Thematic Unit: Influences - Active & Passive Voice Lesson

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Passive vs. Active Voice

Certain fields and citation methods require writers to use "active voice." It's usually a good idea to use active over passive voice whenever possible. Passive voice tends to make sentences wordier and more difficult to understand. In addition, the doer or subject of the action is often unclear, and this can also result in confusion.

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Active voice: Barry kicked the ball.

Passive voice: The ball was kicked by Barry.

Active voice: The doctor administered the medicine to the patient.

Passive voice: The medicine was administered to the patient.

Active voice: They waited for the concert.

Passive voice: They were waiting for the concert.

Active voice: Many scientists believe that global warming is a serious issue.

Passive voice: There are many scientists who believe that global warming is a serious issue.

Passive voice can be tricky to spot. However, the more insidious form is actually fairly simple to check for:

Just remember these simple rules :

1. Keep your subject and verb as close to one another as possible.

2. Keep your subject and verb as close to the front of the sentence as possible. Try to eliminate instances of "there is" and "that is."

3. Keep your subject and adjective as close together as possible, without any helping verbs between them.

Practice using active voice by rewriting the following sentences.

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