Is Passive Voice Actually Bad?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Well, what’s wrong with passive voice is that

it hides the identity of the person doing the action

. It also makes sentences longer than they need to be. … You see, sometimes it’s okay—even desirable—to use the passive voice. But in general, active voice makes for better writing in English.

Can passive voice become?

One can change the normal word order of many active sentences (those with a direct object) so that the subject is no longer active, but is, instead, being acted upon by the verb – or

passive

. … Because the subject is being “acted upon” (or is passive), such sentences are said to be in the passive voice.

Can passive voice be possible?

In some sentences,

passive voice can be perfectly acceptable

. You might use it in the following cases: The actor is unknown: The cave paintings of Lascaux were made in the Upper Old Stone Age.

How do you make a passive voice?

How to make the Passive in English. We make the passive by

putting the verb ‘to be’ into whatever tense we need and then adding the past participle

. For regular verbs, we make the past participle by adding ‘ed’ to the infinitive. So play becomes played.

Can you avoid passive voice?

To avoid using passive voice and start using active voice,

start by figuring out the verb in the sentence

. This will make it a lot easier to spot passive voice in your own writing and avoid it. The verb is the action word in the sentence, and it can be either active or passive.

Why do English teachers hate passive voice?

The passive voice is

often maligned by teachers and professors as a bad writing habit

. Or, to put it in the active voice, teachers and professors across the English-speaking world malign the passive voice as a bad writing habit.

Why is passive voice not recommended?

One reason writers are advised to avoid using passive voice is that

passive sentences tend to be wordier than active sentences

. … Another problem with using passive voice is that it makes the object of the action the subject of the sentence, which can make the sentence difficult to follow.

What is passive form example?

A verb is in the passive voice when the subject of the sentence is acted on by the verb. For example, in “

The ball was thrown by the pitcher

,” the ball (the subject) receives the action of the verb, and was thrown is in the passive voice.

What makes a passive sentence?

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 many passive voices are there in English?

infinitive to be sung participle sung perfect participle having been sung gerund being sung

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).

Where do we use 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.

How do you fix passive voice?

  1. Identify who or what is actually performing the action described by the verb in the sentence. …
  2. Get rid of the verb be and turn the past participle into a correctly conjugated verb. …
  3. Take the subject of the old sentence and turn it into a direct object.

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 the difference between active and passive voice?

At the most basic level, the active voice emphasizes the person or agent who performs an action, in short, the “actor.” The

passive voice emphasizes the recipient of the action or sometimes the action itself

.

When should you use passive voice?

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.

Charlene Dyck
Author
Charlene Dyck
Charlene is a software developer and technology expert with a degree in computer science. She has worked for major tech companies and has a keen understanding of how computers and electronics work. Sarah is also an advocate for digital privacy and security.