Passive: a bor ed person – someone/something made a person bored For example:Īctive: a bor ing person – a person makes others bored In some cases, adjectives, formed from verbs, might express active and passive voice through the endings -ing and -ed. The research can be sent for publication. This topic should be examined in more detail. The same principle applies to modal verbs (e.g. The research deserves to be sent for publication. This topic needs to be examined in more detail. As in the case of tensed verbs, passive infinitives are formed with the help of “be” and past participle: to be done, to be examined, to be identified). to do, to examine, to identify), can also take passive voice (e.g. Infinitives, the indefinite form of verbs (e.g. when the recipient is a part of the “known” information, and it should start the sentence (see the handout “Improving Cohesion: The Known/New Contract”) when a writer wants to de-emphasize who or what is responsible for a given action/problem Passive voice is also appropriate in the following cases: Passive: The solution was heated to the boiling point. In the examples below, note how omitting the agent of the action emphasizes the experiment itself and excludes irrelevant information:Īctive: The scientist heated the solution to the boiling point. Passive voice is frequently used in lab reports and Methods sections of research reports because it puts the emphasis on the experiment or process being described rather than on the researcher. In academic writing, only around 25% of all verbs are used in passive voice, with the Natural Sciences and Engineering using it more frequently, and the Humanities using it least. Passive: Low-income renters were forced to leave their neighborhoods to make room for large scaled urban development.īecause readers may experience active voice sentences as clearer than passive voice sentences, professional writers are often urged to limit the use of passive voice. Active voice sentences may be more concise than passive voice sentences because they eliminate the need for a helping verb “be” and the preposition “by.” In the example below, note how placing emphasis on the agent (wealthy business CEOs) makes the sentence more informative and meaningful:Īctive: Wealthy business CEOs forced low-income renters to leave their neighborhoods to make room for large scaled urban development. This is because they provide more information (the agent of the action), and possibly because native English speakers are accustomed to receiving the information in the order agent-action-receiver. Sentences containing active voice can be easier to process and understand than passive voice sentences. When it is stated, it is placed in a “by” prepositional phrase. The agent of the action is not always stated in a passive voice sentence. *These forms as well as the forms in the perfect progressive aspect (not included here) are uncommon. This is how passive is formed in different tenses: is, is being, was, will be) + the past participle form of the verb (e.g. In passive voice, the verb is composed of a form of “to be” (e.g. A main verb is passive when the subject of the sentence is the receiver of the action. A main verb is active when the subject of the sentence is the doer (or the agent) of the action. In a sentence, main verbs can be in active or passive voice. Word Order in Statements with Embedded Questions.Using Reduced Relative Clauses to Write Concisely. The Three Common Tenses Used in Academic Writing.Same Form, but Different Functions: Various Meanings of Verb+ing and Verb+ed.Reducing Informality in Academic Writing.Improving Cohesion: The "Known/New Contract".Combining Clauses to Avoid Comma Splices, Run-ons, and Fragments.Choosing Between Infinitive and Gerund: “To do” or “doing”?.
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