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- DictionaryPassive voice
noun
- 1. a form or set of forms of a verb in which the subject undergoes the action of the verb (e.g. they were killed as opposed to the active form he killed them): "the second sentence is in the passive voice"
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The passive writing voice occurs when something that is ordinarily “done by” the subject of a sentence is “done by” the object of a sentence. In the passive writing voice, whatever is doing the action of the sentence is not the grammatical subject of the sentence.
Apr 25, 2023 · The passive voice is your friend when the thing receiving an action or the action itself is the important part of the sentence—especially in scientific and legal contexts, times when the performer of an action is unknown, or cases where the subject is distracting or irrelevant.
Apr 25, 2023 · There are numerous differences between the two grammatical voices, but the most important is that the active voice is clearer and more direct, while the passive voice is subtler and can feel more detached.
When a sentence is in the active voice, the subject of the sentence is the one doing the action expressed by the verb. In the passive voice, the subject is the person or thing acted on or affected by the verb's action.
The term "passive voice" describes a verb whose action is done to the subject not by the subject. For example: The sheriff was shot. (This is an example of the passive voice. The subject of the verb is "the sheriff." The action of the verb ("to shoot") is done to the subject.) Now, look at this example: He shot the sheriff.
This handout will help you understand what passive voice is, why many instructors frown upon it, and how you can revise to achieve greater clarity.
Passive voice is a grammatical structure where the subject of a sentence receives the action of the verb instead of performing it. The structure of the passive voice in English involves the use of transitive verbs, which have both active and passive forms.
We make the passive by putting the verb 'to be' into whatever tense we need and then adding the past participle. For regular verbs, we make the past participle by adding 'ed' to the infinitive.
The passive voice in English grammar allows us to make the recipient of the action the focus of the sentence; the person or thing performing the action is unknown, unimportant or obvious. The passive is formed as follows: form of be + past participle.
The use of passive voice allows speakers to organize stretches of discourse by placing figures other than the agent in subject position. This may be done to foreground the patient, recipient, or other thematic role; [ 5] it may also be useful when the semantic patient is the topic of on-going discussion. [ 6] .
