Answered By: James Whitmer
Last Updated: Jun 16, 2020     Views: 19

Passive voice is a way of expressing action in a sentence whereby the subject of the sentence is receiving the action instead of doing it. To express the action this way, passive voice almost always relies on a form of "to be" and a past-tense verb; for example, "The classes were passed." The problem with passive voice is that it is usually wordier and provides less vivid description than active voice, which is why professors recommend changing passive voice to active when possible. To change passive to active voice, you must ask yourself, "who is doing the action?" and make that person or thing the new subject of the sentence. The following are some examples of this change:

Passive Voice Active Voice
The classes were passed. The students passed the classes.
The ball was kicked. The child kicked the ball.
The grade was changed. My teacher changed the grade.

 

For more specific information on passive voice, please see the following: