Active voice examples free#

Things would probably be easier if it were, but there are contexts in which passive voice is essential and the most appropriate rhetorical choice you can make. Active voice is generally shorter than passive voice. Some passive voice sentences omit an actor altogether, which forces the reader to guess the actor's identity. This is good advice and a helpful guideline, but it's not an absolute rule. Passive voice obfuscates your ideas, turning sentences on their head. Most students have been told at some point in their English education that they should avoid using the passive You can often identify passive voice by other indicators: the main verb in the sentence may be accompanied by the verb to be and a 'by-phrase' that includes the subject, as in 'My cashmere sweater was torn to pieces by my cat.' ExampleĢ is written in the passive voice in this instance, the subject receives the action. (passiveĮxample 1 is written in the active voice in this case, the subject ('She') performs an action.

The window was shut to keep out the rain.

She shut the window to keep out the rain.

In this excerpt, the author has used the verbs “hear,” “want,” “saying,” “going,” and “tell” in active voice.In order to understand what passive voice is, consider I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas…” Besides, I’m not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or anything. What do active and passive mean In the active voice, the agent (person/thing doing the action) is the subject of the sentence. “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like… They’re nice and all-I’m not saying that – but they’re also touchy as hell. The verbs of active voice include “looked,” “talked,” “think,” “threw,” “had,” “living,” “came down,” and “suffered.” Example #5: The Catcher in the Rye (by J.D. In this passage, the author has written all of the sentences in active voice, which are direct and clear in meaning. Some examples: seem, appear, become, grow, remain, stay, prove, feel, look, smell. When he came down to the river, sometimes he would take to me, and sometimes it was better for me to be careful. He was living for the most part in those villages on the lake. The crucial distinction here is that though the cat is the subject in both sentences, in the. Passive voice means that the subject of the sentence is acted on by the verb: The cat was rescued by a fireman. Afterwards I had to keep out of the way but I didn’t mind. Active voice means that the subject of the sentence is performing the verb’s action. ‘It was in general.’ “He threw his arms up…He had his second illness then. ‘It isn’t what you think,’ he cried, almost passionately. “I looked at him, lost in astonishment…’Ah, he talked to you of love!’ I said, much amused. Present Continuous: is reading/is being read Active voice: Right now, Ram is reading the letter.

Example #4: Heart of Darkness (by Colin Higgins) Passive voice: Once a week, the house is cleaned by Rina. It is a pretty straightforward relationship between the subject and the verb. Active Voice Here, the subject performs the action. A transitive verb has two forms or two voices.

The subject is “Paul Schimmel,” who is doing “ventures,” and has “paid” fare. Grammar Rules for Active and Passive Voice. The use of active voice has added directness to this passage.

Active voice examples free#

In the IND station at Sixth Avenue and Forty-second Street one recent afternoon, he paid his fare with a free pass.” “Seven days a week, Paul Schimmel ventures into the subway with his clarinet.