What are the active and passive voices?
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICES – What are the differences between these voices and how do you use them in a sentence?
When to use the active and passive voice in writing?
When we say “voice,” this refers to the connection of the subject and the object in a sentence, which is linked through a verb. Having learned about the different parts of speech and the different tenses of verbs, it is also important to learn about voices, and in the English language, there are two: active and passive.
ACTIVE VOICE
When a noun or pronoun that acts as a subject in the sentence is the doer of the action. This is the voice when in a sentence, the subject acts the verb. It has a direct, clear, and strong tone. This comes with the formula: Subject + Verb + Object.
PASSIVE VOICE
When the subject is not active in the sentence. According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, this is defined as “the form of a verb used when the subject is affected by the action of the verb”. It has an indirect, weak, and subtle tone. This comes with the formula: Object + Verb + Subject.
CHANGE OF PRONOUNS
| ACTIVE | PASSIVE |
| I | Me |
| We | Us |
| He | Him |
| She | Her |
| They | Them |
| It | It |
Some rules:
- Interchange the subject and the object when turning an active to passive.
- When converting the active into the passive, convert the main verb to its past participle verb.
- Use an auxiliary verb when changing the tense of the verb to maintain the tense of the sentence.
- Use the preposition “by” before the subject in a passive sentence.
- Do not drop the adverb whether converting from active to passive or vice versa.
Examples:
| ACTIVE | PASSIVE |
| Anna is helping Baron. | Baron is being helped by Anna. |
| J. K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter novels. | The Harry Potter novels were written by J. K. Rowling. |
| I gave my mother a gift. | A gift was given to mother by me. |
| Harry hit Ron. | Ron was hit by Harry. |
| Carrie will buy the cupcakes. | The cupcakes will be bought by Carrie. |