For example, a sentence in the passive voice would be: “The milkbone was chewed by the dog” or “The basketball was thrown by Sara. ” In the first sentence, the milkbone is being acted on by the dog and in the second sentence, the basketball is being acted on by Sara. This creates a bland sentence, as the subject is not doing the action in the sentence. Another example would be: “The bicycle wheels were destroyed by the storm” or “My papers were written on a computer. ” In the first sentence, the bicycle wheels are being acted on by the storm and in the second sentence, the papers are being acted on by the computer.
A sentence with a dangling modifier that has no subject might be something like, “To be more professional, a black suit was worn. ” In this situation, we do not know who wore the black suit, but the sentence indicates that someone wore the black suit to seem more professional. Therefore, the sentence is passive and incomplete.
Example sentences in the active voice include: “The dog chewed the milkbone” or “Sara threw the basketball. ” In both sentences, the subject of the sentence is doing the action. “The dog” “chewed” and “Sara” “threw. " Other examples include: “The storm destroyed the bicycle wheels” or “I wrote the papers on a computer. ” In both sentences, the subject comes before the verb and the subject is doing the action.
Sometimes you may have an instance when the recipient of the action is more important than the performer of the action. You would then use the passive voice to highlight the recipient of the action. You might notice this in news stories and news articles. For example, “A priceless Rodin sculpture was stolen from the Chicago Museum of Art today by two armed men. ” In this instance, the more newsworthy content is that the sculpture was taken, rather than that the performer of the action is the two armed men. Putting the more important content up front, even though it is passive voice, makes the sentence feel more purposeful. You may also use passive voice when you cannot identify the “who” or “what. ” In these instances, you may use the passive voice to make up for not having more details. For example, “The package was lost during the international flight. ” Because you do not know who lost the package, you cannot use the active voice and may instead use the passive voice.
“Is”: For example, “Biking is something I do. ” “Was”: For example, “The rope was used by me in the race. ” “Were”: For example, “The berries were eaten by the kids. ” “Had been”: For example, “The game had been played by the man since dawn. ” “Have been” or “Has been”: For example, “The singing has been done by the group all morning. ”
For example, you may have the sentence, “The rope was used by me in the race. ” You may adjust this sentence so it is in active voice, “I used the rope in the race. ” In the active sentence, the subject “I” is doing the action, “used the rope in the race. ” Another example could be the passive sentence: “The game had been played by the man since dawn. ” You may adjust the sentence so it is active: “At dawn, the man started playing the game” or “The man started the game at dawn. ” In the active sentence, the subject “the man” is doing the action, the verb “played. ”
For example, you may have the following sentence: “She wanted to act calm when she heard the jokes, but she was still jeered at by her friends. ” This sentence begins in active voice, with “She wanted” and then ends in passive voice. You can adjust it to all active voice, resulting in: “She wanted to act calm when she heard the jokes, but her friends still jeered at her. ”
For example, you may have the following sentence: “To save time, the essay was typed on a computer. ” This sentence uses passive voice and a dangling modifier, as it is not clear who is saving time or who is typing the essay. The revised version of the sentence would be: “To save time, Tyler typed the essay on a computer. ”
Though your computer’s spell check function can be useful for catching grammatical errors, it may not catch all of the passive sentences in your writing so do not depend on it to do this for you. You should also keep in mind that some sentences actually benefit from passive voice, based on the content of the sentence. Reading your writing out loud and to others can help you be a better editor of your work and notice when a sentence should be in passive or active voice.
Correct instances of passive voice as needed.
Continue to work backwards until you have read every sentence in your paper. Correct any instances of passive voice that you find as you go.
Keep in mind that a writing tutor will not fix your work for you. He or she will help you develop the skills you need to identify instances of passive voice on your own.
