What is the “passive voice”?: Difference between revisions

What is the “passive voice”? (view source)

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 '''== What is Passive Voice? =='''
-Passive voice is when the subject does not perform an action, like in an active sentence. In the active voice, the subject does something:
+Passive voice is when the subject does not perform an action. It is often confused with the active voice, where the subject actually does something.  For example:
-  The professor wrote a novel.
+ '''(Active Voice)''' The professor wrote a novel.
 The subject (professor) performs an action (wrote) which produces the object (novel). In the passive voice, the order of the sentence is reversed so that the sentence merely describes:
-   The novel was written by the professor.
+   '''(Passive Voice)''' The novel was written by the professor.
+'''==Recognizing the Passive Voice=='''
 Recognize a passive construction by some form of the '''“be”''' (was) verb that proceeds a past participle (written), followed by a prepositional phrase (by the professor).