While Active Voice is used in the first sentence, Passive Voice is used in the second sentence. The subject in the first sentence is Benjamin, while the subject in the second sentence is Alice. At first glance, you may not have understood what is different, what is different is the subjects. Although what is described in the two sentences is that Alice is waiting at the airport by Benjamin, the two sentences are told from completely different perspectives. When we take a look at these two sentence examples, we see that both sentences have a different sequence and meaning from each other. Let’s take a look at two different examples that we have given below:īenjamin greeted his friend Alice, whom he had not seen for years, at the airport.Īlice was greeted at the airport by her friend Benjamin, whom she had not met for years. In academic contexts, active voice is often preferred over passive voice because it achieves clear, concise, and interesting writing. It is more concise (shorter), more direct, and stronger. Passive voice, or a passive sentence, on the other hand, is a sentence in which the subject of the sentence is acted upon by the verb. In this very simple sentence, the active voice is the better choice. The subject is the doer of the action, so they are said to be in the active voice.

It is impossible for us to tell you what the active voice is without telling you what the passive voice is. According to Towson, active voice verbs, also known as active sentences, are verbs that are performed by a subject. In the verb, which is one of the most important grammatical topics in English, the roof appears in two different forms as the active voice and the passive voice.

What is the Difference Between Active Voice and Passive Voice?.

For example, ‘Pupils are not allowed in the dining hall after 1:45 p.m.

To create an authoritative or factual tone.

For example, ‘I had the feeling that I was being watched.’ - I don’t know who was watching me The active voice also complements the typical word order of. The active voice is the most common type of writing.

Because we don't know or do not want to say who performed the action. The active voice makes it clear who is doing the action, while the passive voice often obscures it. Define active voice: the definition of active voice is when the subject performs the verb of a sentence.

It’s pretty common to use the passive voice in scientific writing or in situations where you don't know who performed a certain action, as in 'My bike was stolen.' But in most other cases, sticking to the active voice is more direct and produces more concise writing. For example, the castle was built in 1066 - we are interested in the castle, not in who built it. The passive voice isn’t wrong, but it's not always appropriate. The presence of a be-verb, however, does not necessarily mean that the sentence is in passive voice. Passive Voice In a passive voice sentence, the person or object undertaking the action described is NOT the grammatical subject of the sentence. Active sentences are more common in English than passive ones.

To show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action. Recognizing Passive Voice You can recognize passive-voice expressions because the verb phrase will always include a form of be, such as am, is, was, were, are, or been. The emphasis in an active voice sentence is on the actorsin this case, the fans.Reasons to use the passive voiceĪlthough the active voice is usually the preferred choice, there are sometimes good reasons to use the passive voice: Rewrite the sentence so that the subject in the 'by' phrase is closer to the beginning of the sentence.įor example:‘The exam was passed by the pupil’ would change to ‘The pupil passed the exam’. One way to avoid using the passive voice is to look for a ‘by’ phrase. It is typically recommended that writers use active voice in academic writing, as it allows the writer to provide direct and concise information. Moreover, an active voice contains a less number of words which enhances. It has a clear subject + verb + object structure that is easy to comprehend. The action performed by the subject is stated by the transitive verb. Who scored the goal? Doesn’t the writer know? Converting sentences to active voice Active Voice: The entire team ate (new conjugated verb) the pizza. In an active voice sentence, the subject acts upon its verb. Passive sentences can cause confusion because they can be vague about who is responsible for the action. Active: The teacher collected the books.Passive: The books were collected by the teacher.Using the active voice in a sentence often means fewer words are used than in the passive voice.

What is a active voice