Active Voice
When the doer of the action is mentioned you are using the active voice. Let us learn more.
What Is the Active Voice?
How to Construct Active Voice?
'Active voice' normally is comprised of a subject at the beginning of the sentence as the doer of the action followed by either transitive or intransitive verb. In this case, if the verb is transitive, there is a direct object used after it. If the verb is intransitive, we may have a complement at the end of the sentence but not a direct object. Check out the examples:
The man is the subject and also it acts upon the verb 'standing,' here.
'I' acts upon the verb 'eating,' here.
'She' is the subject and the doer of the verb 'drinking,' here.
Intransitive Verbs
One way to identify an 'active voice' is to locate the verb in the sentence and determine whether it is a transitive or an intransitive verb. All sentences with intransitive verbs are in the active voice. Check these examples out for more clarification:
This perfume
Luisa
She
Not an Active Voice
Sometimes there is a subject at the beginning of the sentence, but it is actually the receiver of the action not the doer of it. In this case, a passive voice is formed. Look at the examples.
In this example the girl (subject) did not do the act of robbing.
'The novel' did not do the act of 'reading' in this example.
Sometimes the subject or doer of the action is mentioned at the end of the sentence following the preposition 'by.' In this case, a passive voice is used, not an active voice. Here are the examples.
The baby was fed
The dog was left
The house was cleaned
In this example, 'Hanna' is the doer of the action but 'the house' is the subject. So there is a passive voice.
a sentence in the active voice
No Subjects
Sometimes you cannot see the subject in the sentences but they are implied. One of the most important types of active sentences is the imperative sentence. In imperatives, the subject 'you' is implied but it is still considered an active voice. For example:
Linking Passive Voice to the Active Voice
An active voice can easily be followed by a passive voice. In this case, the subject may be important in the first clause but not in the second clause. Check out the examples.
Tip!
Grammarians usually tend to use active voice in writing because it is clear, concise, and easy to understand. However, when it comes to scientific theories, it is often preferred to use the passive voice. Here are some examples.
The blood
In this example, passive is used for a scientific fact.
The brain
Review
Active voice is formed when the subject is acting upon the verb. Let us take a look a few active examples:
She is nice.
She slept well last night.
Hanna got along well with Tony.
Here is a table to describe which sentences can be an active voice:
| Active Voice | |
|---|---|
| Sentences with intransitive verbs | ✓ |
| Sentences with no subjects | ✓ |
| Sentences in causative forms | ✓ |
| Sentences with transitive verbs and a direct object | ✓ |
| Sentences with subjects added to (by) | ✗ |
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Voices
What are voices? How many voices are there in the English Grammar? Here are the most frequently asked questions by learners. Let us find the answers, here.
Passive Voice
Understanding the passive voice is important. The passive voice is used often by native English speakers. It's used both in formal and informal situations.
