http://www.ck12.org Chapter 13. Common Errors in Grammar and Punctuation
In English grammar, we make a distinction betweenactive voiceandpassive voice.In sentences written with active
voice, the subject is doing the action.
a.Thestudent wrote the paper.
b.Rainwater flooded the basement.
c.Jose argued that his house was no place for a dance party.In sentences written with passive voice, the subject is acted upon. Consider the same examples written in passive
voice.
a. The paper was written bythestudent.
b. The basement was flooded byrainwater.
c. That his house was no place for a dance party was argued byJose.Compare the third example in both instances: They both have the same fundamental meaning, but the sentence
written in passive voice is vague and awkwardly worded, while the same sentence in active voice is clearer and more
succinct.
Use the following steps to determine if a sentence is written in passive voice. We’ll use the same example sentence.
Example 1- The subject is not conducting the action, but is being acted upon.
That his house was no place for a dance partywasarguedbyJose.
Example 2- A form of thebeverb (am, is, are, was, were) appears with the past participle (-edor –en) form of the
verb.
That his house was no place for a dance partywasargued by Jose.
Example 3- Thepreposition“by [noun phrase]” either appears in the sentence or can be added. That his house was
no place for a dance party was arguedbyJose.
See Chapter 12, Lesson 2, for a definition and examples ofprepositionsandprepositional phrases.
Eliminate passive voice by making the subject the doer of the action. You can convert a sentence to active voice by
exchanging the object of the preposition and the subject of the passive sentence
Passive Voice-Thathishousewasnoplaceforadanceparty was argued byJose.
Invert the subject andobject,and the sentence changes to active voice.
Active Voice-Jose arguedthathishousewasnoplaceforadanceparty.
However, sometimes passive voice is preferable when the object being acted upon is more important or when the
doer of action is unknown.