Passive VoiceBy: Sam Gerth-Underwood and Tristan Dobie

What is it?

When the subject doesn’t do the action of the verb in the sentence.

In the example below, notice how the subject-verb relationship has changed.

“Five hamburgers must have been eaten by the man.” Notice the unnecessary words: must, have, by, and the

man. Below is how you would change it to become active voice.

Hamburgers (subject) are being eaten (verb).

Why is it bad

Sentences that are passive end up being vague and unclear.

Passive sentences are usually wordy. It is just considered bad writing.

Examples

Obama was tripped by his friend. (passive)

His friend tripped him. (active)

The money was put in a slush fund. (passive)

Obama put the money in the slush fund (active)

Examples, cont’d;

The cherry tree was chopped down by him. (passive)

Washington chopped down the cherry tree (active)