Est. reading time: 7 minutes
Sentence structuring is an essential part of the English language, and a lot of elements go into that, one of which is the active and passive voice.
The beauty of sentences is that words can be used to form them in different ways while retaining the same meaning. However, this is dependent on whether the subject is performing or receiving an action.
Irrespective of the sentence form, the context of the sentences does not change. So let’s take an in-depth look into active and passive voice.
Subject, Verb and Object
We can’t talk about active and passive voice without mentioning the subject, verb, and object. When it comes to sentence formation, these three keywords are important and in this part of the article, we will simplify them.
Subject
The subject of a sentence is a noun or pronoun that acts out the verb on the object. It’s basically what or whom the sentence is about.
For example, in the sentence “The dog eats the meat,” “the dog” is the subject because it is the one performing the action of “eating” the object, which is “the meat.”
Verb
The verb is a major component of a sentence and it’s simply a word that expresses an action. For example, the verb in this sentence “The dog eats the meat,” is “eats”. “Eats” is the action that is being performed on the object by the subject.
Object
In contrast to the “subject,” the object of a sentence is the noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb from the subject. Still using the example, “The dog eats the meat,” “the meat” here is the object because it is receiving the action of being eaten by the subject, “the dog”.
What are Active and Passive Voices?
Now that we are conversant with the basic structure of a sentence, let’s dive into what active and passive voices are.
Active Voice
In a sentence where the subject is directly acting on the object, we have an active voice. This means the subject is acting on the object.
Let’s represent this with a simple equation:
Active voice = Subject + Verb + Object
An example is:
- I bought a house.
From this example, we can see that the subject “I” is acting “bought” on the object “house.”
Passive Voice
On the other hand, passive voice is when the subject receives an action in a sentence. It means that the subject is receiving an action expressed by the verb. It is oftentimes used when the focus is on the action expressed rather than the subject that performed the action.
To know the difference between active and passive voice, simply concentrate on how the subject and object are being positioned in a sentence.
You can use this simple equation to identify the passive voice in a sentence:
Passive voice = Object + Verb + Subject
An example of passive voice is
- A house was bought by me.
Based on the example given, you can see that the focus is not on the person who bought the house but rather on what the person did.
Let’s check out more examples of active and passive voice to explain further how the sentence structure changes with the change in position of the subject and object while retaining its meaning.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| The dog eats the meat. | The meat was eaten by the dog. |
| They saw the snake. | The snake was seen by them. |
| James fixed the car. | The car was fixed by James. |
| Nana will make the dress. | The dress will be made by Nana. |
| The Super Eagles won the championship. | The championship was won by the Super Eagles. |
| She wrote an interesting story. | An interesting story was written by her. |
| Brooks paints a beautiful picture. | A beautiful picture was painted by Brooks. |
| He wrote a letter. | A letter was written by him. |
| The plumber fixed the broken tap. | The broken tap was fixed by the plumber. |
| The gardeners planted flowers. | Flowers were planted by the gardeners. |
Rules Governing the Change of Active Voice to Passive Voice
The following rules are the basis of changing an active voice into a passive voice. Having a clear understanding of the rules is very important in perfecting the transition from active to passive voice.
Structure Change
When changing an active voice into a passive voice, the structure of the sentence changes and is usually in a reversed format.
From the equation earlier in the article, we discussed the position of the subject and object in both active and passive sentences. However, in the case of changing an active sentence to a passive sentence, the subject shifts to the position of the object and vice versa.
Let’s check out this example:
Active: Brooks painted a picture.
Passive: A picture was painted by Brooks.
From this example, we can see that there’s a change in the arrangement of the sentence from the active to the passive voice. There’s a form of exchange going on in the sentence. The subject “Brooks” has changed its position to that of the object “picture” and vice versa.
Pronoun Change
In the process of the subject changing its location to that of the object, it is therefore expressed as the object in the case of pronouns and there’s usually a word conversion.
For instance, “She” changes to “her”, “he” “him”, “they to “them”, and “we” to “us,” while “you” and “it” remain the same.
