Active and Passive VoiceActive and Passive Voice

What is active voice?A sentence is written in active voice

when the subject of the sentence completes the action of the verb.

Example:Ms. Rostoff has boxes of tissues

decorated with kittens lined up on the table (Anderson 77).

Verb: hasPerson who performs the action:

Ms. RostoffObject: boxes (of tissues…)

What is Passive Voice?A sentence is written in passive voice

when the object of the verb is made into the subject of the sentence.

Ex: Boxes of tissues decorated with kittens have been lined up on the table by Ms. Rostoff.

Even though Ms. Rostoff is the one who has lined up the boxes, the actual boxes have been placed in the subject position of the sentence.

A Few More Examples..Active voice: I won the wintergirl

trip over the border into dangerland (Anderson 219).

Passive voice: The wintergirl trip over the border into dangerland was won by me.

What is the verb? Won/was won Who is the person performing the

verb? I/meWhat is the object of the verb? The

wintergirl trip…

How do I know what Voice I’m writing in?

Look for the location of the subject, verb, and object.

What is receiving the action of the verb? “to be-” + past participle(to be verbs: is, are, am, was, were, has

been, have been, had been, will be, will have been, being)

Ex: The bill has been paid by the man (passive voice).

Look at the positioning of the object and the verb!

For the Mathematically-inclined students

Active voice = Subject + verb + object(Mitchell Sanders + carried +

brass knuckles) (O’Brien 7)Passive Voice =Object + verb + subject(Brass knuckles + were carried +

by Mitchell Sanders)

Is Passive Voice Incorrect?

Although the passive voice is NOT considered grammatically incorrect, it is more appropriate in some circumstances than in others.

What are the circumstances?

* passive voice can make the meaning of the sentence confusing.

Example: Playing cards are scattered over the tangled blankets, and thin pillows are piled against the headboard (Anderson 119).

What are the objects? Playing cards and thin pillows

But who scatters them? Who piles them? The passive voice is confusing in this circumstance because we do not know WHO/WHAT performs the action!

circumstances?Writers are generally encouraged to

refrain from using passive voice when writing about literature and history because it tends to suggest “incomplete” thoughts.

Example: “Women were not treated as equals” (“Passive Voice”).

This sentence does not give the reader any sort of connections. Who were the people not treating women as equals?

So…when should I use passive voice?

It is common to use passive voice if you want to deemphasize the researcher, such as in a lab report.

Example: “Heart disease is considered the leading cause of death in the United States” (“Passive Voice”)

Passive voice is also used to deemphasize the “bad guys” in the situation.

Ex: “The cookies were stolen” (Fogarty)…..who stole them? I guess the writer

doesn’t WANT you to know!

Your mission…http://www.xtranormal.com/

Works Consulted

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Wintergirls. New York: Penguin Books, 2009. Print.

Fogarty, Mignon. “Active Voice Versus Passive Voice.” Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing. Quick and Dirty Tips, 22 Jul. 2010. Web. 4 Sept. 2010.

“Object.” English Language: All About the English Language. English Language, n.d. Web. 8 Sept. 2010.

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway, 1990. Print.

Works Consulted“Passive Voice.” The Writing Center: University of

North Carolina at Chapel Hill. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, n.d. Web. 3 Sept. 2010.

“Past Participles.” Learn English. Learning English, Dec. 2008. Web. 8 Sept. 2010.

Toadvine, April and Brizee, Allen. “Active and Passive Voice.” Purdue Online Writing Lab. Purdue University, 17 Apr. 2010. Web. 4 Sept. 2010.

Toadvine, April and Brizee, Allen. “Active Versus Passive Voice.” Purdue Online Writing Lab. Purdue University, 17 Apr. 2010. Web. 4 Sept.2010.

Works Consulted

Toadvine, April and Brizee, Allen. “Changing Active to Passive Voice.” Purdue Online Writing Lab. Purdue University, 17 Apr. 2010. Web. 4 Sept. 2010.

Toadvine, April and Brizee, Allen. “Choosing Passive Voice.” Purdue Online Writing Lab. Purdue University, 17 Apr. 2010. Web. 4 Sept. 2010.

Toadvine, April and Brizee, Allen. “Further Suggestions for Using Active and Passive Voice.” Purdue Online Writing Lab. Purdue University, 17 Apr. 2010. Web. 4 Sept. 2010.

Toadvine, April and Brizee, Allen. “More About Passive Voice.” Purdue Online Writing Lab. Purdue University, 17 Apr. 2010. Web. 4 Sept. 2010.