LoginVoices
This lesson delves into the complexities of active and passive voice, exploring their roles in different grammatical contexts. It offers comprehensive explanations, advanced exercises, and a quiz.
Voices: Types
There are three voices in the English grammar as is mentioned below.
Active Voice
Whenever the subject is the doer of the action, the sentence is considered to be in the active voice.
Look at some examples of the active voice:
They suddenly started arguing.
Peter drove a BMW when he was in Sicilia.
Active Voice: Structure
The active voice has a straightforward structure which consists of the subject + verb + (object) where the subject is the doer of the action, the verb shows the action being performed, and the object shows the receiver of the action. Look at the examples:
The cat chased the mouse.
The police arrested the thief.
Passive Voice
Whenever the direct object of an active voice is moved to the subject position of the sentence and the subject turns to an optional adjunct, the passive voice appears in the sentence.
In sentences in the passive voice, the subject is not the doer of the action, it is actually the recipient of the action. The passive voice is used when the speaker does not wish to give information about the agent or does not know who the agent is. Check out the examples:
The cook is introduced to the workers in advance.
The shoes are designed by Christian Louboutin.
Passive Voice: Structure
In the passive voice, the subject is the recipient of the action and the verb is formed using an auxiliary "be" + past participle form of the main verb. The agent or doer of the action can be introduced using the preposition "by" at the end of the sentence, but this is optional. Look at the examples below:
The man was bitten by the dog.
The active equivalent of this sentence would be "The dog bit the man." which shows the man to be the person receiving the action of the verb.
The car was stolen.
Warning!
As the definition of the passive voice suggests, not all sentences can be expressed using the passive voice. Intransitive verbs cannot be made passive because there is no object to become the subject of the passive. Some transitive verbs cannot become passive either, mostly because the verb is stative or symmetric.
He was sleeping.
"Sleep" is an intransitive verb. It cannot be made passive.
I had a bad headache.
"Have" is an stative verb, you cannot say "a bad headache was had by me" because the object does not actually receive any action denoted by the verb.
Middle Voice
The middle voice is another voice in English that has some of the characteristics of the active voice and some of the characteristics of the passive voice. In sentences in the middle voice, the subject is both performing the action and affected by the action but it is not the agent, rather it is experiencing the action passively. Sentences in the middle voice express tendencies and natural changes in the states of things. Have a look at some examples:
The door opened.
The soup cooks quickly.
Middle Voice: Structure
The verb form in the middle voice is the same as the active voice, but they differ in that the active voice identifies the agent (subject) while the middle voice does not allow identification of the agent even using a prepositional phrase (the way the passive voice does). Here are some examples:
The window shattered.
You can't say "The window shattered by the kids."
The book sells well.
Middle Voice Vs. Intransitive verbs
While the verb in the middle voice is always intransitive, not all intransitive verbs are in the middle voice. The middle voice is only applicable in cases where the grammatical subject is itself affected by the action of the verb and undergoes some change as the result of this action. Compare the examples:
She sleeps peacefully.
This is an intransitive verb, but it is not in the middle voice since the subject is the actual person performing the action of "sleeping".
The knife sharpens easily.
Here, the knife undergoes the action of "sharpening" in the manner specified. This is an intransitive verb used in the middle voice.
Linking Verbs
Sentences that use linking verbs as the main verb might be confusing. In these sentences, the subject is not performing any action, but is being described or renamed. In other words, linking verbs are not action verbs; as a result, the concept of active and passive voice does not apply to them since voice is concerned with the relations between the does and receiver of an action. Look at the examples:
Ed will be late.
This is a sentence using a linking verb, no action is involved.
Ed will be late.
This is a sentence using a linking verb, no action is involved.
Review
The voice of a verb shows the relationship between the verb and its participants. There are three voices in English as follows:
active voice: the subject is the doer of the action of the verb
passive voice: the subject is the recipient of the action of the verb
middle voice: the subject is affected by the action of the verb
Quiz:
Sort the words to form a sentence in the active voice.
Which sentence cannot be converted to passive voice?
They built the house.
The sun rises.
She ate the pizza.
The teacher graded the papers.
The middle voice often describes:
Intentional actions by the subject.
Events caused by external forces.
Actions that have an agent but it is not expressed.
Natural properties or tendencies.
Complete each sentence with the correct form of the verb in parentheses.
The chef
a delicious meal. (prepare)
The glass
when I dropped it. (shatter)
The letter
by the secretary yesterday. (write)
A new park
in our neighborhood next year. (build)
The students
their exams last week. (complete)
Choose true or false for each statement.
Passive voice always includes the agent with "by". | |
The passive voice is used when the speaker wants to emphasize the doer of the action. | |
Middle voice shows the subject both performing and being affected by the action. | |
All intransitive verbs are in middle voice. | |
In the middle voice, the verb form is identical to the passive voice. |
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