Directions: Complete the list of tasks below:
Read the passages to learn the difference between active and passive voice.
Identify active and passive voice in sentences.
Write a paragraph that uses two examples of active voice and two examples of passive voice.
When we write, there's usually a sense of movement. This is referred to as pace, or "the speed at which a story is told," similar to music with the rhythm being fast or slow. Sometimes as a writer, you'll want to be direct, sometimes you may want to be more indirect. The pacing of a story, a paragraph, or a sentence can be modified by using active or passive voice. "Active voice means that a sentence has a subject that acts upon its verb." This is how we speak generally because it creates a sense of direction. Someone is doing something. You should write using active voicing because it is not as wordy, it is more effective, and it's more natural.
That's not to say that passive voice isn't helpful or that you should always write in active voice, but knowing when to use passive voice can be a useful skill. Passive voice is "when the subject is acted on by the verb. The passive voice is always constructed with a conjugated form of to be plus the verb’s past participle." Let's say you dropped your phone and now you have to tell your mom that you broke it. You could say "I broke my phone," but that puts the blame on you. Instead you may want to put the blame on nobody, so you say "My phone is broken."
Passive Voice:
The table was jumped on by the cat.
The information was understood by the pupil.
The ball is caught by the wide receiver.
Active Voice:
The cat jumped on the table.
The pupil understood the material.
The wide receiver caught the ball.
Now that you have a better understanding of active and passive voice, identify whether the sentences below are written in active or passive voice. Highlight the conjugation of to be and the verb’s past participle in each sentence that uses the passive voice.
Examples:
The attendance was not published until 9:00 this morning.
Passive
The drone is running out of batteries.
Active
A tea cabinet was knocked down by someone over there. Passive
A spider descended from the ceiling. _________
The painting was stolen by a troupe of determined ants. _________
The magician was always pointing to something to distract his audience. _________
The human is being ignored by the cat. _________
The sun shines in through the open window. _________
Kudzu eats and eats and eats everything in its path. _________
The man was being chased by the kudzu. _________
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” -Eleanor Roosevelt _________
"Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood." -Ralph Waldo Emerson _________
The squirrel was chased by the dog. _________
Your Turn!:
Write a paragraph that uses at least two examples of active voice and two examples of passive voice. Highlight both using red as active voice and blue as passive voice.
