Excellent writing handout about passive voice

[LNC]

HTH someone!

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/resources/handouts-demos/citation/passive-voice

[creekmom]

Very helpful! Thank you! :001_smile:

[Woodhaven]

Thank you! I am printing it out now for my boys to read. :001_smile:

[Kathleen in VA]

Thank-you!

[Candid]

I'm not sure the write totally understands passive voice.

 

After suitors invaded Penelope's house, she had to think of ways to fend them off.

 

This is not what I learned as passive voice because Penelope is the actor and she is thinking. This is not the same as "The fish was caught."

 

Here's Wikipedia's take on passive voice:

Passive is used in a clause whose subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb. That is, the subject undergoes an action or has its state changed.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_voice

 

Penelope is thinking her state hasn't changed. Passive voice would be "Penelope's house was invaded."

 

Here's another definition I found:

In traditional grammar, a verb form (or voice) in which the grammatical subject receives the verb's action.

 

Penelope is not receiving action in the sentence, the clause at the beginning is a clause that gives time, it's a adverbial modifier telling when.

[Candid]

I'm not sure the writer totally understands passive voice.

 

After suitors invaded Penelope's house, she had to think of ways to fend them off.

 

This is not what I learned as passive voice because Penelope is the actor and she is thinking. This is not the same as "The fish was caught."

 

Here's Wikipedia's take on passive voice:

Passive is used in a clause whose subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb. That is, the subject undergoes an action or has its state changed.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_voice

 

Penelope is thinking her state hasn't changed. Passive voice would be "Penelope's house was invaded."

 

Here's another definition I found:

In traditional grammar, a verb form (or voice) in which the grammatical subject receives the verb's action.

 

Penelope is not receiving action in the sentence, the clause at the beginning is a clause that gives time, it's a adverbial modifier telling when.

Edited May 21, 2012 by Candid

[Caitilin]

I'm not sure the writer totally understands passive voice.

 

 

 

This is not what I learned as passive voice because Penelope is the actor and she is thinking. This is not the same as "The fish was caught."

 

Here's Wikipedia's take on passive voice:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_voice

 

Penelope is thinking her state hasn't changed. Passive voice would be "Penelope's house was invaded."

 

Here's another definition I found:

 

Penelope is not receiving action in the sentence, the clause at the beginning is a clause that gives time, it's a adverbial modifier telling when.

:iagree: There is a common, oh so common, disconnect in people's understanding of the passive. I think this stems largely from the fact that in English, the passive tends to LOOK like the past tense, so people write sentences like the one above about Penelope and THINK they have used the passive voice, when in fact all that's happened is the expression of a past event. Language Log has some excellent posts about the correct usage and understanding of the passive voice. I recommend it highly. :001_smile:

[LNC]

The last few posts are confusing to me.

Did you read the article? The example you used was not intended by the author to show passive voice. The example was a correction of a sentence that used passive voice.

 

Here is the quote from the article:

"When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage.

 

becomes

 

After suitors invaded her house, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage."

 

You shouldn't say - when her house was invaded. That is passive. The 2nd example is active...

Edited May 21, 2012 by LNC

[Candid]

"When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage.

 

becomes

 

After suitors invaded her house, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage."

 

You shouldn't say - when her house was invaded. That is passive. The 2nd example is active...

 

No they both are active voice. Both introductory clauses are adverbial clauses and the main sentence is active voice in both.

[mrs.m]

Thank you, LNC! Great information!

[Caitilin]

Never mind

[Matryoshka]

No they both are active voice. Both introductory clauses are adverbial clauses and the main sentence is active voice in both.

 

Yes, but all clauses (not just main ones) have tense/voice/mood, as clauses have both subjects and predicates.

 

The adverbial clauses in the example have been changed from passive to active voice. The main clause is unchanged, and is active in both examples. A sentence with more than one clause cannot be referred to as any one tense or voice. Only the specific clause can be analyzed. It is very common for one clause to have a different tense or voice than another in the same sentence.

 

The passive voice in English is formed by the verb "to be" + past participle. The only reason it might be seen as easily confused with past or perfect tenses is that the past participle in English is often identical to the simple past (though not always), and the past participle is also used in the perfect tenses, which are formed with "to have" + past participle. If you know the construction, it can't be confused.

 

Why do grammar texts almost all completely overlook English verb conjugations, or pay them only token attention? :glare:

[Faithr]

I think the clause "When her house was invaded" is passive. I though that if you could stick in the words 'by someone or something' that showed it was passive? It shows the subject of the clause is being acted upon rather than doing the action. So if we say: When her house was invaded (by someone), Penelope had to think of ways to delay her marriage.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

The last few posts are confusing to me.

Did you read the article? The example you used was not intended by the author to show passive voice. The example was a correction of a sentence that used passive voice.

 

Here is the quote from the article:

"When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage.

 

becomes

 

After suitors invaded her house, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage."

 

You shouldn't say - when her house was invaded. That is passive. The 2nd example is active...

 

The use of passive voice isn't always bad. I think that it is an oversimplification to say that it is wrong to say "When her house was invaded . . ." What passive does here is keep the emphasis on Penelope and the violation of her home.

 

Having both the independent and dependent clause in active voice sets up more of a contest between the suitors and Penelope.

 

Having the dependent clause in passive voice sets up a tension between the violation of the home and the actions that Penelope is preparing to take.

 

 

Passive voice does tend to be overused and misused. But it does have it's proper place. "Grandma was run over by reindeer" puts emphasis on the fact that Grandma was the victim, yet still the most important figure in the sentence. "This ball was hit by Babe Ruth in his last home run, but its value is negligible because of the green crayon drawings added by your toddler" might be an example heard on Antiques Roadshow.

[Candid]

The use of passive voice isn't always bad. I think that it is an oversimplification to say that it is wrong to say "When her house was invaded . . ." What passive does here is keep the emphasis on Penelope and the violation of her home.

 

Having both the independent and dependent clause in active voice sets up more of a contest between the suitors and Penelope.

 

Having the dependent clause in passive voice sets up a tension between the violation of the home and the actions that Penelope is preparing to take.

 

 

Passive voice does tend to be overused and misused. But it does have it's proper place. "Grandma was run over by reindeer" puts emphasis on the fact that Grandma was the victim, yet still the most important figure in the sentence. "This ball was hit by Babe Ruth in his last home run, but its value is negligible because of the green crayon drawings added by your toddler" might be an example heard on Antiques Roadshow.

 

:iagree:

 

This had occurred to me as well. It can be very useful to diffuse communication of something the reader won't want to hear.

 

I occasionally have to explain to folks elsewhere why they can't do X, Y, and Z and many times I find myself using passive voice because it diffuses the negative element. "You will be unable to do X until Y because your account has been set Z." Very passive, but it generally helps soothe a negative situation.