In English grammar, voice shows whether the subject of a sentence is doing the action, or having the action done to it. The voice of a verb describes the relationship between the action (or state) that the verb expresses and the participants identified by its arguments (subject, object, etc.).
When the subject is the doer of the action, the verb is in the active voice. When the subject under goes the action, it is said to be in the passive voice. The active voice is the most commonly used and represents the “normal” case, in which the subject of the verb is the agent. The passive voice is employed in a clause whose subject expresses the theme or patient of the verb. That is, it undergoes an action or has its state changed. Active and passive voice combine almost freely with declarative, interrogative and imperative moods.
In a transformation from an active-voice to an equivalent passive-voice, the subject and the direct object switch their grammatical roles. The direct object gets promoted to subject, and the subject demoted to an (optional) complement.
For example, in the sentences:
Ryan eats the cake.
The verb ‘eat’ is in the active voice and Ryan is the agent.
The cake was eaten by Ryan.
‘was eaten’ is passive.
More examples are given below
|
Active Voice |
Passive Voice |
| Lisa cooked dinner. | Dinner was cooked by Lisa. |
| Jill cleaned the house today. | The house was cleaned by Jill today. |
| Samantha directed a play. | A play was directed by Samantha. |
| Kelly has organized this party. | This party has been organized by Kelly. |
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