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Active and Passive Voice in Writing

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Questions and Answers

What is the main difference between the active and passive voice in a sentence?

The active voice describes the time of action, while the passive voice describes the type of action.

The active voice is more formal, while the passive voice is informal.

The active voice is used for questions, while the passive voice is used for statements.

In the active voice, the subject performs the action, while in the passive voice, the subject receives the action. (correct)

What is the formula for the active voice?

[Subject]+[Verb (performed by the subject)]+[Optional object] (correct)

[Subject]+[Past participle of a transitive verb]+[Optional prepositional phrase]

[Subject]+[Optional prepositional phrase]+[Verb (performed by the subject)]

[Subject]+[Some form of the verb to be]+[Past participle of a transitive verb]

What happens to the grammatical subject in a passive voice construction?

It performs the action of the verb.

It becomes the object of the sentence.

It receives the action of the verb. (correct)

It is dropped from the sentence.

What is the purpose of the prepositional phrase in a passive voice construction?

To identify the performer of the action. Signup and view all the answers

When is it a good idea to use the passive voice?

When the action is more important than the performer. Signup and view all the answers

What is the relationship between tense and voice in a sentence?

Tense refers to the time of the action, while voice describes whether the subject performs or receives the action. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Active and Passive Voice

The active voice makes writing stronger, more direct, and more active.
In the active voice, the subject performs the action of the verb in the sentence.
The formula for the active voice is: [subject]+[verb (performed by the subject)]+[optional object].
Example of active voice: "Chester kicked the ball."

Passive Voice

The passive voice is not incorrect, and there are times when it can be useful.
In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb.
The formula for the passive voice is: [subject]+[some form of the verb to be]+[past participle of a transitive verb]+[optional prepositional phrase].
Example of passive voice: "The ball was kicked by Chester."
In a passive voice construction, the performer of the action can be dropped from the sentence: "The ball was kicked."
The passive voice changes the grammatical subject of the clause, making the object of the action the new subject.

Key Points

Voice describes whether the grammatical subject of a clause performs or receives the action of the verb.
Tense is about time references, while voice is about the relationship between the subject and the verb.