What Is Passive Voice Construction
Tenses are time references and voice shows who perform and receive the action. Passive voice is a form of sentence construction, which changes the focus of a sentence.
We use the passive voice to change the focus of the sentence.
My bike was stolen. (Passive – focus on my bike)
Someone stole my bike. (Active – focus on someone)
We often use the passive:
When we prefer not to mention who or what does the action; because either it is not known, it's obvious or we don't want to say.
Example:
- The house will be cleaned every Saturday. (who will clean the house, this is missing)
To start a sentence with the most important or most logical information
Example:
- Insulin was first discovered in 1921 by researchers at the University of Toronto.
To be vague about who is responsible:
- Unspoken truths are blessing sometimes.(Common in bureaucratic writing.)
When talking about a general truth:
- Food is served to feed. (By whom is missing
- The sodium hydroxide was dissolved in water. This solution was then titrated with hydrochloric acid.
To reports of crimes or incidents with unknown perpetrators
- My car was stolen yesterday. (The passive voice emphasizes the stolen item and the action of theft.)
When to avoid passive voice?
Passive sentences can get you into trouble in academic writing because they can be vague about who is responsible for the action.
Example:
- Both Othello and Iago desire Desdemona. She is courted. (Who courts Desdemona? Othello? Iago? Both of them?)
Academic writing often focuses on differences between the ideas of different researchers, or between your own ideas and those of the researchers you are discussing. Too many passive sentences can create confusion.
Example:
- Research has been done to discredit this theory. (Who did the research? You? Your professor? Another author?)
Some students use passive sentences to hide holes in their research.
- The telephone was invented in the nineteenth century. (I couldn’t find out who invented the telephone!)
Finally, passive sentences often sound wordy and indirect. They can make the reader work unnecessarily hard. In addition, they are usually longer than active sentences; passive sentences take up precious room in your paper.
Example:
- Since the car was being driven by Michael at the time of the accident, the damages should be paid for by him.
The difference between active and passive voice
At the most basic level, the active voice emphasizes the person or agent who performs an action, in short, the ‘doer’. The passive voice emphasizes the recipient of the action or sometimes the action itself.
Example:
- The dog chased the ball. (Active)
- The ball was chased by the dog. (Passive)
- The construction of active voice: subject + verb+ object (optional)
- The passive voice sentence construction: Object + verb (to be) + past participle of transitive verb + prepositional phrase (optional)
Example:
- Avatar was directed by David Cameron. (Passive)
- David Cameron directed Avatar. (Active)
- My flight is cancelled. (Passive: It is not always necessary to add who or what did the action).
- They ate, played, and slept during whole vacation. (Active: Object is not always necessary)
Weeding out passive sentences
To spot passive sentences, check a form of the verb ‘to be’ in your sentence is followed by participle verb and the doer is either missing or introduced after the verb using the word “by.”
Example:
- Poland was invaded in 1939, thus initiating the Second World War. (Doer is missing)
- Genetic information is encoded by DNA. (doer is introduced after ‘by’)
- The possibility of cold fusion has been examined for many years.
Turn passive sentences into active sentences. Begin new sentences with doer (who performed action). Active sentences are stronger, shorter, and precise.
Example:
- Germany invaded Poland in 1939, thus initiating the Second World War.
- DNA encodes genetic information.
- Physicists have examined the possibility of cold fusion for many years.