Active and Passive Verbs
Verbs have two voices: an active voice and a passive voice. Voice as the form of a verb shows whether the subject of the verb does the action (the active voice) or whether the action is done to it (the passive voice).
Active Verb
In order to write sentences with active verbs, make sure that the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. An active verb is when the verb is clearly the subject, or ‘the doer,’ of the sentence.
Active verbs are used when you want to create interest and emphasize the action.
Active verbs can be used to give an order.
Passive Verb
Passive verbs describe the action done by the subject of a sentence. Passive verbs use a linking verb alongside the main verb. With passive verbs, it is often possible that the subject is not named.
Use passive verbs when you want to:
- Downplay the actor
Example:- When the actor is not known
- When the actor is relatively unimportant
- When the actor has already been named.
- Downplay the action
Example:- To add focus to the object
- When the action may seem hostile
Active Versus Passive
For you to write sentences with active verbs, make sure that the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Let’s take a look at two different ways to construct a sentence:
1 – Busola passed the Biochemistry test.
2 – The Biochemistry test was passed by Busola.
First sentence: ‘Busola’ – subject of the sentence, ‘Biochemistry test’- object receiving the action.
Second sentence: ‘Biochemistry test’- subject of the sentence, ‘Busola’ is now the object.
Which sentence uses an active verb and which sentence uses a passive verb?
First sentence, ‘Busola’ is the subject of the sentence and she is the performer of the action of the sentence. Therefore, the verb ‘passed’ is an active verb.
Second sentence, ‘Biochemistry test’ is the subject of the sentence and receiver of the action. What happened to Busola? Even though she is still doing the action of the sentence, she isn’t the subject anymore; now she’s just the object at the end of the sentence. Therefore, since the subject of this sentence isn’t the thing doing the action, the verb ‘was passed’ is a passive verb.
Another Example:
The verb is in the active voice when the subject,which can be a person or thing performs the action
- Tony ate the rice. (Subject: Tony; verb: ate: object: rice)
The doer of the action is the Tony. The verb ate is in the active voice and is followed by the object.)
The verb is in the passive voice when the action is done to the subject.
- The rice was eaten by Tony. (Verb: eaten; subject: rice)
In this passive sentence, the subject is the rice. The subject in the active voice Tony now becomes the object of the verb eaten
As can be seen, changing the active sentence into a passive voice causes the subject to become the object, and the object become the subject. The verb phrase used in the passive sentence is the verb to be followed by the past participle of the verb. The passive verb follows the tense of the active verb. For example, if the active verb is in the simple present tense, the passive verb too is in the simple present tense.
Only verbs that take on an object (transitive verb) can be a passive verb.
- He runs away.
- The sun shines brightly.
- The boss feels tired today.
Each of the above three sentences does not have an object, so it’s not possible to convert them into passive sentences.
In the passive sentence, we use the preposition by to be followed by the object. We use it to show who or what does or has done the action. We can omit by and in most cases, it does not affect the clarity of the meaning of the sentence. We use it when we think it is necessary.
The use of a tense in a passive sentence must be the same as that in the active voice.
- Active: The big monkey scratches the small monkey.
- Passive: The small monkey is scratched by the big monkey.
- Active: Their dog is chasing the rabbit.
- Passive: The rabbit is being chased by their dog.
- Active: The hunter had shot two elephants.
- Passive: Two elephants had been shot by the hunter.
Passive and Two Objects
A verb can have two possible passive voices when it takes two objects: a direct object and an indirect object. Normally, it is the indirect object (the first object that appears first in an active sentence) which becomes the subject of the passive sentence. We can however also use the direct object as the subject.
Examples:
- Active: The salesman showed him (indirect object) a new iphone (direct object). / The salesman showed a new iphone to him.
- Passive: He was shown a new iphone.
- Passive: A new iphone was shown to him
Using the Passive
‘A problem shared is a problem halved.’ This is the short way of saying – ‘ A problem that is shared is a problem that is halved.’
This sentence contains two examples of the passive. Why is it used? Because we don’t know who has the problem – or who is sharing it!
When do we use the passive?
Sometimes it is used when we do not know who performed the action. For example:
My bag has been stolen
– By whom? We do not know
Sometimes we use it when we wish to avoid saying who performed the action:
‘The problem of AIDS will be dealt with in due course’, said the Ministry Spokeswoman.
– Dealt with by whom? We do not know
– and maybe by the Ministry Spokeswoman doesn’t know, either!!
The passive can be used in different sentences:
- The problem will be dealt wit
- Many cases have been reported
- Information leaflets were distributed last term
Sometimes we may wish to add ‘the agent’ – the person doing the action – as a detail:
The Counselor has been consulted by several students
The leaflets were distributed by the school doctor
We use the passive voice for the following reasons:
when we do no know who performs the action.
- The book was stolen last night.
when it is important to know who performs an action.
- This beautiful car was bought by my sister.
when it is not important to know who did the action.
- All these household wares were imported from China.
when the action itself is more important than the doer.
- The two siblings were killed in an auto-crash.
when we are interested only in what happened rather than who or what did it.
- The 24-foot anaconda was caught in that village.
when we wish to emphasize the person or thing acted on rather than the one who did it.
- Busola was presented with a bravery award yesterday.
when we choose not to name the one who performed the action to cover up a fault.
- The food was poorly cooked.
when it is felt necessary to evade responsibility by some people or organization.
- The family matter is being dealt with by someone.
The Four Verb Types
1. Intransitive Complete Verbs
These guys are action verbs, so we know that they show action.
This type of verb does not transfer its action to anyone or anything. These verbs make sense without having to transfer action anywhere.
Examples:
Cats drink.
Clocks tick.
Buses move.
2. Transitive Active Verbs
These action verbs transfer their actions to someone or something.
That means that something or someone is always being acted upon. In our example sentence, Jen is receiving the action kicked – even though she probably doesn’t want to be receiving it.
The receiver of the action in this kind of verb is called the direct object. In our example sentence, Jen is the direct object.
Every single transitive active sentence must have a direct object, and the direct object always receives the action.
Examples:
Cats drink milk.
Clocks make noise.
I lost my ticket.
Milk is receiving the action of drink. It is what cats drink. It is the direct object.
Noise is receiving the action of make. It is what clocks make. It is the direct object.
Ticket is receiving the action of lost. It is what I lost. It is the direct object.
These verbs are written in the active voice.
3. Transitive Passive Verbs
These verbs also show action, and they also transfer their action to a receiver.
In transitive active verbs, the receiver was the direct object. In transitive passive verbs, the receiver of the action is the subject!
Examples:
John was kicked.
The house was demolished.
Who is receiving the action in those sentences?
John received the action of kick and house received the action of demolished. John and house are the subjects of those sentences.
Notice that we may not actually know who initiated the action. (Who kicked John?) Sometimes we find this out in a prepositional phrase.
John was kicked by Jen.
The house was demolished by the storm.
These verbs are written in the passive voice.
4. Intransitive Linking
Linking verbs differ from the three other verb types because they are the only verb type that does not express any action.
What do linking verbs do? It’s pretty simple. Linking verbs tell us about the state or condition of the subject.
They link the subject of a sentence with either a noun that renames the subject or an adjective that describes the subject.
Nouns that rename the subject are called predicate nouns.
Adjectives that describe the subject are called predicate adjectives.
Examples:
Milk tastes delicious.
Clocks are helpful.
I am the bus driver!
It may help you to think of linking verbs as an equal sign between the subject and a predicate noun or a predicate adjective.