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Voice: Subject + Verb + Object

The document discusses the active and passive voice in English sentences. The active voice uses subject-verb-object structure, while the passive voice uses object-be/get-past participle (+agent) structure. The active voice is more common in conversation, while the passive voice is used more in explanations and reporting when the agent is unknown, unimportant, or being concealed. For example, sentences like "Bananas are grown in Ecuador" use the passive voice because the focus is on the bananas rather than who grows them.

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67 views2 pages

Voice: Subject + Verb + Object

The document discusses the active and passive voice in English sentences. The active voice uses subject-verb-object structure, while the passive voice uses object-be/get-past participle (+agent) structure. The active voice is more common in conversation, while the passive voice is used more in explanations and reporting when the agent is unknown, unimportant, or being concealed. For example, sentences like "Bananas are grown in Ecuador" use the passive voice because the focus is on the bananas rather than who grows them.

Uploaded by

meliancurtean4659
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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VOICE

In English there are two “voices”: the active voice and the passive voice. The active
voice sentence is the typical English sentence:

SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT.

The structure of a sentence in the simple passive voice is different:

OBJECT + be/get + PAST PARTICIPLE (+ AGENT).

Look at the differences between the active and passive voice sentences below:

Active voice

The cat caught a mouse.

The police chased the suspect.

A tornado devastated the town.

Passive voice

The mouse WAS caught (by the cat).

The suspect GOT chased (by the police).

The town WAS devastated (by the tornado).


The active voice is used in most conversational situations.

The passive voice is used in explanations, such as this one, where the object (“the
passive voice”) is more important than the people who use it. The passive voice is also
used a lot in reporting where the agent is unknown, unimportant or purposely kept
secret.

For example, the following sentences have no agent:

“Bananas are grown in Ecuador.”

(The object, “bananas,” is more important than who grows the bananas. We probably
don't know who grows the bananas anyway.)

“The diamond was stolen at 4:30a.m.”

(We don't know who stole the diamond, so no agent can be included. Even if we did
know, the sentence might still be more common in the passive because the fact that a
diamond was stolen may be more important than who did it.)

As stated above, “get” is sometimes used in conjunction with the past participle when
forming the simple passive voice. Using “get” is a more casual way of making the
passive voice.

“Get” tends to emphasize the feelings of the speaker as well as process, whereas “be”
emphasizes neutrality and state of being. “Get” doesn't take an agent as often as “be”
does.

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