Voice in Grammar: Active vs. Passive
Understand the difference between active and passive voice in grammar, where active voice shows the subject performing the action and passive voice has the subject receiving the action. Explore examples and reasons why active voice is preferred, including brevity and clarity in writing.
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Presentation Transcript
What is Voice? Voice is the form a verb takes to indicate whether the subject of the verb performs or receives the action. There are two types of voice: active voice and passive voice.
Active Voice Active voice indicates that the subject of the verb is acting. NOUN-VERB-OBJECT Bill hit the ball. Because the subject does or acts upon the verb in such sentences, the sentences are said to be in the active voice.
Active Voice These examples show that the subject is doing the verb's action. The dog jumped onto the boy. The dog (subject) is doing the jumping (verb). Kristy will give a book report to the class. Kristy (subject) is doing the giving (verb). The computer ate my paper. The computer (subject) is doing the eating (verb).
Passive Voice Passive voice construction reverses these elements, placing the object first. OBJECT-VERB-NOUN The ball was hit by Bill. The subject has become the passive recipient of the action. Because the subject is being acted upon , such sentences are said to be in the passive voice.
Passive Voice These examples show the subject being acted upon by the verb. The boy was jumped on by the dog. Boy (subject) was being jumped on (verb) A book report will be given by Kristy to the class. Report (subject) will be given (verb). My paper was eaten by the computer. Paper (subject) was being eaten (verb).
Why Active Voice is Better Three primary reasons: 1. It s shorter 2. It s clearer 3. It strengthens your sentence
Why Active Voice is Better It s shorter Good writing is concise writing. When you need to keep sentences tight and short, you want to stay active. Bill hit the ball. The ball was hit by Bill. We learn the same information, but in fewer words. Each word you write should add value to your work.
Why Active Voice is Better It s clearer In many cases, passive voice fails to give you all the information you need. There was clear belief that there needed to be or needs to be some level of guidelines developed for the building principal and superintendent to be able to just provide oversight on what items are being published. In this cases, the passive voice makes it unclear who had this belief that these guidelines needed to be implemented primarily because the noun is missing. Sloppy writing or the writer/speaker were trying to hide who was responsible for the changes.
Why Active Voice is Better It strengthens your sentence Vigorous verbs are active verbs. They cut through jargon and bring strength to your writing. Smith was released from his contract by the company after it was determined that he was responsible for illegally taking department funds. The company fired Smith after it found he stole department funds. The words fired and stole are direct and clear. Most people can easily grasp these ideas and they powerfully make your point.