Now let’s use some of these pronouns in sentences.
Active: He wrote a letter.
Passive: A letter was written by him.
Active: They saw a snake.
Passive: A snake was seen by them.
Active: She wrote an interesting story.
Passive: An interesting story was written by her.
Active: You completed the project.
Passive: The project was completed by you.
Active: It ate the food.
Passive. The food was eaten by it.
Verb Change
From the table of examples above, you can see the change in the verb used. In passive voice, the type of verb used is the past participle, also known as the 3rd form of the verb. Irrespective of the verb used in the active voice, whether in the 1st (present) or 2nd (past) form, it always changes to the third form when it becomes passive.
To understand this clearly, let’s take a look at some examples:
Active: The dog eats the meat.
Passive: The meat was eaten by the dog.
Active: She wrote an interesting story.
Passive: an interesting story was written by her.
Active: They saw a snake.
Passive: The snake was seen by them.
From these examples, you can see how “eats” changes to “eaten”, “wrote” “written”, and “saw” to “seen”.
Change in Helping Verb and Tense
When there’s a change in the form of a verb whether present, past, or future, the tense of the helping verb, also known as the auxiliary verb, certainly changes as well.
Let’s take a look at some examples:
Active: Her dad is fixing the car.
Passive: The car is being fixed by her dad.
Active: The gardeners planted flowers.
Passive: Flowers were planted by the gardeners.
Active: Nana will make the dress.
Passive: The dress will be made by Nana.
The Use of “by” is Inevitable
When changing from an active to a passive voice, the word “by” is usually used before the subject.
Examples of this rule include:
- The meat was eaten by the dog.
- Flowers were planted by the gardeners.
- An interesting story was written by her.
When to Use Active Voice
The purpose of using an active voice when writing is for clear and concise communication. Active voice is usually used in writing essays, emails, and more, making it more useful than passive voice.
Even though active voice is commonly used, there are still some cases where it is beneficial:
When Writing Shorter Sentences
If the goal of your sentence is to be concise, then it’s better to use an active voice when writing.
Example:
Active voice: She ate her food.
Passive voice: Her food was eaten by her.
From the above example, you can see the difference in the length of the subject. The passive voice happens to be longer than the active voice, which is not what you want when writing a short sentence or when you want to pass a short message.
If Writing a Clear Sentence is the Goal
Active sentences are very clear and easy to understand, so if you’re in a position where you need to make your sentence as clear as possible then you should write in the active voice.
Here’s an example:
- Active voice: The music students gave an excellent performance at the recital.
- Passive voice: At the recital, an excellent performance was given by the music students.
Comparing these two sentences, we can see how clear the active sentence is. Without having to explain ourselves, any reader or listener can comprehend it without being confused.
When to Use Passive Voice
Most times, when we write, we tend to use the active voice more than the passive voice. The passive voice is used when you want to focus on what is receiving the action or the action itself, rather than who or what is doing the action.
When the Subject is not important,
Passive voice is barely used, and when used, it is often used when the subject of the sentence is not important or when making a report.
For example:
- The report was submitted.
Based on this sentence, we know the report (object) was submitted (verb) but the sentence didn’t state who performed the submission, meaning the person who submitted the report is not important in that case. So in this case, the subject is not relevant to the situation, making the passive sentence suitable.
When the Subject is not Stated
Another situation where passive voice is used is to emphasize the action of the verb, usually when the subject is not stated.
For instance:
- Italy is known for its cheese.
In this case, the point of interest is that Italy is known for its cheese, not who knows Italy for its cheese.
When Stating a Report
Another case of using passive voice in sentences is when you want to give a report, like a news report or science report.
For example:
- 5 ml of water was measured into the conical flask.
- A state of emergency was announced.
Reports are often stated in the passive voice because reports tend to focus on action rather than the person or people involved.
Conclusion
In essence, it is beautiful to understand the use of active and passive voices. I hope this article has succinctly explained when to use active and passive voice.
[email protected]