When a sentence is in positive voice, the subject of the sentence is the person who performs the action expressed by the verb. inside passive sentence, the subject is the person or thing that is acted upon or affected by the action of the verb. The passive voice is usually formed with the form of the verb To be-such as To be, used to beor was—and the past participle of the verb, as in “The ball was thrown by Jerry.” Although sometimes criticized as evasive, the passive voice can be useful when someone wants to emphasize an action that has already occurred or when the agent of an action is unknown, as is often the case in the news.
In English class, we are taught the difference between active and passive voice.
The active form asserts that the person or thing represented by the grammatical subject performs the action represented by the verb.
The passive voice makes the subject the person or thing that is acted upon or affected by the action expressed by the verb.
Active Voice: Jerry spills the lamp.
Passive: The lamp is knocked over by Jerry.
Both sentences describe the same action in progress—Jerry touches a lamp and causes it to fall down—with the first having Jerry as the subject and the second having the lamp as the subject.
The passive is usually distinguished by the use of linking verbs (for example: used to be, used to) followed by another verb in the past participle form (for example, “I was given a chance”).
The usefulness of Passive Voice
The passive voice is often criticized as a weak and evasive form of expression. But it is useful for situations when you want to emphasize the fact that an action has taken place rather than the person who performed it. It is also useful for cases when the person performing an action (also known as the actor) is unknown.
Active voice: The kids have clean the kitchen.Passive voice: The kitchen has been cleaned.
Active voice: We found an old car in the woods. Passive voice: An old car was found in the woods.
(There is also the banal voice, which is a completely different animal that we discuss in this article.)
On the news
The difference between active and passive voice comes up as a topic of discussion in criticisms of reporting. For example, when the media covers crime cases, they often use potentially passive headlines: “The Man (Ok) Attacked on Elm Street” instead of “The Man Who Attacked the Man”. you on Elm Street.”
The passive allows for a shorter title, but more appropriately, it gives known information in advance. In many cases, especially in stories involving crime, the fact that the crime was committed and against whom it was committed, is known before who committed the crime. should be clear.
Therefore, the reason for passivity is practical: one may not know who carried out the attack, only know that someone did and the attacker may still be hiding. Even if an attacker has been identified, news writers may avoid active voices for fear of stating clearly what the person is alleged to be true. (Hence, “Capture was made during the attack on Elm Road.”)
The passive voice is sometimes used as a tool to express avoidance of responsibility, such as when a person says “We made a mistake” instead of “We made some mistakes”. Sometimes, as in our Elm Street example, it is criticized for placing what appears to be a burden of responsibility on the recipient of the action (i.e. the victim) rather than the person performing the act.
The passive voice for when the state is violent. What is active voice for when a protester does? Understood. https://t.co/2ror8Sen1K
– Rebecca Traister (@rtraister) May 31, 2020
Confusing Active and Passive Voice
There are other cases where it is technically considered an active voice but nonetheless uses language that separates the performer from the action being performed.
“The lamp fell down” is an active sentence but feels like a passive one because there is no obvious reason like Jerry’s saying in the sentence “Jerry knocked down the lamp”.
This happens in news writing as well. A sentence like “a rock broke a shop window” is expressed in the active voice—the subject is stonethe verb is Breakand the object is window—although it can be derided as elusive because it avoids the question of who pushed the rock that broke the glass.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
