#ACTIVE VOICE VS PASSIVE VOICE EXAMPLES HOW TO#

For example, ‘Pupils are not allowed in the dining hall after 1:45 p.m. To create an authoritative or factual tone.Notice that the subject, the pen, isn’t doing anything in that sentence. The passive form of that sentence is The pen is being held by me. The emphasis falls on the wrong part of the sentence. For example, the sentence I am holding a pen is in active voice, but it uses the verb am, which is a form of to be. The sentences are also more complex and harder to understand. For example, ‘I had the feeling that I was being watched.’ - I don’t know who was watching me Passive voice makes sentences sound less interesting.

#ACTIVE VOICE VS PASSIVE VOICE EXAMPLES HOW TO#

See examples of each voice in different types of writing and how to change them easily. The active voice is when the subject performs the action, while the passive voice is when the action’s target is the focus.

Because we don't know or do not want to say who performed the action. Subject (doer) Verb Object (recipient) Here’s an example of a sentence using the active voice: The dog ate my homework. Learn how to recognize and use the active voice and the passive voice in your writing and in others’ work.

For example, the castle was built in 1066 - we are interested in the castle, not in who built it.

To show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action.

Reasons to use the passive voiceĪlthough the active voice is usually the preferred choice, there are sometimes good reasons to use the passive voice: Rewrite the sentence so that the subject in the 'by' phrase is closer to the beginning of the sentence.įor example:‘The exam was passed by the pupil’ would change to ‘The pupil passed the exam’. One way to avoid using the passive voice is to look for a ‘by’ phrase. In general, active voice is used to focus attention on the subject of the. Who scored the goal? Doesn’t the writer know? Converting sentences to active voice Active voice and passive voice are two different ways of constructing sentences. Passive sentences can cause confusion because they can be vague about who is responsible for the action.

Active: The teacher collected the books.

The permission slip had been signed by his mom. The birthday presents were opened by the dog.

Passive: The books were collected by the teacher. The following sentences identify the grammatical subject and are written in the passive voice: The novel was read by the student in one day.

Using the active voice in a sentence often means less words are used than in the passive voice. For example, in the sentence The book (subject) was read (verb) by the student (agent), the book is the one being read, and the sentence is in passive voice.

Active voice vs passive voice examples