Active vs passive voice: Useful Tips for Students

Word on the streets has it that passive voice is bad in writing. Even editing apps highlight phrases written in passive voice for editing. However, passive voice has a place in writing. Some ideas can best be described using active and passive voice. Do not struggle with writing while you can get the best English homework help online to enable you to submit the best paper. 

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• Tip 1: Active language on the other hand is favored in writing. However, it only fits in certain situations because of the texture it gives your writing. 

A deeper look at passive vs active voice, including the addition of examples, will make it easier to find a distinction. 

What is an active voice ?

The simplest active voide definition in a sentence is where the subject acts on its verb in a sentence. The best way to identify the verb in a sentence is to look at the five properties. These properties are mood, voice, number, person, and tense. It is the voice in this case that determines whether a sentence is in a passive or active voice. 

• Tip 2: The tone of a sentence in active voice is direct, clear, and strong. 

The subject in a sentence in active voice performs the action described by the verb. It is easy to learn about active voice in writing by looking at the following short yet clear sentences. 

Writing in active voice examples:

• The teller counted the money

• The cat chased the mouse

• Lions love gazelles

Notice the basic sentence construction rules in the three sentences. Each of the sentences maintains the order of a subject-verb-object order. The teller does what is described in counting money. The lion is also the performer of the love described towards gazelles. In all these sentences, the subjects are doing all the tasks described in the sentences. 

• Tip 3: Active voice makes sentences short and precise. It is also characterized by direct language and the relationship between the subject and the verb.

What is a passive voice verb in writing?

• Tip 4: You identify passive voice because the subject in the sentence is acted upon by the verb. 

The conjugated form to be is a common feature in sentences written in passive voice. The verb is also written in past participle for most of the cases. 

In the process of using the past participle and the conjugated verb to be, you are more likely to generate a preposition. The best way to differentiate passive and active voice is to reconstruct the same sentences, only this time they will be in passive voice. 

Writing in passive voice examples:

• The money was counted by the teller

• Gazelles are loved by lions

• The rat is chased by the cat

The three sentences take the structure of an object-a past participle with an additional to be form-a a preposition- and the subject at the end. Such is a complete reversal, giving the sentences a different feel. Attention also shifts from the subject to the object. Get professional assignment helpers online to avoid such semantic issues that make your essay writing difficult. 

• Tip 5: You use active voice when you want to pass a clear and strong message. 

If you want to shift the attention of your sentence to the object from the subject, passive voice is the best option. Write the majority of your sentences in active voice and your work will be more interesting to read.

Conclusion on the active vs passive voice

So, today you learned a lot about the structure of English sentences, and, of course, about active and passive voice how and where they are used.

Even if you forget how Passive and Active Voice is formed, our examples, where some situations are considered, will help you. And nevertheless, we sorted out the tips for students and finally understood who is stronger Active vs Passive voice.

Without knowledge of this material, it is extremely difficult to understand advertising texts, instructions, and headlines of newspaper articles. It is simply necessary for discussing controversial and unpleasant situations when they do not want to accuse someone in particular or they are trying to absolve themselves of any responsibility. Passive constructs also make the statement more polite. They are often used in business communication and in various documents.

If you need to work with the description of rules, laws, or scientific processes in English, you cannot do without this topic, since the information is presented objectively and regardless of the personal opinion of the speaker. It is highly undesirable to report conclusions on your own behalf.

And finally, when passing the international TOEFL and IELTS exams, the use of passive and active constructions will add such important points to the answer, especially to its written part.

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