Verb Voice

Active and Passive Voice

Verb Voice

What is ‘voice’?– Verb voice tells a reader if the subject of the

sentence performs the action in the sentence or not.

Verb Voice

What is Active Voice?– In an Active Voice sentence, the subject does the

action of the verb.– Example:

Shelley gave Tom a book.

Verb Voice

What is Passive Voice?– In a Passive Voice sentence, the subject gets the

action of the verb.– Example:

Tom was given a book by Shelley.

Verb Voice

What is the preferred voice to use?– Active voice is preferred most of the time. As you

can see from the previous examples, passive voice expresses the same idea, but it can be vague and wordy.

Verb Voice

When is Passive Voice acceptable or necessary?– Sometimes it is best to use the Passive Voice.

If the receiver of the action is more important than the doer.

If the doer of the action is unimportant or unknown. If the doer of the action seeks to avoid responsibility.

Verb Voice

Changing Passive Voice into Active VoiceStep 1IDENTIFY A PASSIVE VOICE SENTENCE. FOR EXAMPLE, "THE GRAND CANYON WAS VISITED BY

TOURISTS."Step 2IDENTIFY THE NOUN THAT DOES THE ACTION IN THE

SENTENCE.Step 3MOVE THE NOUN THAT DOES THE ACTION IN THE

SENTENCE TO THE FRONT OF THE SENTENCE.

Verb Voice

Step 4

PLACE THE ACTION VERB IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE NOUN.

Step 5

REMOVE PAST TENSE REFERENCES, AND PASSIVE VOICE TRIGGER WORDS SUCH AS "BE, BY, WERE, WAS, IS..."

Step 6

REWRITE THE REMAINDER OF THE SENTENCE. FOR EXAMPLE, "TOURISTS VISIT THE GRAND CANYON."

Verb Voice

– REVIEW TWO MORE EXAMPLES:

1A. The breakfast was eaten by my daughter. (PASSIVE VOICE CONSTRUCTION).

1B. My daughter ate breakfast. (ACTIVE VOICE CONSTRUCTION).

2A. Ten pounds were lost by me. (PASSIVE VOICE CONSTRUCTION).

2B. I lost ten pounds. (ACTIVE VOICE CONSTRUCTION).

Verb Voice Activity

Read the following sentences. Decide if each one is active or passive. If it is passive, decide if it fits the criteria for passive voice. If so, explain which criteria it fits. If not, change the sentence to Active voice.

– Sarah sent the letter to James.– The shirt was made in France.– The vase was broken by Vanessa.– Michael baked three dozen cookies.– The decision to fire the workers was made yesterday.