Passive Voice

Definition

Passive voice is a grammatical construction where the subject of a sentence is acted upon by the verb, shifting the focus from who is performing the action to who is receiving it. This construction often involves auxiliary verbs and changes in verb forms, which can significantly influence verb types and functions within sentences.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. In passive voice sentences, the agent performing the action may be omitted or included with a prepositional phrase starting with 'by'.
2. Passive voice can often lead to more formal writing styles, making it commonly used in academic or professional contexts.
3. Not all verbs can be used in passive voice; only transitive verbs that have direct objects can be transformed.
4. The use of auxiliary verbs such as 'to be' and past participles is essential for forming passive voice constructions.
5. Passive voice can create ambiguity if overused, as it may obscure who is responsible for an action.

Review Questions

• How does passive voice change the focus of a sentence compared to active voice?
  • Passive voice shifts the focus from the subject performing the action to the object receiving the action. For example, in an active sentence like 'The chef cooked dinner,' the chef is central to the sentence. In contrast, using passive voice, it becomes 'Dinner was cooked by the chef,' placing emphasis on dinner rather than the chef. This change can affect clarity and the intent behind communication.
• What role do auxiliary verbs play in constructing passive voice, and how does this relate to verb types?
  • Auxiliary verbs are crucial for forming passive voice, as they help indicate tense and aspect alongside the main verb in its past participle form. For instance, in 'The book was read by Mary,' 'was' serves as an auxiliary verb indicating past tense while 'read' is in its past participle form. This relationship highlights how certain verbs function within different constructions and emphasizes their roles in shifting focus in sentences.
• Evaluate how passive voice affects formal vs. informal language in writing styles and contexts.
  • Passive voice tends to lend itself to a more formal tone, often preferred in academic and professional writing where objectivity is essential. In contrast, informal writing usually favors active voice for its clarity and directness. The choice between using passive or active voice can significantly influence how information is perceived and understood by readers, impacting engagement and comprehension depending on the context.

Related terms

Active Voice:

A grammatical structure where the subject of the sentence performs the action expressed by the verb, making it more direct and usually clearer.

Transitive Verb: A type of verb that requires one or more objects to receive the action, which can easily be transformed into passive voice.

Subject-Verb Agreement: The grammatical rule that subjects must agree in number with their verbs, which can affect how passive constructions are formed.