ACTIVE VS PASSIVE VOICE PLUS

Misconception #3: The Perfect Tenses Are Passive VoiceĪnother common misconception is that the present perfect and past perfect tenses are forms of passive voice because they use past participles. As you learned earlier, to be can also be a helping verb in the progressive tenses or a linking verb. Please don't make the mistake of confusing the passive voice with other uses of the verb to be. Misconception #2: Using To Be Always Means You Are Using Passive Voice In this sentence, the emphasis is on the president's assassination instead of the person who assassinated him. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. Occasionally you can use the passive voice to vary sentence structure in your writing, but don't rely too heavily on this technique. It can also be effective if you want to slow down the action of your writing and focus on a scene. It can be useful when you're not sure who did the action or when you want to emphasize the object instead of the subject. Many teachers discourage their students from ever using the passive voice, but sometimes it's actually the better choice. Hint: Don't confuse the progressive tenses with the passive voice.Ĭommon Misconceptions About the Passive Voice Misconception #1: It's Never OK to Use Passive Voice If you are, an easy fix is to use active voice instead. When one of your sentences sounds awkward, check to see if you're using passive voice. Notice how the structure of these sentences is awkward and clunky. Now your attention is on the objects, not the children. Then several balls were thrown in the air and were dodged by the children. The jungle gym was climbed by the children. Take a look at the same sentences in passive voice: Notice how your attention is on the actions of the children. Then they threw several balls in the air and dodged them. The children climbed all over the jungle gym. When you write sentences in active voice, your writing is more engaging and moves more quickly. (was + driven ) Choose Active Voice Wherever You Can The verb to be can be in just about any tense.

ACTIVE VS PASSIVE VOICE PLUS

To form the passive voice, use a form of the helping verb to be plus the past participle of the main verb.

In passive voice sentences, the subject is having the action done to it by something else. Definition: If you are passive, something is done to you.

Active vs passive voice