Passive grammar changes the order of a sentence so that the object of the action becomes the subject. It is a stylistic preference, but can sometimes cause ambiguity or misunderstanding. The verb “to be” and past participles are commonly used in passive voice formation.
Passive grammar refers to one of two possible ways of expressing an action within a sentence or clause. In the active voice the subject acts on an object or leads the action. The passive voice changes the order of the sentence or clause so that the object, or recipient, of the action is the subject of the sentence. Using passive grammar is not a grammatical error but a stylistic preference, which many believe undermines or distorts the concept or idea the sentence is trying to convey.
To understand the difference between passive and active voice, you need to understand the elements of a sentence or clause, a grammatical unit containing a complete idea. The agent is the grammatical component that causes the action to take place, the thing or person doing something. Most often, this component is in the position of the subject, causing the action.
The verb is the part of the sentence which expresses the action, both on another thing and within itself, respectively “He throws the ball” or “He shoots”. The object is the grammatical element that receives the action, in this case “the ball”. The agent acts on the object by the action of the verb.
The most common passive voice formation combines a form of the verb “to be” with the past participle of the main verb. The example, “Peter drove the car.” it is a sentence written in the active voice, since Peter, the agent, is in the position of the subject acting on the self, the object. To write the sentence in the passive voice, one would rearrange the sentence to read: “The car was driven by Peter.” Here the car, the recipient of the action, is the subject, and is followed by “era” and the past participle of the verb “guidare”, which is “driven”. Only after providing this information does the writer tell the reader that Peter is the force acting on the car.
In the passive voice sentence, “The car was driven by Peter.” the car is the object of the action, while Peter is the agent who caused the action. The use of the passive voice suggests that the writer intends to pay more attention to the car than the driver. In the active voice, the sentence becomes “Peter drove the car”, where the subject is the agent, the one who performs the action. Unless the car is actually more important than Peter, most writers would agree that the active version is preferable, as it is more emphatic and more direct, leaving less room for reader error or misunderstanding.
If the agent is removed from the sentence, it becomes “The car was driven”. This sentence illustrates another use of the passive voice, where the object of the action and the action itself are the only things the writer wants the reader to know. Here the writer uses passive grammar to keep the agent ambiguous, implying that the agent is unimportant or unknown, perhaps even to the writer.
Just because a sentence contains a form of the verb to be doesn’t mean that the sentence or clause uses passive grammar. The same goes for sentences that use a past participle. The verb “to be” can also denote a state of being, as in the sentences “John is sick.” and “John was sick.” In these cases “is” and “was” are used to describe John’s physical state or condition, with the action existing as a continuation from one moment to the next, in the present and past respectively.
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