![]() The action ( prepared) was done to the subject of the sentence ( samples). This is the general principle to follow as you compose in the active voice: Place concrete nouns that can perform work in front of active verbs. To revise the above, all we did was look for the two buried things (simulations and zones) in the original version that could actually do something, and we made the sentence clearly about these two nouns by placing them in front of active verbs. Two model simulations (Figures 1 and 2) illustrate how zones of fracture concentration influence groundwater flow. ![]() But the reader’s task gets much easier in the revised version below: As often happens, the passive voice here has smothered potential verbs and kicked off a runaway train of prepositions. The sentence is becoming a burden for the reader, and probably for the writer too. Groundwater flow is influenced by zones of fracture concentration, as can be recognized by the two model simulations (see Figures 1 and 2), by which one can see. So why all the fuss? Because passive constructions can produce grammatically tangled sentences such as this: The passive choice slightly emphasizes “the rate of evaporation,” while the active choice emphasizes “the size of an opening.” Simple. Active voice: The size of an opening controls the rate of evaporation.Passive voice: The rate of evaporation is controlled by the size of an opening.The subject of the sentence is not doing that thing.Īs you read at the two sentences below, think about the how the different voice may affect the meaning or implications of the sentence:.Something is happening (the sentence has a verb that is not a linking verb).There are two key features that will help you identify a passive sentence: In the first, to be is a continuous past verb, and in the second to be is past tense linking verb. “She was falling” and “His keys were lost” are not passive sentences. When identifying passive sentences, remember that to be has other uses than just creating the passive voice. The passive is created using the verb to be and the past participle. Despite these sentences being completely grammatically sound, we don’t know who hit “me” or what struck the car. The passive voice “hides” who does the action. You may have noticed something unique about the previous two sentences: the subject of the sentence is not the person (or thing) performing the action. Jasper was thrown from the car when it was struck from behind.In the simplest terms, an active voice sentence is written in the form of “A does B.” (For example, “Carmen sings the song.”) A passive voice sentence is written in the form of “B is done by A.” (For example, “The song is sung by Carmen.”) Both constructions are grammatically sound and correct. Let’s look at a couple more examples of the passive voice: ![]() You’ve probably heard a lot about them-and you’ve probably been warned away from the passive voice. Use the passive voice when it is more important to focus on the recipient of an action than on who performed the action, such as when describing an experimental setup.There are two main “voices” in English writing: the active voice and the passive voice.Use the active voice as much as possible to create direct, clear, and concise sentences, especially when you are writing about the actions of people.However, writers often overuse the passive voice. If the subject is omitted (e.g., “the cookies were eaten”), it may result in confusion about who performed the action (did the children eat the cookies, or was it the dog?).īoth the active and the passive voice are permitted in APA Style. Passive voic e: the object of the verb is followed by the verb (usually a form of “to be” + past participle + the word “by”) and then the subject (e.g., “the cookies were eaten by the children”).Active voice: the subject of a sentence is followed by the verb and then the object of the verb (e.g., “the children ate the cookies”).Voice describes the relationship between a verb and the subject and object associated with it.
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