Active and Passive Compare: 1. Austrians speak German. (A) German is spoken by Austrians. (P) 2.

They built this house in 1986. (A) This house was built by them in 1986. (P) 3. A friend of ours is repairing the roof. (A) This roof is being repaired by a friend of ours. (P) 4. The book will change your life. (A) Your life will be changed by this book. (P) When A does something to B, there are often two ways to talk about it. If we want A (the doer of the action) to be the subject, we use an active verb: built, speak, is repairing, and so on. If we want B (the receiver of the action) to be the subject, we use was built, is spoken, is being repaired, will be changed. The object of an active verb corresponds to the subject of a passive verb. For example: A: They built this house (object) in 1986. P: This house (subject) was built (by them) in 1986. In most cases, the subject of an active verb is not expressed in the corresponding passive sentence. If it does have to be expressed, they usually happens in an expression with by, the noun is called the agent. Sentences can be written or spoken in the active or passive voice. In the active voice, the subject of the sentence acts upon

something or someone. In the passive voice, the subject is acted upon. For example: Active Voice: The twister left a path of destruction. Passive Voice: A path of destruction was left by the twister. Writers should usually use the active voice rather than the passive. Its considered to be a more powerful and straightforward form of expression. The active voice also uses fewer words to convey the same message. In the active voice, the object receives the action of the verb: active subject verb object > Cats eat fish.

The passive voice is less usual. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb: passive Subject < Fish are eaten by cats. verb object

The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb:

subject

verb

object water.

active Everybody drinks passive Water

is drunk by everybody.

Passive Verb Forms: We normally make passive forms of a verb by using terms of the auxiliaries be followed by the past participle (PP) of the verb. Here is the list of all passive forms of ordinary English verbs. Name Construction Example (Simple) Future will be + (PP) You will be told very soon. Future Perfect will + have + been PP Everything will have been done by Tuesday. (Simple) Present is/am/are + PP English is spoken here. Present Progressive is/am/are + being + PP The house is being painted. Present Perfect have/has + been + PP Mary has been told. (Simple) Past was/were + PP but I went. Past Progressive was/were + being + PP being watched. Past Perfect had been + PP been chosen. I wasnt invited, I felt as if I was I knew they had

Note: Future Progressive Passives and Perfect Progressive passives are unusual.

Passive voice One can change the normal word order of many active sentences (those with a direct object) so that the subject is no longer active, but is, instead, being acted upon by the verb - or passive. Note in these examples how the subject-verb relationship has changed.

Because the subject is being "acted upon" (or is passive), such sentences are said to be in the passive voice. NOTE: Colorful parrots live in the rainforests cannot be changed to passive voice because the sentence does not have a direct object. To change a sentence from active to passive voice, do the following: 1. Move the active sentence's direct object into the sentence's subject slot

2. Place the active sentence's subject into a phrase beginning with the preposition by

3. Add a form of the auxiliary verb be to the main verb and change the main verb's form

Because passive voice sentences necessarily add words and change the normal doer-action-receiver of action direction, they may make the reader work harder to understand the intended meaning. As the examples below illustrate, a sentence in active voice flows more smoothly and is easier to understand than the same sentence in passive voice.

It is generally preferable to use the ACTIVE voice.

To change a passive voice sentence into an active voice sentence, simply reverse the steps shown above. 1. Move the passive sentence's subject into the active sentence's direct object slot

2. Remove the auxiliary verb be from the main verb and change main verb's form if needed

3. Place the passive sentence's object of the preposition by into the subject slot.

Because it is more direct, most writers prefer to use the active voice whenever possible. The passive voice may be a better choice, however, when

the doer of the action is unknown, unwanted, or unneeded in the sentence

the writer wishes to emphasize the action of the sentence rather than the doer of the action

The writer wishes to use passive voice for sentence variety.

Note: If one is giving importance to the receiver of the action, then the passive voice and if one is giving importance to the doer of the action, then the active voice has to be used. For instance, If we are writing an essay on Airplane (the receiver of the action/ direct object), then we use passive voice. Ex: Airplane was invented by the Wright Brothers. And if we are writing an essay on Wright Brothers (the doer of the action), then we use active voice. Ex: The Wright Brothers invented Airplane.