Sometimes, it can be quite difficult to understand the active and passive voice. It may seem like a philological subtlety that only professional philologists have access to. The topic is not that complicated. Let’s take a closer look at the essence and peculiarities of using active and passive voice in a sentence, as it is important for good learning of English, as on the website https://cambridge.ua/uk/.
What is a voice in philology?
Voice is one of the five characteristics that English verbs have. They are worth remembering. Those are tense, mood, person, number, and, of course, voice. Together, these categories define the grammatical meaning of a verb, which is determined by the peculiarities of its use.
There are two types of verb tenses: active and passive. The main difference is who is the active agent. It is important to understand that the same sentence can often be written using active and passive voice. Compare the following examples:
- The girl brought the flowers.
- The flowers were brought by the girl.
The meaning is the same. However, the first version uses the active voice, and the second uses the passive one.
How to distinguish between them?
It’s easier than it seems at first glance. To understand whether a sentence is active or passive, you first need to identify the subject and the predicate. The former is usually expressed by a noun or pronoun, and the latter — by a verb. If the subject performs the action described by the verb, it is active voice. For example, the sentence “The boy read the book.”
Note that this form is used in most English sentences. However, it is quite easy to turn it into a passive voice. In this case, the verb must affect the subject. For example, “The book was read by the boy.”
The purpose of the active voice is to emphasize a person, object, or phenomenon that performs a certain action. In this case, all the reader’s attention is drawn to the person. The function of the passive voice is the opposite. It draws our focus to the action itself, not to the person doing it.
Structure of sentences with active and passive voice
Usually, sentences with active voice have the following structure: a person who acts – an action – an object to which the action is directed. For example, the sentence “The boy brought flowers.” Alternatively, the structure can be “the person who acts – the action itself – its addressee.”
Sentences using the passive voice have a slightly different structure. Their main task is to emphasize either the action itself or its recipient, meaning the person to whom it is directed. So the structure of such sentences is as follows: the one who receives the action – the action itself – the performer. By the way, the last component can be omitted altogether. Compare the following two sentences.
- The flowers were picked by the children.
- The flowers were picked.
In the latter case, the agent of the action is omitted altogether. This way, the activity is emphasized even more. It is often used in scientific texts.
When is it better to use the active voice?
In cases where you need to draw attention to the person doing the action, active voice syntactic constructions are better suited. It is also used especially often in dialogues. Sentences with an active voice have a greater impact on the recipient because they are simpler, so it is used in most cases.
When learning English, it is usually suggested that you try to avoid the passive voice. And the reason is not philosophical at all. The point is that the active voice makes sentences more concise, which is especially convenient for communication.
When is passive voice better to use?
Passive voice sentences are more cumbersome and often sound unnatural. However, they are appropriate when you need to emphasize an action or its recipient. Such constructions are also useful when it is necessary not to name the agent of the action or when he or she is simply unimportant or unknown. The passive voice should be used when it is appropriate, which usually depends on the situation. It is often found in sentences in academic writing where the action is important rather than the identity of the person doing it, and to give the text an authoritative tone.
Using and distinguishing between active and passive voice sentences appropriately makes your language more natural and clear. The key is to know when to use each type and in what sentence structures.
