Passive Voice
Download Free PDF Worksheet
The worksheet explains the concept of active and passive voice, including suggestions for the appropriate use of the passive voice. Exercises provide students with the opportunity of recasting sentences from passive to active or from active to passive, depending on the context.
| Worksheet 1, Active and Passive Voice, 9 Exercises |
| Worksheet 2, Active and Passive Voice, 16 Exercises |
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The Problem
Inexperienced writers often use passive voice instead of active voice in their writing, creating weak prose that is difficult to understand. Recognizing the passive voice in your own writing and knowing how to rewrite sentences in the active voice will make your writing style more vigorous and easy to read.
Recognizing the Passive Voice
In passive voice constructions, the person or thing that does the action is buried at the end of the sentence in a prepositional phrase or is not stated at all. The thing that something is being done to is the grammatical subject of the sentence. Take a look at the following sentence.
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The report was misplaced.
What is the thing that was "misplaced"? The report. Notice that it is the grammatical subject of the sentence. Who misplaced the report? The writer does not tell us. The person who does the action, arguably the most important element of the sentence, is not even mentioned. This sentence can also be rewritten in the following manner, to include the person who misplaced the report (often called the "agent" or "doer" of the action).
- The report was misplaced by Mr. Jenkins.
Notice that the writer chooses to hide Mr. Jenkins, the agent or "doer" of the action, in a prepositional phrase at the end of the sentence. These two sentences illustrate the passive voice. It is characterized by the use of the verb "to be" (is, was, were) as a helping verb to a main verb in the present (ing) or past (ed) participle.
Rewriting in the Active Voice
The most recognizable and comfortable sentence pattern in English is "Subject + Verb + Object." The subject is usually the agent, as in "Joe hit the ball," which is in the active voice. Compare "Joe hit the ball" (active) with "The ball was hit by Joe" (passive). To rewrite a sentence in the active voice:
- Identify an agent or "doer" of the action. If no agent is stated in the original passive sentence, create one. (Joe, in the example above.)
- Identify the action that the agent is doing and make that action a verb in the simple present tense or past tense (hit, the verb in simple past tense.)
- Identify the thing that the subject is doing something to. (the ball).
- Rewrite the sentence, placeing the agent in the subject position.
Passive Voice is Appropriate at Times
There are times, however, where the passive voice is more appropriate than the active voice. For example, if you consciously want to hide the agent or if the agent is not really relevant, use the passive voice. For example, the sentence, "The Baseball Writers Association voted Andre Dawson into the hall of fame" lacks the proper emphasis. The emphasis should be Andre Dawson, not the organization that voted him into the hall, thus "Andre Dawson was voted into the hall of fame." This is one case where the passive voice is more appropriate than the active voice.
But remember; this is the exception. In general, use the active voice in your writing. Your writing will have more vigor and be easier to read than if your writing is full of passive constructions.
Passive Voice Links
- Writing Center, University of North Carolina
This is by far the best explanation of how the passive voice works, or does not work, in sentences. It discusses myths, different contexts where the passive voice is often used but not appropriate, and legitimate uses of the passive. If you need more in-depth information, click on my worksheet. Then click here :-)
- About.com ESL Page
Short, uses bullets, and provides clear exaples. Quick and easy.
- Capital Community College
Accurate and clear, with plenty of examples and tables about the passive formation. Includes an online quiz.
- EnglishClub.com
The explanation isn't great, but the tables with the different tenses akes up for the paucity of the explanation. The tables make understanding the passive construction easy.
- Dr. Wheeler's Grammar Page at Carson-Newman College
Excellent explanation about the "evils" of the passive voice (his term). Dr. Wheeler's enthusiastic embrace of the active voice is admirable, if a bit overdone. Take a look.
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