Active versus Passive Voice

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Active versus Passive Voice
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Are the following sentences in the active or the
passive voice?

• My professor is teaching three courses.
• These three courses are taught by the same
  professor.
• The Economist is read by many students and
  professionals.
• I enjoy reading The Economist.
• The issue of electoral reform was discussed by
  the students.

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Q What is the difference between the active and
the passive voice?
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A In an sentence using the active voice, the
subject of the sentence does the action. In a
sentence using the passive voice, the subject of
the sentence receives the action.
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Examples

• Active Active sentences (subject) focus
  (action, done by the subject) on the person doing
  the action.
• Passive The recipient of the action (subject)
  is focused (action, not done by the subject), on
  in a passive sentence.

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Examples

• Active The explorers climbed the tallest
  mountain in the range.
• Passive The tallest mountain in the range was
  climbed by the explorers.

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Examples

• Active This great scholar compiled the largest
  collection of Shakespeares sources.
• Passive The largest collection of
  Shakespeares sources was compiled by this
  scholar.

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Active versus Passive

• Active Voice
• More emphatic
• More concise
• Used as the general rule

• Passive Voice
• Used when you want to stress the importance of
  the action or its recipient.
• Used when the actor is unknown or irrelevant.
• Used when one wants to avoid mentioning the
  actor Ex. Mistakes were made.

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Q So whats the problem?
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A 1. You should not switch voices in the same
sentence!2. Be careful with the grammatical
construction.
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Examples of switching voices in the same sentence

1. The contentious issue was contemplated as the
   debaters prepared to present their arguments.
2. Once the books were finished, the writers talked
   to the publisher.
3. The pipes in the kitchen were fixed, then the
   plumber started repairing the showers.

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Switching voices can confuse the reader. If your
reader is confused, then your writing is not
effective or efficient.
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Q How do I fix it (switching voices)?
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A Make all parts of your sentence consistent.
Usually, you should change the passive voice to
the active voice.
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Corrections

• Incorrect Once the books were finished, the
  writers talked to the publisher.
• Correct Once the writers finished their
  books, they talked to the publisher.

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Corrections

• Incorrect The pipes in the kitchen were
  fixed, then the plumber started repairing
  the showers.
• Correct The plumber fixed the pipes in the
  kitchen then started repairing the showers.

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Source The Writing Centre
Telephone [phone] ext. 7192 Website
http//www.ryerson.ca/writing-centre Email
address writingcentre_at_ryerson.ca