylor was driving down Highway 101, a police officer pulled him over and gave him a speeding ticket.
- Passive: While Mr. Taylor was driving down Highway 101, he was pulled over and given a ticket by a police officer.
If it’s a long sentence and you know who the subject is, it’s best to use the active voice.
The passive is often used to report something or to state a fact.
- Highway 15 was closed yesterday due to a serious road accident.
- A lot of corn is grown in Iowa.
Forming the passive voice
The passive voice is not a tense in English. Each tense has its own passive voice which is created by using a form of the auxiliary verb to be + V3 (past participle)
The passive voice in each tense:
| Tense | Auxiliary verb + sample V3 (past participle) | Examples |
| Present simple | am, is, are + made | Wine is made from grapes. Many cars are made in Japan. |
| Present progressive | am, is, are + being + sent | The document is being sent right now. I am being sent to work in the London office. |
| Past simple | was, were + invited | John was invited to speak at the conference. We were invited to Daniel and Mary’s wedding. |
| Past progressive | was, were + being + washed | The dog was being washed when I got home. Their cars were being washed while they were in the mall shopping. |
| Future (will) | will be + signed | The contract will be signed tomorrow. The documents will all be signed by next week. |
| Future (going to) | am, is, are + going to be + built | A bridge is going to be built within the next two years. New houses are going to be built in our neighborhood. |
| Present perfect | has, have + been + sold | That start-up has been sold for $5 million. The rights to his book have been sold for $250,000. |
| Past perfect | had + been + hired | The new manager had been hired before John left the company. All the employees had hired before the store opened. |
| Future perfect | will + have been + finished | The car will have been loaded by the time he gets home. The crates will have been loaded by then. |
| Modals: can/could | can, could + be + issued | A passport can only be issued at the embassy. He said the documents could be issued within the week. |
| Modal: have to | have to, has to, had to + be + arranged | A babysitter has to be arranged for this evening. Joan’s travel plans have to be arranged by December. |
| Modal: must | must + be + stopped | Criminals must be stopped before they commit crimes. |
All of the rules for passive negatives and questions are the same as for the active voice.
Note: Verbs that have no object (no one to “receive” the action) cannot be put into the passive, such as, arrive, come, die, exist, go, happen, have, live, occur sleep, etc.
Passive Voice – Exercises
Fill in the correct passive form of the verb in parentheses.
- After the earthquake, aid was sent to the people of Haiti. (sent)
- The electricity was cut off because the bill hadn’t been paid. (not pay)
- Penicillin ______ by Alexander Fleming in 1928. (discover)
- Statements ______ from all the witnesses at this moment. (take)
- Whales ______ by an international ban on whaling. (must protect)
- Both weddings _______ by Good Taste. (cater)
- A Picasso ____ from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.(steal)
- ____ this washing machine ______in Germany? (make)
- Tea _____ in China. (grow)
- When we reached the airport, we found that all the flights____ due to the storm. (cancel)
- The fax _____ until tomorrow morning. (not send)
- The soundtrack of a movie _____ always _____ after the filming is finished. (is/add)
Answers:
- was discovered
- are being taken
- must be protected
- were catered
- was stolen
- Was/made
- is grown
- had been cancelled
- won’t be sent
- is/added
