Writers need to be intentional about voice in order to ensure clarity. Using active voice often improves clarity , while passive voice can help avoid unnecessary repetition. Active voice can help ensure clarity by making it clear to the reader who is taking action in the sentence.
How does active and passive voice affect the meaning of a sentence?
While active voice tends to reveal or emphasize the actor of the sentence , passive voice tends to obscure or de-emphasize the actor. This means that active sentences often sound more “direct” than passive sentences and are therefore clearer to the reader.
What is the importance of using passive sentences?
The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action. In other words, the most important thing or person becomes the subject of the sentence.
Why is active voice important in writing?
Active voice is used for most non-scientific writing. Using active voice for the majority of your sentences makes your meaning clear for readers, and keeps the sentences from becoming too complicated or wordy . Even in scientific writing, too much use of passive voice can cloud the meaning of your sentences.
What is passive voice important?
The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action. In other words, the most important thing or person becomes the subject of the sentence.
What is an example of a passive sentence?
In a passive sentence, the person or thing doing the action (the agent) is usually preceded by the word “by .” For example: Anita was driven to the theatre by Carla. Nowadays, black kites are protected by law. The olives are stoned and crushed in this room by my son.
What is passive voice in simple words?
The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action. In other words, the most important thing or person becomes the subject of the sentence.
What is active voice Give 5 examples?
| Active Voice Passive Voice | I will clean the house every Saturday. The house will be cleaned by me every Saturday. |
|---|
How can you tell active or passive voice?
Remember: If the subject is performing the action, then the sentence is in active voice. If the subject is simply receiving the action, then the sentence is in passive voice .
What is active voice example?
Active voice is a grammar term used to classify sentences in which the subject of the sentence is the one actively performing the action of the verb. ... Active voice is contrasted with passive voice, in which the subject of the sentence is the recipient of the verb's action. For example: The girl ate the apple .
What are two reasons for passive voice?
- The actor is unknown: ...
- The actor is irrelevant: ...
- You want to be vague about who is responsible: ...
- You are talking about a general truth: ...
- You want to emphasize the person or thing acted on. ...
- You are writing in a scientific genre that traditionally relies on passive voice.
How do you fix passive voice?
- Identify who or what is actually performing the action described by the verb in the sentence. ...
- Get rid of the verb be and turn the past participle into a correctly conjugated verb. ...
- Take the subject of the old sentence and turn it into a direct object.
Why do I always write in passive voice?
Some writers are attracted to the passive voice because they think it sounds authoritative and somehow “official.” Taking the focus off the person doing the action creates an impersonal feeling, and when you rely on the passive voice too much, your writing risks becoming drab.
What does a passive sentence look like?
In a sentence using passive voice, the subject is acted upon; he or she receives the action expressed by the verb . The agent performing the action may appear in a “by the...” phrase or may be omitted. The dog is acting upon the sentence subject (the boy), meaning it uses the passive voice.
How do you identify a passive sentence?
A passive sentence is almost the reverse of an active sentence because the object of the verb (the receiver of the action) moves to the front position, and the subject (the doer of the action) moves to the end (usually as a “by phrase”). Below is the pattern: Object + “be” + Verb + (optional “by” phrase).
How do you write a passive sentence?
- Firstly, you need to make the object (from the active sentence) into the new subject. For example, in “John helped me”, “me” is the object. ...
- Then you make the verb passive. ...
- Then add the past participle of the verb. ...
- If necessary, you can say who did the action.
