"The Fellowship of the Ring is a fabulous movie. To make the second sentence clearer and flow better, the passive voice could be used. Here 'it' refers to The Fellowship of the Ring. This refers to when you have two or more sentences that talk about the same topic.įor example, "The Fellowship of the Ring is a fabulous movie. The agent (performer of the action) has been mentioned and you want to develop the topic.There are over 5,000 adults diagnosed with diabetes each year in New Zealand.Sarah found out that she was given a lower increment compared to her other colleagues.
It is obvious who the agent (performer of the action) is.Therefore, it would be better expressed as follows: "My book was stolen yesterday". The agent (performer of the action) is unknownįor example, "Somebody stole my book yesterday".Note: Here the focus is on the performer of the action and you might not want this in a methods section. Passive voice: The Bacillus subtilis were stored in a test tube for one year.Īctive voice: We stored the Bacillus subtilis in a test tube for one year. You want to focus on the 'renovation' (passive voice) and not the 'builders' (active voice). To focus on the receiver (the object/action)įor example, there is a university near your home, and the builders have recently renovated it.The active voice can often add clarity, but occasionally the passive voice might be the best option. The voice you use can make a big difference in your writing. Therefore, switching sentences from the passive to the active voice might help reduce the word count of an assignment. The passive voice also tends to use more words than the active voice. As a result, the writing might be difficult to read. Readers might find it unnatural or clumsy. In this case, although the passive voice is grammatically correct, it does not have the same impact or clarity as to the active voice. Passive voice: The relationship between stress and high blood pressure was found in the study conducted by Joe. In the passive voice, the subject is acted upon. The active voice makes sentences clearer, more direct, and more concise.Īctive voice: Joe found a relationship between stress and high blood pressure. In the passive voice, the verb 'to be' ( was) is used to show that 'the boy' is the receiver. In the active voice, the focus is on the subject and in the passive voice, the focus is on the receiver. What is the major difference between the active and passive voice? In these sentences, 'the boy' receives the 'slap'. The receiver is the person/thing/animal that receives the action. In the above sentences, 'Joe' performs the action. The subject is the person/thing/animal that carries out the action. In both sentences, the action is 'slapped'. Passive voice: The boy was slapped by Joeīoth the sentences are saying the same thing and the meaning is the same, but the expression is different.
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