It turned Web surfers into passive consumers of published content. More and more, Obama seems like a passive observer of events who dismisses criticism as superficial. Passive hyperemia occurs most commonly in diseases of the heart and liver and in pregnancy.
In conversation their minds are apt to remain in a recipient passive state. A purely passive defence is not possible for us; it implies losing ground by degrees—and we have not a yard to lose. Whatever his secret care might have been, it was now passive ; he was a general favourite, and courted in society. And we shall not go there, to be idle— passive spectators to an invasion of South American rights.
New Word List Word List. Save This Word! Doing this usually generates a preposition as well. That sounds much more complicated than it is—passive voice is actually quite easy to detect.
For these examples of passive voice, we will transform the three active sentences above to illustrate the difference. Bananas are adored by monkeys. Making the sentence passive flipped the structure and necessitated the preposition by.
In fact, all three of the transformed sentences above required the addition of by. Using the active voice conveys a strong, clear tone and the passive voice is subtler and weaker. That said, there are times the passive voice is useful and called for. That sentence construction would be helpful if the squirrel were the focus of your writing and not the dog.
Here is an example of a business communication that could be strengthened by abandoning the passive voice. An error has occurred with your account, but every attempt was made to remedy it. That sentence is not incorrect, but it does sound a bit stiff and dishonest. It sounds less trustworthy than it could—almost evasive.
Who wants to do business with a company that avoids taking full responsibility by slipping into formal passive voice territory? Face the responsibility head on instead. Own it. Active voice is a grammar term used to classify sentences in which the subject of the sentence is the one actively performing the action of the verb.
In grammar, voice is a way of classifying the relationship between the action of a sentence and the one or ones doing or not doing the action. For example:. You have probably been told by an English teacher to use active voice instead of passive voice. And more importantly—how? Active voice is considered the default in normal English discourse. But passive voice is also very common.
The best way to understand the difference is by looking at examples. Grandma hugged me is in active voice because the subject of the sentence, Grandma , is the one performing the action. I was hugged by Grandma is in passive voice because the subject of the sentence, I , is not performing the action but is the recipient of it. I was hugged is also in passive voice.
It simply omits the agent the do-er of the action. The fact that the agent can be omitted in passive-voice sentences allows us to do a simple trick that can usually determine whether a sentence is in active voice or passive voice. If the verb in a sentence is followed with by an agent , the sentence is passive. If there is no agent, try inserting by Grandma after the verb. For example, in the sentence I was pickpocketed , you could add by Grandma.
This means the sentence is passive. Sentences written in active voice are often considered more clear, engaging, and easy to read. Being aware of how to use active voice can make you a more effective writer.
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