Passive vs' Active Voice

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Passive vs. Active Voice

• Engl 3365

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Active and Passive Voice

• Voice indicates the relation of the subject to
  the action of the verb
• SomeONE is ACTING on someTHING
• SUBJECT / ACTION / OBJECT
• Jack Bauer is defeating the evil president.
• Voice can be active or passive

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In active voice

• The subject of the sentence is doing the action
• The subject is emphasized more than the object
• Ex
• The students listened carefully to the lecture.

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In passive voice

• The subject is being acted upon
• The subject takes a back seat to the object
• The subject doesnt even have to be named
• Ex
• The lecture was listened to carefully by the
  students.
• The lecture was listened to carefully.

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What the Forms Look Like, Example 2

• Active
• Jack defeated the evil president.
• Subject Jack
• Necessary to the action HECK YES!
• Passive
• The evil president was defeated by Jack.
• Subject Jack
• Necessary to the action not really

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in passive voicecomplete sentence no subject

• Passive NOT GOOD for emphasizing subject
• The evil president was defeated. (by Jack).
• Passive generally makes writing LESS CLEAR
• Jack Bauer shouldnt be threatened. (by what?)
• One shouldnt threaten Jack Bauer. (onewho?)
• The corrupt president shouldnt threaten Jack.
  (A-HA!)

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When do I use which voice?

• To emphasize the performer (subject) of the
  action, USE THE ACTIVE VOICE.
• To emphasize the receiver (object) of the action,
  use the passive voice.
• Clear and direct active voice sentences that
  emphasize action are almost always easier for
  audiences to skim quickly, clearly, and easily.

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Rule of Thumb

• Generally, always use ACTIVE VOICE
• active voice conveys MORE INFORMATION
• active voice uses FEWER WORDS
• active voice is HOW WE NORMALLY TALK
• ONLY use passive voice for a VERY GOOD reason
• for ex, if you want to DE-EMPHASIZE, HIDE, or
  DONT KNOW information

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Reasons to Use the Passive Voice

• Reason 1
• You want to emphasize the object (receiver) of
  the action more than the performer.
• Example
• Kristen was presented with an award. (by the
  president.)
• The president presented Kristen with an award.

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Reasons to Use the Passive Voice

• Reason 2
• You want to take emphasis off the subject
  (performer) of the action.
• Example
• The cable was broken. (by our group of
  engineers.)
• Our group of engineers broke the cable.

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Reasons to Use the Passive Voice

• Reason3
• You simply dont know who the performer is or
  was.
• Example
• The cave was discovered in 1929.
• Someone discovered the cave in 1929.

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Practice

• Identify the direct subject/action/object, and
  then rewrite to change the grammatical voice
• The Bauer 9i computer program was released by
  Oracle today.
• The test was failed by half the engineering
  students.

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Practice

• Identify the direct subject/action/object, and
  then rewrite to change the grammatical voice
• The instructor wrote the lecture.
• The president reported that the weapons were not
  found.

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Summary

• What is the difference between an active and
  passive voice sentence?
• What are the main advantages of using ACTIVE
  voice statements in professional report writing?
• What are the three specific useful reasons to
  choose PASSIVE voice for some sentences?