Active vs. Passive Voice - A Brief Interactive Tutorial with Exercises
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Introduction
In Active Voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action.
Example: The candidate won the election.
- Identifies the subject, the candidate
- The subject performs an action, won
- Identifies the object, the election
- helps to avoid wordiness
In Passive Voice, the subject of the sentence receives the action. The passive voice construction uses a form of the verb be, a past participle of the main verb, and an optional prepositional phrase beginning with by to identify who performed the action.
Example: The election was won by the candidate.
- The subject of the sentence, the election, receives the action
- Uses a form of the verb be (was)
- Includes the past participle of the main verb win (won)
- Includes the optional prepositional phrase beginning with by (by the candidate).