Lesson 4 - Active and Passive Voice

• Voices of Verbs - focuses on the function of the subject being either the doer or the receiver of the action.
• Classified as: Active and Passive 
• ACTIVE VOICE 

  • Occurs when the subject of the sentence acts as the performer or doer of the action.
  •  Subject +verb+ object
  •  In the active voice, the object receives the action of the verb
  • Verb = past tense & one word only
  • Subject = person
• PASSIVE VOICE 

  • Indicates that the subject of the sentence is the receiver of the action
  • In a passive sentence the subject receives the action of the verb.
  • Always use the preposition “by” to introduce the passive object.
  • Subject +auxiliary verb ( be)+main verb (past participle) + “by” agent
  • Verb = auxiliary + v3 & two or more words
  • Subject = mostly a thing
• Uses of Passive Voice

  1. when the user is not known or unimportant
  2. in news report or headliners where the doer is unknown
  3. In scientific articles or discoveries where the action is more important than the doer
  4. to sound impersonal in formal announcements, rules and signs