Passive and Active Voices

Passive Voice

The passive voice is especially helpful (and even regarded as mandatory) and useful: in scientific or technical writing or lab reports, where the actor is not really important but the process or principle being described is of ultimate importance. Instead of writing "I poured 20 cc of acid into the beaker," we would write "Twenty cc of acid is / was poured into the beaker". when describing, say, a mechanical process in which the details of process are much more important than anyone's taking responsibility for the action. Ex: "The first coat of primer paint is applied immediately after the acid rinse". to good effect in a paragraph in which we wish to shift emphasis from what was the object in a first sentence to what becomes the subject in subsequent sentences Example: The executive committee approved an entirely new policy for dealing with academic suspension and withdrawal. The policy had been written by a subcommittee on student behavior. If students withdraw from course work before suspension can take effect, the policy states, a mark of "IW" . .

Passive Verb Formation

The passive forms of a verb are created by combining a form of the "to be verb" with the past participle of the main verb. To be al tempo attivo corrispondente + Participio Passato Example: "The measure could have been killed in committee." The passive can be used, also, in various tenses. 1. Let's take a look at the passive forms of "design". Tense Subject Auxiliary Past Participle Singular Plural Present The car/cars is are designed. Present perfect The car/cars has been have been designed. Past The car/cars was were designed. Past perfect The car/cars had been had been designed. Future The car/cars will be will be designed. Future perfect The car/cars will have been will have been designed. Present progressive The car/cars is being are being designed. Past progressive The car/cars was being were being designed 2. Let's take a look at the passive forms of "clean". Tense Passive voice form Present it is cleaned Past it was cleaned Future it will be cleaned Present perfect it has been cleaned Past perfect it had been cleaned Future perfect it will have been cleaned A sentence cast in the passive voice will not always include an agent of the action. For instance if a gorilla crushes a tin can, we could say "The tin can was crushed by the gorilla." But a perfectly good sentence would leave out the gorilla: "The tin can was crushed". Also, when an active sentence with an indirect object is recast in the passive, the indirect object can take on the role of subject in the passive sentence: Active Professor Villa gave Jorge an A. Passive An A was given to Jorge by Professor Villa. Passive Jorge was given an A. Furthermore, active sentences containing certain verbs cannot be transformed into passive structures. To have is the most important of these verbs. We can say "He has a new car," but we cannot say "A new car is had by him." We can say "Josefina lacked finesse," but we cannot say "Finesse was lacked." Here is a brief list of such verbs: resemble look like equal agree with mean contain hold comprise lack suit fit become Passive voice is very use in English.

Passive Voice examples

In sentences written in passive voice, the subject receives the action expressed in the verb; the subject is acted upon. The agent performing the action may appear in a "by the . . ." phrase or may be omitted. In scientific writing, however, passive voice is more readily accepted since using it allows one to write without using personal pronouns or the names of particular researchers as the subjects of sentences This practice helps to create the appearance of an objective, fact-based discourse because writers can present research and conclusions without attributing them to particular agents. Instead, the writing appears to convey information that is not limited or biased by individual perspectives or personal interests. You can recognize passive-voice expressions because: the verb phrase will always include a form of be, such as am, is, was, were, are, or been. The presence of a be-verb, however, does not necessarily mean that the sentence is in passive voice. Another way to recognize passive-voice sentences is that they may include a "by the..." phrase after the verb; the agent performing the action, if named, is the object of the preposition in this phrase.

Changing active to passive

If you want to change an active-voice sentence to passive voice, consider carefully who or what is performing the action expressed in the verb, and then make that agent the object of a "by the..." phrase. Make what is acted upon the subject of the sentence, and change the verb to a form of be + past participle. Including an explicit "by the..." phrase is optional. Active Voice Agent Changed to Passive Voice The presiding officer The leaders The scientists In each of these examples, the passive voice is useful for highlighting the action and what is acted upon instead of the agent.

Changing passive to active

If you want to change a passive-voice sentence to active voice, find the agent in a "by the..." phrase, or consider carefully who or what is performing the action expressed in the verb. Make that agent the subject of the sentence, and change the verb accordingly. Sometimes you will need to infer the agent from the surrounding sentences which provide context. Passive Voice Agent Changed to Active Voice most of the class agent not specified; most likely agents such as "the researchers" the CIA director and his close advisors agent not specified; most likely agents such as "we" Passive and Active Voice are important to learn.