Grammatically, the voice (also known as diathesis) is a property of a verb that explains whether the subject does the action or the action is done upon the subject. There are two forms: active and passive.

Active voice

When the subject of the sentence performs the action, the action verb is in the active voice. The direct object, if present, is the receiver of this action. This voice is referred to as the “normal” voice since it is the form generally preferred and more often employed.

Examples:

My father repaired the television.

My father (subject) is doing the repairing (verb) of the television (direct object).

Peggy bakes a fresh batch of cookies.

Peggy (subject) is doing the baking (verb) of the fresh batch of cookies (direct object).

The black and gold teams competed twice this year.

The black and gold teams (compound subject) are doing the competing (verb). (no direct object)

Passive voice

On the other hand, when the action is performed upon the subject, the action verb is said to be in the passive voice (i.e., the subject receives the action). Because this form tends to not only add words (making it more verbose than the active) but also change the normal word order, a sentence in the passive voice may be a bit harder to understand.

Examples:

Three pugs are fed by Marge.

Three pugs (subject) are being fed (verb) by Marge.

The new solutions were favored by the analysts.

The new solutions (subject) were being favored (verb) by the analysts.

The highly acclaimed film The Pianist was directed by Roman Polanski.

The Pianist (subject) was being directed (verb) by Roman Polanski.

Transforming the active into the passive

The word order of many sentences in the active voice can be altered so that the subject is no longer active but instead becomes passive.

Sentence in the active voice: The monkey (subject) ate (verb) the banana (direct object).

Steps

1. Transfer the direct object in place of the subject.

Passive voice: The banana . . .

1. Then add an inflected form of the auxiliary verb to be (or, in colloquial usage, to get) to the main verb and change the main verb’s form, ensuring that it takes the same tense as the verb in the active voice sentence (in this case, the past tense). (The main verb is always in the past participle.)

Passive voice: The banana was eaten . . .

1. Lastly, transfer the subject into a prepositional phrase beginning with by.

Passive voice: The banana was eaten by the monkey.

Misconceptions of the passive voice

Not all sentences that use an inflected form of the verb to be are in the passive voice. Take, for instance, the sentence “Sandra and Katy are buying dresses.” Even with the presence of the verb are (which is a form of to be), the sentence is still in the active voice. Sandra and Katy (compound subject) are doing the buying (verb) of the dresses (direct object). The sentence in the passive voice reads as “Dresses are being bought by Sandra and Katy.” In this form, the subject, dresses, is not taking any action—unlike the subject of the sentence in the active voice.

Another misconception is that the passive voice is always wrong. As a matter of fact, there are instances wherein the passive voice is preferred/necessary:

1. 1. When the doer of the action cannot be identified or wants to remain anonymous

The governor was murdered last night.

A generous donation of five thousand dollars was made to the foundation yesterday.

Civilians were unintentionally wounded.

1. 2. When the doer of the action is not important

Dinner was prepared just in time.

Lives are saved every day.

1. 3. When emphasis is placed on the action itself instead of the doer of the action

King Tut’s tomb was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922.

The US$3 million deal was agreed on by both parties.

1. 4. When emphasis is placed on the recipient of the action instead of its doer

In 1969, Charles Manson and twenty-five others were arrested by the LAPD.

1. 5. When scientific writing needs to be objective

A total of thirty-three mutations were identified in the MLL2 gene.

Both voices of a verb have been heard. Up next, we shall see what mood a verb is in.