The passive voice can be used to eliminate first- and second-pronouns in formal writing. The passive-voice construction emphasizes Jamey more effectively than the active-voice equivalent "Language Arts fascinated Jamey."Įmphasizing the adverb: That is strictly prohibited.īecause a passive verb consists of two words, an adverb becomes emphatic when placed between "to be" and the past participle. The passive voice emphasizes Shakespeare by putting his name at the end, the most emphatic part of a sentence.Įmphasizing the patient: Jamey was fascinated by Language Arts. It can be used for narrative flow and continuity in conversations.Įmphasizing the agent: Hamlet was written by Shakespeare. The passive voice can emphasize an agent, a patient, or an adverb. Linguistic studies have found high percentages of passive verbs in formal writing. They are called neuter verbs.Ĭonverting an active-voice clause to a passive-voice clause may not change technical meaning, but can be done for altered formality or emphasis as well as change the connotation of the text. They do not show action and are thus neither active nor passive. Linking verbs (such as being verbs) are intransitive verbs that can never be used in the passive voice. There is no word to become the subject of the sentence. ![]() Intransitive verbs without prepositional phrases cannot be passivized. Intransitive verbs can be used in the passive voice when a prepositional phrase is included. The houses were lived in by millions of people. "Voice" was referred to as a grammatical term by the teacher. The teacher referred to "voice" as a grammatical term. The subject of the active voice sentence can be included in a prepositional phrase with "by."Įxample: The exercise was finished by the student. The verb will be "was finished." For a passive verb, the tense and subject-verb agreement are always shown through the auxiliary verb "to be." The main verb is always the past participle. "The exercise" is the object in the sentence above. An active voice clause can be passivized, or recast in the passive voice (for example, to increase formality), by making the object of the active clause the subject of the passive clause. The subject of a passive-voice construction is known as a patient. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action.A clause with an active, transitive verb will be in the form of subject-verb-object.Įxample: The student finished the exercise. The subject of an active-voice construction is known as an agent. In the active voice, the subject performs the action.Voice is the relationship between the subject and the verb in a clause or the transfer of action. The active and passive voices are the two main voices in English, but some sentences may also be considered to be in the middle or mediopassive voice. Most English sentences are written with active, passive, or neuter verbs, such as "to be" verbs. To describe a condition in which the actor is unknown or unimportantĮvery year, thousands of people are diagnosed as having cancer.\) The procedures were somehow misinterpreted. After long debate, the proposal was endorsed by. The data processing department recently presented what proved to be a controversial proposal to expand its staff. To keep the subject and focus consistent throughout a passage To emphasize the action rather than the actorĪfter long debate, the proposal was endorsed by the long-range planning committee. There are sometimes good reasons to use the passive voice. If the subject of the sentence is somewhat anonymous, see if you can use a general term, such as “researchers,” or “the study,” or “experts in this field.”. ![]() Rewrite the sentence so that the subject buried in the “by” clause is closer to the beginning of the sentence. If you find one, the sentence may be in the passive voice.
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