Active and passive: examples

The pairs of sentences below show the same ideas expressed in both active and passive voice.

Active: Someone left these kittens next to the garage.
Passive: These kittens were left next to the garage.
Active: Two of the judges gave her perfect scores.
Passive: She was given two perfect scores.

How passive sentences are made

Passive verbs are formed by a be verb and a past participle. (A past participle is the verb you would use with "have," as in, "We have gone there many times"). That's the grammatical explanation. However, it's important to know that in active voice, the doer (or agent) of the action is in the subject position in a sentence, while in passive voice, the receiver of the action is in the subject position.

Active: Carla (agent) caught (verb) the ball (receiver).
Passive: The ball (receiver) was caught (verb) by Carla (agent).

Why passive voice is used

Many writing experts advise writers not to use too many passive sentences. This is good advice. However, there are some times when passive voice is better than or as good as active voice. For example, sometimes we don't know or don't want to identify the agent (doer of an action).

• His wallet was stolen.
• The door was accidentally left open.

Sometimes the agent is obvious or unnecessary and perhaps vague.

• Christmas is celebrated on December 25th.
• The new edition of the book will be released in September.

Another reason to use passive voice is to improve the flow of sentences which are together. Compare examples 1 and 2:

1. Halley's Comet appears every 75 or 76 years. Astronomer Edmund Halley first predicted the return of the comet.
2. Halley's Comet appears every 75 or 76 years. The comet was first predicted to return by astronomer Edmund Halley.

Sentence pair 2 flows better because the subject of the second sentence in the pair is something mentioned in the first sentence (The comet = Halley's Comet).

Common Mistakes

The following sentences have mistakes with passive and active verbs. See if you can correct them yourself before you look at the correct versions below.

• The accident was happened at the corner by the Pizza Hut.
• The sky filled the clouds.
• I born in 1970.
• This local volunteer organization founded in 1965.

Here are the correct versions:

• The accident happened at the corner by the Pizza Hut. ("Happen" and "occur" are always active verbs.)
• The sky was filled with clouds. OR Clouds filled the sky. (Remember that a container or area is filled by or with something. For example, a glass is filled with water.)
• I was born in 1970. (A mother bears a child. The child is born.)
• This local volunteer organization was founded in 1965. (Don't omit the be verb. Also, don't mix up the verbs "find," as in "Can you help me find my keys?" and "found," which means to start up an organization or institution.)