AM: Lesson - Passive Voice - Introduction

Image: a painting of a Saturnalia celebration.Passive Voice - Introduction

When using the grammatical term passive voice, we are not referring to the tone of a clause, nor does the term provide any type of value judgement on the clause in question. Instead, it is a technical grammatical term, used to distinguish two types of clauses: active voice and passive voice.

In the painting, Romans are celebrating Saturnalia. The festival was held in December. Painting by Antoine Callet.

Note the difference in the verb formation in the first and second sentence:

  • Active voice: are celebrating
  • Passive voice: was held
Voice

Name of Voice

Explanation

Examples

Active Voice

In a clause using active voice, the subject or modified noun/antecedent is the agent, or performer, of an action.
  • Marcus carries
    • Marcus is the one performing the action "carry"

Passive Voice

In a clause using passive voice, the subject or modified noun/antecedent is not the agent of the action, but instead, is the receiver of the action
  • Marcus is carried
    • Marcus is having the action "carry" performed on him

The English Passive Construction

In English, verbs can be constructed in the passive voice, but are not inflected to do so. In other words, English does not have passive endings. Instead, English typically uses a specific word order for expressing the passive voice:

  • Subject + helping verb + perfect participle
  • Example: I am carried.
    • I (subject) 
    • am (helping verb) 
    • carried (perfect participle)

Nota Bene

  • The subject "I" does not perform the action of the verb "carry". Instead, the subject is receiving the action while someone else is performing the action. That is the construction called passive voice. 
  • Note that the passive voice is a reversal (or inversion) of the active voice. 
    • Active: Someone carries me.
    • Passive: I am carried.
      • Note: the meaning is the same.
  • The passive voice is used to emphasize the receiver of the action rather than the performer. Compare the following sentences:
    • Active Voice: John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln.
    • Passive Voice: President Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theater.
      • The active sentence focuses on John Wilkes Booth, while the passive construction makes Lincoln the focus.
      • The sentence that is chosen should be based on the topic of the writing:
        • If it is an essay about John Wilkes Booth, the active voice construction in the first sentence would be appropriate.
        • If instead it is an essay that focuses on President Lincoln, the passive voice construction is appropriate to keep that focus.
  • The tense of the passive voice is established by the helping verb. This example (I am carried) is present passive, because am is a present form of the helping verb. The following English translations are based on the corresponding Latin tense:
    • Present: I am loved.
    • Imperfect: I was loved
    • Future: I will be loved
    • Perfect: I have been loved
    • Pluperfect: I had been loved
    • Future Perfect: I will have been loved