Putting the Passive Voice in its Place
I was taught to write in the active voice whenever possible. Writing in the active voice whenever possible was what I was taught. Okay, there you have it. The first sentence was written in the active voice. The subject does the acting. In passive voice, the subject is acted upon. I write in the active voice most of the time. The active voice is concise and direct. But there are situations where writing in the active voice isn't appropriate.
Jill kicked Jack's ass - active
In active voice sentences, the verb (kicked) expresses the action, the subject (Jill) performs the action and the object (Jack's ass) is the recipient of the action. Yeah, like, no kidding. This sentence puts importance on the chick who's doing the ass-kicking.
Jack's ass was kicked by Jill - passive
In a passive voice sentence, the subject and object flip flop. That means, in this sentence, Jack's ass is much more important than the chick who's kicking it. And if I'm Jack, I guess so!
So...
Jack's ass sat on the jackass - active
The jackass was sat on by Jack - passive
Jill climbed the hill to find Jack's jackass kicking his ass - active
The hill was climbed by Jill to find Jack's jackass kicking his ass - passive
Oh, isn't this joyful?
In most of my writing, I want to use the active voice, because it carries more of a precise punch. If it's not important for my reader to know who or what is doing the acting, though, then the passive voice works.
In active voice, the subject does the acting:
The sun melted the ice cream. (What kind of idiot leaves perfectly good ice cream in the sun?) Such a sentence in the active voice emphasizes the subject, the sun.
In passive voice, the subject is acted upon:
The ice cream was melted by the sun. (Perfectly good ice cream is left in the sun by what kind of idiot?) Such a sentence in the passive voice allows me to stress the importance of the person or event acted upon: the ice cream.
I use the passive voice when:
1. I want to control focus of the sentence. I can de-emphasize the doer's role in the action (Jack's ass was kicked by Jill). I can emphasize the action (was kicked).
2. I use the passive voice when the doer isn't known or is common knowledge and identifying the doer would be redundant.
Here's an easy chart that helps me remember the difference between active and passive voice:
PASSIVE VOICE +verb "to be" +past participle +"by" phrase
Subject acted upon (optional)
The jackass was ridden by Jack
Jack's ass was kicked by Jill
Jack and Jill are ignored by the jackass
ACTIVE VOICE verb direct object
Jack rode the jackass.
Jill kicked Jack's ass.
The jackass ignored Jack and Jill.
Putting the passive voice in its place means I have to think and decide what's important. The doer or the doee? To keep my writing direct, I place more importance on the doer, and save the passive voice for specific situations in my writing where only the passive voice works.
Onward.
Great post! I've been trying to get rid of verbs that end in -ing, too. As you can see, it's not working out too well for me.
Reply to this
Just do this: "I've been try*** to get rid of verbs that end in -ing, too. As you can see, it's not work*** out too well for me. Easy, huh?
Reply to this
Actually, the "ing" words are not the problem. It's the sentences that use the verb "to be." Is, was, is being, had been, is going to be will be, has been, can be, was being and should be are all red flags that the sentence is passive.
Reply to this
Another great tip, thanks!
Reply to this
You're welcome!
Reply to this