Passive verb use.

Chris Ledger  

            The passive form of verbs is not often used in writing now; most instructors prefer their students to use the active voice as it gives more power to the writing and it is more direct. There are special circumstances, however, when using a passive construction is preferable. It is also important to recognize passive constructions when you are reading so that you can understand them correctly.  Passive verbs describe the action done by the subject of a sentence. Passive verbs use a linking verb alongside the main verb. With passive verbs, it is often possible that the subject is not named.

            Here is an example between Active and Passive verbs

: He burned down the house (Active verb)

: The house was burned down (Passive verb—who, or what, caused the house to burn down is not known, or is not as important as the fact that it burned down.

 

How to Recognize Active and Passive Sentences:

Identify the subject of the sentence.

Examine the relationship between the subject and verb.

            Dose the subject perform the action of the verb? (If so, the sentence is active.)

            Dose the subject sit there while something else, named of unnamed, performs an action on it? (If so, the sentence is passive.)

            Can’t tell? If the main verb is a linking verb (“is,” “was,” “are,” “seems,” etc.), then the verb functions like an equals sign; there is no action (either active or passive) involved, it merely describes a state of being.

         In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the action.   

Examples:

doing action

passive verb

subject Receiving action

The students         are taught        by the professor.

             

 

passive verb

doing action

subject Receiving action

The dishes                are washed           by John.   

           

 

            Because passive sentences do not need to identify the performer of an action, they can lead to sloppy or misleading statements

 

 

To drain the tank, the grill should be removed, or the storage compartment can be flooded.

Dose the sentence

1) offer two different ways to drain the tank (“you may either remove the grill or flood the compartment”)?

… or dose it

2) warn of an undesirable causal result (“if you drain the tank without removing the grill, the result will be that the storage compartment is flooded”)?

Works Cited

 

http://www.athabascau.ca/courses/engl/155/support/passive_verb_tenses.htm

 

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/grammar/act-pass.htm

 

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/activepassive.html