Understanding Active and Passive Voice

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Questions and Answers

What characterizes sentences in the passive voice?

The subject receives the action (correct)
The subject performs the action
The action is emphasized over the subject (correct)
The subject and agent are the same

Which of the following is an example of active voice?

The bridge was built in the 1700s
Shona cleans the house (correct)
Hundreds of homes were destroyed by the storm
The house is cleaned by Shona

When is passive voice preferred over active voice?

When clarity in the subject's role is required
When the subject is performing the action
When the action is more important than who performed it (correct)
When conveying strong emotions is necessary

Which of the following sentences uses passive voice correctly?

<p>The cake was baked by the chef (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a reason for using the passive voice?

<p>To keep the performer of the action unknown (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Flashcards

Active Voice

The subject of the sentence does the action. Example: The dog chased the ball. The dog is the subject and it's also performing the action of chasing.

Passive Voice

The subject of the sentence has the action done to it. Example: The ball was chased by the dog. The ball is the subject, but the dog is performing the action.

When to use the passive voice: Unknown Actor

The person or thing doing the action is unknown or unimportant. Example: The car was stolen. It doesn't matter who stole the car, the car being stolen is more important.

When to use the passive voice: Obvious Actor

The person or thing doing the action is obvious or clear. Example: John was awarded the prize. It's obvious that someone gave John the prize - we don't need to mention it.

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When to use the passive voice: Result is important

The result of the action is more important than who did it. Example: The report was finished. The fact that the report is done is more important than who finished it.

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Study Notes

Active Voice

The subject of the sentence performs the action
Subject and agent are the same
Example: Shona cleans the house
Active voice is more common in everyday writing and speech

Passive Voice

The subject of the sentence receives the action
Subject and agent are different
Example: The house is cleaned by Shona
Formed by using the past participle of the verb and the verb to be
Used when the performer of the action is unknown, unimportant, obvious, or when the result of the action is more important than the agent

Uses of Passive Voice

When the performer of the action is unknown or unimportant
- Example: The bridge was built in the 1700s
When the performer of the action is obvious
- Example: Toby was promoted last week
When the result of the action is more important than the agent
- Example: Hundreds of people had their homes destroyed by the storm
When wanting to be polite
- Example: We haven't been served (more polite than You haven't served us)