{"id":68,"date":"2014-03-29T18:03:20","date_gmt":"2014-03-29T18:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english-language\/?page_id=68"},"modified":"2016-06-01T02:11:52","modified_gmt":"2016-06-01T02:11:52","slug":"passive-active-voice-verbs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/passive-active-voice-verbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Passive And Active Voice – Verbs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever been told to write a paragraph “in the passive voice”? What exactly is passive voice<\/em>? It is the opposite of active voice<\/em>. But what is active voice? It’s simple. Let’s take a look.<\/p>\n

The terms “passive voice” and “active voice” describes verbs as they are used in sentences. A verb is said to be in the active voice<\/strong> when the subject<\/strong> of a sentence performs<\/strong> an action. Look at the these sentences below. The words in red are the subjects of the sentences. The words in green are the verbs.<\/p>\n

The boy<\/span> hit<\/span> the ball.
\nThe baby<\/span> cried.<\/span>
\nThe girl<\/span> laughed.<\/span>
\nI<\/span> called<\/span> my parents.
\nJohn<\/span> cooked<\/span> some rice.
\nJane<\/span> rides<\/span> to school every day.<\/p>\n

In the first sentence, what is the subject? The subject of the first sentence is boy<\/strong> because that is what we are talking about. Did the subject, boy, do something? Yes, the boy did something. What did the boy do? The boy hit<\/strong> (the ball). So hit<\/strong> is an action verb, and this action was performed by the subject of the sentence. When the action is performed by the subject of the sentence, we have a verb in what voice? The active voice.\u00a0<\/em>In the remaining five sentences above, the same thing happens: the subject performs the action, so all the sentences are “in the active voice”, and all the verbs in the sentences are said to be “in the active voice”.<\/p>\n

The Passive Voice.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes, we can construct our sentences in such a way that the subject receives an action. When this happens, the verb is said to be “in the passive voice”. You can also say that the sentence itself is in the passive voice. Examples:<\/p>\n

The ball (subject) was hit by the boy.<\/p>\n

The water (subject) was poured into the glass.<\/p>\n

The cows (subject) were chased across the road.<\/p>\n

We (subject) were told to go home.<\/p>\n

More on the verb:<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

[related-articles-by-tag]<\/p>\n

Article Location: Patrickcarpen.com >> English >> English Language >> Grammar >> Parts of Speech >> The Verb<\/p>\n

Keywords: noun, verb, adverb, pronoun, adjective, preposition, conjunction, interjection, parts of speech, English, language, grammar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever been told to write a paragraph “in the passive voice”? What exactly is passive voice? It is the opposite of active voice. But what is active voice? 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