Active And Passive Voice

In this article, we will be learning more about the Active and Passive Voice. Under this topic, we will be focusing on two main sub-topics.

• Synthesis
  • When two sentences are given, how do we combine them to form a single sentence?
  • A sentence is provided and we need to rearrange it using stated conditions.

• Writing
  • How active and passive voice helps you distinguish which is a better option to use at a given time as per the usage and their intended meaning.

Active Voice

Active voice is a form in which the subject is typically a person or a thing performing an action on the verb, i.e. the subject of the sentence acts on the verb. It is a very direct voice. Somebody does some action. 

Example:

Cats catch rats.

Here, cats is the subject.

The action done by the subject (cats) is “catch”.

Question 1:

Look at the sentence given below.

The barista brews some coffee.

Is it written in an active voice?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Yes and No

Answer: 

1

Question 2:

Look at the sentence below.

The cake was made by Sally.

Is it written in an active voice?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Yes and No

Answer:

2

Question 3:

Look at the following sentence.

Of all the hobbies in the world, Ram loved singing the most.

Is it written in an active voice?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Yes and No

Answer: 

1

Passive Voice

Passive Voice is used to show focus on the person or object that experiences or receives an action rather than the person or subject that performs the action. A verb is written in the passive voice when the subject of the sentence is acted on by the verb. For example:

Example:

Mice were caught by cats.

Here, the object is “Mice”.

The focus is not on the subject “cats”. 

Object is not doing the action. The action is done by the cats!

Question 4:

Look at the sentence below.

The steak was seared by the chef.

Is it written in a passive voice?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Yes and No

Answer:

1

Question 5:

Look at the sentence below.

Stanley found himself caught in a parable.

Is it written in a passive voice?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Yes and No

Answer:

2

Question 6:

Look at this sentence.

The Reds caught the fish but the meal was cooked by the Greens.

Is it written in a passive voice?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Yes and No

Answer:

3

Explanation:

The Reds caught the fish ---- Active

The meal was cooked by the Greens ----- Passive

Synthesis

Sometimes we need to switch from one form to the other, i.e. active voice to passive voice, and vice versa. In such cases, pay attention to the tenses.

Question 7:

Jimmy flew the kite across the field. 

The __________.

1. field was flown across the Jimmy by kite
2. kite was by Jimmy flown across the field
3. flying of the kite was Jimmy across the field
4. kite was flown across the field by Jimmy

Answer: 

4

Question 8:

Our daughter is showing signs of telekinesis. 

Signs __________.

1. of being shown by our daughter are telekinesis
2. of our daughter are telekinesis
3. of telekinesis are being shown by our daughter
4. of telekinesis is being shown by our daughter

Answer:

3

Question 9:

The teleporters had been tested by the workers before they were packed into boxes.

The workers __________.

1. Had tested the teleporters before they packed them into boxes
2. Tested the teleporters before they had packed them into boxes
3. Packed the teleporters into boxes after they were tested
4. Had tested the teleporters before they had packed them into boxes

Answer:

1

Explanation:

Here, two actions happen…

The first action is to test. (Here we use past participle)

The second action is to pack. (Here we use past tense)

Thus, Option 1 is the correct answer.

Question 10:

The children have been praised by their parents.

The children’s __________.

1. have been praised by their parents
2. praise was by their parents
3. parents have been praised by them
4. parents have praised them.

Answer: 

4

Active And Passive Voice In Writing

Active voice is more direct and personal and gives you a stronger connection with your reader. Let us try to understand it better with the following example.

Example:

You are playing a game when it crashes.

Which error message makes you the least angry/frustrated?

1. Error code 40952
2. Oh no, our game has crashed. We apologise and are working hard to fix it.
3. Oh no, the game has crashed! A solution is being worked on by the team.
4. The game has crashed, probably because of something you did.

Answer: 

2

Conclusion

In this article, we learnt more about how to use active and passive voice. 

• Active Voice is used when the subject of the sentence acts upon its verb. It is more direct and personal.
• Passive Voice is when the subject is itself acted on by the verb. 

We tried some questions on composition structure and practised how to use the active and passive voice in writing a composition.

Thus, keep reading, keep improving!