Examples of Active and Passive Voice.
Creative ways to use the passive voice in writing. The above examples show some formal uses of the passive voice, but some writers take advantage of the shift in emphasis it provides for other reasons. Here are moments when the passive voice is a stylistic decision that suits the author’s writing goals.
What is Passive Voice? What does passive voice mean? The passive writing voice occurs when something that is ordinarily “done by” the subject of a sentence is “done by” the object of a sentence. In the passive writing voice, whatever is doing the action of the sentence is not the grammatical subject of the sentence. Passive Voice Examples.
Functions of the 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.
The passive voice can be useful for making writing sound more formal and objective. Find out the difference between the active and passive voice by looking at how these two different examples are.
Sometimes the use of passive voice can create awkward sentences, as in the last example above. Also, overuse of passive voice throughout an essay can cause your prose to seem flat and uninteresting. In scientific writing, however, passive voice is more readily accepted since using it allows one to write without using personal pronouns or the.
Passive Voice is specifically needed for IELTS is if you get a process diagram in Academic IELTS Task 1. In this case you will use it throughout your explanation of the process. When we use the passive voice, the person or thing receiving the action becomes the subject.
Definition and examples of passive voice in English grammar. Passive voice is one of the most polarizing bad writing habits out there. Many self-proclaimed grammar snobs consider passive voice to be incorrect. Here’s the thing: passive voice isn’t actually grammatically incorrect. That being said, it’s often stylistically better to use active voice.
Newspaper Article: Passive Voice Active Voice: Form The “normal” voice. The object receives the action. Passive Voice: Form The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb The subject receives the action “by” is used to show the agent of the action (but is not always necessary).
The active voice refers to a sentence format that emphasizes the doer of an action. For example, in the sentence “The mice inhaled the tobacco-infused aerosol,” the doer, i.e., “the mice” seem important. On the other hand, in the passive voice, the action being performed.
It’s an admonition that’s been uttered by everyone from high school English teachers to newspaper editors to renowned writing instructors: use the active voice over the passive voice. Another way of saying this is “make sure your subjects are performing an action rather than having an action performed on them.” But is active voice always superior to the passive voice?
Even in scientific writing, too much use of passive voice can cloud the meaning of your sentences. The action is performed upon the sentence subject, meaning this sentence is passive (indirect). This is an example of the active voice because the sentence subject performs the action. This is an example of the passive voice.
The active voice is used more often in writing. However, the passive voice may also be used for stylistic purposes. Furthermore, some phrasings (like “the book was written by”) are more common or acceptable in the passive voice than in the active voice. Writing in the active voice is more concise, clear, and direct than the passive voice.
This example is written in the passive voice, but the meaning is clear. Using Passive Voice in Scholarly Writing As noted before, passive voice is allowed in APA style and can be quite appropriate, especially when writing about methods and data collection.
