Active and passive voice

Active and passive voice

Voice shows whether the subject acts (active voice) or is acted on (passive voice)—that is, whether the subject performs or receives the action of the verb. Only transitive verbs are said to have voice. The clause the judge levied a $50 fine is in the active voice because the subject judge is acting. But the tree’s branch was broken by the storm is in the passive voice because the subject branch does not break itself—it is acted on by the object storm. 

The passive voice is always formed by joining an inflected form of be (or, in colloquial usage, get) with the verb’s past participle. Compare the ox pulls the cart (active voice) with the cart is pulled by the ox (passive voice). A passive-voice verb in a modifying phrase often has an implied be-verb: in the advice given by the novelist, the implied (or understood) words that was come before given; so the passive construction is was given. Although the be-verb is sometimes implied, the past participle must always be expressed. Sometimes the agent isn’t named {his tires were slashed}. As a matter of style, passive voice {the matter will be given careful consideration} is typically, though not always, inferior to active voice {we will consider the matter carefully}. The choice between active and passive voice may depend on which point of view is desired. For instance, the mouse was caught by the cat describes the mouse’s experience, whereas the cat caught the mouse describes the cat’s.