Sunday, May 5, 2013

Active and Passive Voice



Sentences are often in the active voice, meaning that the subject of the sentence is 'doing' the action.  In a passive sentence, the subject and object switch roles.  The object becomes the subject and the subject becomes the receiver of the action or 'agent'.  In passive sentences, the action is more important than the person performing the action, and the agent is often omitted from a passive sentence.




Both the active and passive voice can occur in all tenses and with modals and infinitive constructions.  Compare the active and passive forms in the various tenses:




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