Knowing voice in English grammar can help you talk and write like a native speaker<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n In this article, we’ll show you the differences between the active and passive voices and how you can use them most effectively.<\/p>\n [fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You may’ve already heard of the active voice<\/strong> and passive voice<\/strong> in English.<\/p>\n But… what the heck do those terms actually mean?<\/p>\n It all has to do with the subject and the action that’s happening in the sentence<\/a>. In the active voice, the subject performs the action<\/strong>. In the passive voice, the action happens to the subject<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Here’s an example of the active voice:<\/p>\n The woman throws the baseball.<\/em><\/p>\n In this sentence, the subject is “the woman.” She’s performing the action (throws<\/em>) on the baseball.<\/p>\n Now, let’s flip it into the passive voice:<\/p>\n The baseball is thrown by the woman.<\/em><\/p>\n Now, “the baseball” is the subject. It’s not doing any action. Instead, it’s receiving the action (is thrown<\/em>) from the woman.<\/p>\n Virgin America Airlines should win an award for updating the boring airplane safety video with this catchy song.<\/p>\n Notice all the active voice sentences in this video. Lots and lots of active voice sentences!<\/p>\n Turn your electrical devices off as fast as you can<\/em><\/p>\n Fly away with me<\/em><\/p>\n Insert the metal end into the buckle until it clicks<\/em><\/p>\n Each of these sentences is in the active voice, but you might notice that the subject of the sentence isn\u2019t named<\/strong>. That\u2019s because the subject is implied\u2014and that subject is you<\/em>. Each statement is a command, which means you’re being told to do something.<\/p>\n The speaker doesn’t have to say you<\/em>, because you can easily assume from the context that he or she is talking to you.<\/p>\n You may’ve heard that it’s better to write in English in the active voice, and avoid the passive voice. In fact, most native English speakers learn this rule in school.<\/p>\n So, is it true?<\/p>\n The short answer: sometimes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The passive voice can sometimes make sentences sound weak, indirect or confusing. Compare these two sentences, for example:<\/p>\n The Green party won the election.<\/em><\/p>\n The election was won by the Green party.<\/em><\/p>\n The first sentence (in the active voice) is clear, concise and direct. The second sentence (in the passive voice) is longer and saves important information until the end.<\/p>\n However, you may choose to use the passive voice under certain circumstances:<\/p>\n For example: The bicycle was left beside the road.<\/em> We don’t know who left the bicycle there, so we wouldn’t have a subject in an active voice sentence.<\/p>\n It’s the difference between we discovered interesting results<\/em> (active voice) and interesting results were discovered<\/em> (passive voice).<\/p>\n Putting an active voice sentence in the past tense is simple enough. You just take the action verb and use its past tense form.<\/p>\n The woman throws<\/strong> the baseball. \u2192 The woman threw<\/strong> the baseball.<\/em><\/p>\n Things are slightly more complicated in the passive voice. You need to use the verb “to be” as a helping verb, plus the past participle<\/a> of the action verb.<\/p>\n The baseball was thrown<\/strong> by the woman.<\/em><\/p>\n You can use Reverso Conjugation to find the past participle of any English verb<\/a>. Just type your verb into the search bar and hit the “Conjugate” button.<\/p>\n Here are some more examples of passive voice sentences in the past tense:<\/p>\n The books were read<\/strong> by all students.<\/em><\/p>\n I was given<\/strong> a gift by my aunt.<\/em><\/p>\n We were told<\/strong>\u00a0to wait outside.<\/em><\/p>\n One common mistake<\/strong> is to assume that a sentence is in the passive voice just because you see the verb “to be.” But that’s not always the case.<\/p>\n For example, let’s say someone set you up worst ever blind date (an arranged date where the two people haven’t met before). You might tell them, \u201cYou were vouching for him.\u201d<\/p>\n (To\u00a0vouch<\/em> is to endorse or recommend something.)<\/p>\n Looks like the passive voice, right? However, the word vouching<\/em> is not the past participle<\/strong> of the verb vouch. The past participle would be vouched<\/em>.<\/p>\n The sentence itself is in active voice. You <\/i>(Anderson) is the subject. He performed the action of\u00a0vouching<\/em> for the guy on the date.<\/p>\n Practice looking for past participles and it’ll all become natural sooner than you think!<\/p>\n Of course, it’s important to practice and review the passive and active voices.<\/p>\n There are lots of online grammar exercises<\/strong><\/a> to help you quickly get comfortable with the difference between them:<\/p>\n You should also practice by listening to real English conversations and searching for the two different voices. Hearing them in action can make it easier to remember which voice you should use for different situations.<\/p>\n If there aren’t any English speakers around, you can use English media, like podcasts, videos and music. Pay careful attention to the phrases and think about why a certain voice was used.<\/p>\n Language learning programs can also give you realistic English practice with helpful tools. For example, FluentU<\/a> uses English videos so that you can learn vocabulary and grammar concepts in context. FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n <\/p> \r\n You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n What Is Voice in English Grammar?<\/h2>\n
Implied Subjects in the Active Voice<\/h2>\n
Should You Avoid the Passive Voice?<\/h2>\n
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English Voices in the Past Tense<\/h2>\n
Where to Practice English Voices<\/h2>\n
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