Grade 11 and 12 Active and Passive Voice

UNDERSTANDING ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

ACTIVE VOICE:
A sentence is written in active voice when the subject of the sentence performs the action in the
sentence.
e.g. The girl was washing the dog.
[The girl is the subject and the verb is washing. The dog is direct object.]

PASSIVE VOICE:
A sentence is written in passive voice when the subject of the sentence has an action done to it by
someone or something else.
e.g. The dog was being washed by the girl.
Hint: If you see the preposition and article ‘by the’ you will know that it is in the passive voice.

HOW TO CHANGE A SENTENCE FROM THE ACTIVE VOICE INTO THE PASSIVE VOICE
Active Voice Sentence
The company requires staff to watch a safety video every year.
Subject direct object verb indirect object

To change a sentence from active to passive voice, do the following:

1. Move the active sentence's direct object into the sentence's subject slot
The staff (was the DO, now the Subject)
2. Place the active sentence's subject into a phrase beginning with the preposition by
The staff ………..by the company (The staff is now the subject and the action is expected to be
performed by the company)
3. Add an auxiliary verb to the main verb and change the main verb
…are required to watch (are is the auxiliary very)

The end result – From Active to Passive

The staff are required by the company to watch a safety video. (Passive Voice)

HOW TO CHANGE A SENTENCE FROM THE PASSIVE VOICE INTO THE ACTIVE VOICE
To change a passive voice sentence into an active voice sentence, simply reverse the steps shown above.
1. Move the passive sentence's subject into the active sentence's direct object slot
The letter was mailed by Marilyn …(mailed) the letter.
Subject direct object

2. Remove the auxiliary verb from the main verb and change main verb's form if needed

The letter was mailed by Marilyn …(mailed) the letter.

Be auxiliary

3. Place the passive sentence's object of the preposition by into the subject slot.

The letter was mailed by Marilyn Marilyn mailed the letter

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 The effect of using Passive vs Active voice
Using active voice in your writing means that the subject of the sentence comes first and performs the
action that the rest of the sentence describes. This is the most straightforward way to present your
ideas, because it creates a clear image in the reader's mind of who is doing what. Using active voice
places the emphasis on the subject.
Passive voice, on the other hand, reverses the word order to make the object and the action come first.
It puts the subject at the end of the sentence, and this construction can obscure, or hide, who is
performing the action in your sentence. The emphasis changes to the object of the sentence, or the
thing that is acted upon.
Active Voice Passive Voice
I really love this dog. This dog is really loved by me.
Monkeys live in the jungle. The jungle is where monkeys live.
She threw the ball to John. The ball was thrown to John.
I made a mistake. A mistake was made.

Active Voice Adds Impact

In most cases, using active voice will result in shorter, sharper sentences that are easier for the reader to
follow. This makes your writing clearer and aids the reader in visualizing what's happening, especially
when you use vivid action verbs. For example:
4. The flowers bloomed while I looked for the lost ladybug.
5. The batter stepped to the plate. He tapped the ground once and hit the ball out of the park.
Active voice is useful in fiction to create vivid images and move the plot along, but it's also important in
academic writing. When you're trying to explain a complex subject in an essay or persuade a reader of
your argument, it pays to keep your sentences short, clear and convincing. Active voice makes you sound
in control of your writing, which helps the reader trust what you're saying. For example:
6. The test results prove that the drug works to kill cancer cells.
7. People who run puppy mills care more about profit than pets.
8. The Union army won the Civil War.
While it's true that active voice adds punch to your writing, you may sometimes want to use the passive
voice to minimize the impact of your sentence or to add some variety to a longer piece to avoid
repetition. Businesses, politicians and other official outlets often use passive voice to soften a negative
sentence or to deflect blame. For example:
9. Refunds will not be issued.
10. Mistakes were made.
It's also appropriate to use passive voice when the subject of the sentence - the person who performed
the action - is unknown. For example:
11. The bank was robbed yesterday. Police are still looking for the culprits.

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Language Exercise 1
QUESTION 1:

BATTLE OF THE SEXES RIVALRY PROMOTES PHYSICAL HEALTH

Nike is fueling a battle of the sexes in it’s new campaign The Men vs Women
Challenge at NikePlus.com. The campaign even got in between Eva Longoria and her
husband! The basic idea of the challenge is that between March 13 and April 20,
Nike will track the kilometers of men and women. To participate you need to
register with the nikeplus.com site and use the Nike+ system. The campaign’s print
ads feature men and women running with copies like, “One more thing for men to rule,” “Ladies first. Men
Second,” and other childish phrases. There’s a number of celebrities involved, and there’s also a new
commercial featuring Eva Longoria, Sofia Boutella, Fernando Torres, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Rodger
Federer among others. Each celebrity had their own point of view on the Men vs. Women rivalry. "Women
are generally better organized and more consistent," said marathon world record holder, Paula Radcliffe.
"You might see the guys start off a bit faster and probably running at a quicker pace, but they're fare
weather runners. If the rain or snow comes in, the guys are going to bottle out!" Inter Milan striker Zlatan
Ibrahimovic countered with, "Men are better competitors. We're more powerful and, mentally, we're
tougher ..."

1.1. Explain how the focus of the headline would change if it was written in passive voice. (3)
1.2. Write a headline that uses the active voice and only focuses on the rivalry as mentioned in
the passage. (2)
1.3. Explain how the meaning of the first sentence would change if “is” was replaced with “will
be”. (2)
1.4. In this section, write down the incorrect word as well as your correction.
1.4.1 Correct a spelling error in the passage. (1)
1.4.2 Correct an American spelling used in the passage to South African spelling. (1)
1.4.3 Correct a punctuation error in the passage. (1)
1.4.4 Correct a concord error in the passage. (1)
1.4.5 Correct the malapropism in the passage. (1)
1.4.6 Correct a preposition error in the passage. (1)
[13]

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