Voice with reference to verbs has nothing to do with the voice that makes sounds. Instead, it denotes two ways
of looking at the action of the verb. Transitive verbs, verbs
which take an object (see 1), can
either be in the active voice or the passive voice.
In the case of
sentences using the active voice of
the verb, the subject (see 3) performs the action described by the verb. Thus, in the sentence
The boy threw the ball.
the verb threw is in the active voice because the subject
of the sentence The boy is performing
the action of throwing.
Similarly, in the
sentence
She is driving the car too fast.
the verb is driving is in the active voice
because the subject of the sentence She is performing the action of driving.
In the following
sentences the underlined words form examples of verbs in the active voice:
Terrorists hijacked the plane.
Rain spoiled the day.
He found the solution.
Dad dug the garden.
I lost the ring.
A thief stole the purse.
In the case of
sentences using the passive voice of the verb the
subject is the recipient of the action of the verb. Thus, in the sentence
The ball was thrown by the boy.
the verb was thrown is in the passive voice because the subject of the sentence The ball is having the action of
throwing performed on it. Similarly, in the
sentence
The car was being driven too fast by her.
the verb was being driven is in the passive voice because the subject of
the sentence The car is having the
action of driving performed on it.
In the following
sentences the underlined words form examples of verbs in the passive voice:
He was fatally wounded.
A woman was found dead.
The car was badly damaged in the crash.
We were delighted by the news.
It is known that a statement will be released tomorrow.
As you will see from
the examples given in Active voice
and Passive voice above, it is often
quite easy to convert active form to passive form and vice versa.
Verbs in the active voice are much more commonly
used in English than verbs in the passive voice. Overuse of the passive voice can sound rather formal
and unnatural and it can make sentences sound unnecessarily complicated.
However, it should
not be avoided altogether. For example, it is a useful construction when it is
not yet known who carried out the action of the verb, as in:
A young man has been murdered.
It is also useful,
especially to people such as journalists, in sentences such as the following
where it is not known whose opinion is being given:
It is believed that such conditions may occur again.
However, this habit
of generalization should not be overdone. Also, the passive construction is
often used in pieces of scientific or other specialist writing where the
question of who exactly is performing the action of a verb is not important, as
in:
A sample of the bacterium is being tested under lab conditions.
