39g Using active and passive voice
Voice tells whether the subject is acting (he questions us) or being acted upon (he is questioned). When the subject is acting, the verb is in the active voice; when the subject is being acted upon, the verb is in the passive voice.
| ACTIVE VOICE | The storm uprooted huge pine trees. |
| PASSIVE VOICE | Huge pine trees were uprooted by the storm. |
The passive voice uses the appropriate form of the auxiliary verb be followed by the past participle of the main verb: he is being questioned, he was questioned, he will be questioned, he has been questioned.
Most contemporary writers use the active voice as much as possible because it livens up their prose. Passive-voice verbs often make a passage hard to understand and remember. In addition, writers sometimes use the passive voice to avoid taking responsibility for what they have written. A government official who admits that “mistakes were made” skirts the question: who made them?
To shift a sentence from the passive to the active voice (44c), make the performer of the action the subject of the sentence, and make the recipient of the action an object.
The passive voice can work to good advantage in some situations. Journalists often use the passive voice when the performer of an action is unknown or less important than the recipient.
Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi was killed during an uprising in his hometown of Surt.
Much technical and scientific writing uses the passive voice to highlight what is being studied.
The volunteers’ food intake was closely monitored.