DEFINITION OF PASSIVE VOICE. “Voice refers to whether the subject of a sentence is on the giving or receiving end of the action”. (Stilman, 2010)
In sentences written in the active voice, the subject is the doer:
Bob caught the Frisbee in his teeth (subject is Bob).
In sentences written in the passive voice, the subject is acted upon:
The Frisbee was caught in Bob's teeth (subject is the Frisbee).
“In a passive construction, the person or object that is actually performing the action may be named in the sentence, but is not the focus of it.” (Stillman, 2010)
A general rule is to use the passive voice only when the doer or agent in your sentence (the person or thing acting) is unknown or is unimportant or when you want to connect the topics of the two clauses.
Ex: The pandas are rare. Two of them will be returned to the wild.
He had a lot people working for him, maybe sixty, and most of them liked him most of the time. Three of the will be seriously considered for his job.
PASSIVE VOICE IN ENGLISH.
When to use Passive voice.
There are some situations in which the passive voice is more effective than the active voice:
To emphasize the receiver of the action, the receiver of the action is more important than the performer.
Millions of people have read “Gone with the wind”.
“Gone with the wind” has been read by millions of people.
If we want to focus on the number of people who have read "Gone with the wind", we use active voice. If we want to focus on the novel "Gone with the wind", we use passive voice. The question is to ask yourself what you want to emphasis. When the receiver of the action is more important than the performer, use the passive voice.
When we do not know who the performer of the action is, the performer will be dropped from the sentence.
Her car has been stolen (by someone) (We do not know who stole her car)
When we want to avoid responsibility: when the active voice seems indiscreet, we can use passive voice to avoid assigning responsibility for the action.
You made this machine out of order.
This machine was made out of order.
To maintain a consistent point of view or sequence of subjects.
Our auditors have reviewed our accounting practices and found them to be adequate. We should convey this to our investors. The capital they provide allows us to operate.
Our accounting practices have been reviewed and found to be adequate. These findings should be conveyed to our investors, who provide us with operating capital.
