Grammar: Active vs. Passive Voice

On Monday, August 26th, we will have our first grammar quiz. It will be a multiple choice/true-false clicker quiz on Active vs. Passive Voice. There may also be a short written portion to the quiz.

Here is a handout that explains Active vs. Passive Voice (it's a pdf):

Active vs. Passive Voice Handout

Basically, active voice is (almost always) better than passive voice. Here is a quick example.

      (Active Voice): Sarah bought two tickets for the baseball game.

      (Passive Voice): Two tickets to the baseball game were bought by Sarah.

The first sentence is better. It is clear and follows standard English.



Sometimes, you need to use passive voice (such as when you don't know who committed the action):

      Sarah's tickets were stolen (passive voice) instead of

      Someone who we don't know who it is stole Sarah's tickets. (active, but awkward).


Make sure you can identify if a sentence is in active or passive voice and which one is better. You should also be able to write a sample of each kind of sentence and re-write a sentence written in passive voice so it is written in active voice and vice versa. In your writing, you should avoid using passive voice if possible.