Avoiding Passive Voice

Agenda  Definition: Passive Voice  Structure of Passive Voice  Passive Voice Usage  Convert passive sentences to active sentences  Passive Tenses Chart  Exercise

Definition: Passive Voice Active Voice: The object receives the action of the verb. The engineer designed the circuit. Passive Voice: The subject receives the action of the verb. The circuit was designed by the engineer.

Structure of Passive Voice 1. subject + (be) + past principle + by + agent Research will be presented by Peter at the conference. 2. subject + (be) + past principle Experiments have been conducted to test the hypothesis. by + agent ???

 Use Active voice 99% of the time!  Use Passive voice when you want to hide the agent for the action Active: John did the circuit design correctly. Passive: The circuit design was done correctly (by John). Passive Voice: Usage

Passive Voice:  Hides the agent for the action (important information!)  Adds unneccessary words  Makes writing boring and difficult Active: John did the circuit design correctly. Passive: The circuit design was done correctly (by John). Passive Voice: Usage 8 words 6 words

Converting passive to active 1. Find the agent in a "by the..." phrase, or consider carefully who or what is performing the action expressed in the verb 2. Make that agent the subject of the sentence, and change the verb accordingly. Subject Passive Agent The chip was designed by the engineer. Subject Active Direct Object The Engineer designed the chip.

Converting passive to active  If the passive sentence does not include the agent, you need to infer the agent from the surrounding sentences which provide context. Passive: Results will be published in the next issue of the journal. Active: The researchers will publish their results in the next issue of the journal.

TensesPassive form ActivePassive Simple Present Simple Past am/is/are + past participle was/were + past participle The movie fascinates me. The movie bored me. I am fascinated by the movie. I was bored by the movie. Present Continuous Past Continuous am/is are + being + participle was/were + being + past participle I am helping Shannon. June was helping Su and Ling. Shannon is being helped by me. Su and Ling were being helped by June. Passive Tenses Chart

TensesPassive form ActivePassive Present Perfect Past Perfect Future Perfect has/have been + past participle had been + past participle will have been + past principle I have mailed the gift. Smith had conducted the experiment. John will have finished the project soon. The gift has been mailed by me. The experiment had been con- ducted by Smith. The project will have been finished soon. Future Tenseswill be + past participle am/is/are going to be + past participle I will mail the paper. I am going to make the chip. The paper will be mailed by me. The chip is going to be made by me. Passive Tenses Chart

Exercise Change the following sentences to Active Voice. 1.Before the semester was over, the new engineering program had been approved by the Curriculum Committee and the Board of Trustees. 2.Later in the day, the students were spoken to by the department chair herself. 3.For several years, microcircuits were built exclusively by junior engineers. 4.The copper on the chip was etched by using the company’s new equipment. 5.Low-ph solutions and high voltage were avoided by the engineers because they feared for their safety. Rewrite the following paragraph using Active voice. 1.Argon lasers and household "Super Glue" are now used by some dactylography experts to collect fingerprints. A small, highly concentrated, single wavelength light beam is produced by the laser. Fluorescence is induced by the laser in such fingerprints chemicals as riboflavin. Prints -- even old ones -- can be lifted from paper, something that has been impervious to traditional dusting, by the laser. The benefits of "Super Glue" were discovered by accident. The fumes from the glue interact with the amino acids and outline the print. A fingerprint is raised and preserved by "Super Glue" on just about any surface. The glue is used on smooth surface such as skin, plastic, coarse metal and leather.

Answers Sentences 1.Before the semester was over, the Curriculum Committee and the Board of Trustees had approved the new engineering program. 2. Later in the day, the department chair herself spoke to the students. 3. For several years, junior engineers exclusively built the microcircuits. 4. Using the company’s new equipment made it possible to etch the copper into the chip. 5.The engineers avoided low-ph solutions and high voltage because they feared for their safety. Paragraph 1.Some dactylography experts now use argon lasers and household "Super Glue" to collect Fingerprints. The laser produces a small, highly concentrated, single wavelength light beam that can induce fluorescence in such fingerprint chemicals as riboflavin. The laser can lift prints -- even old ones -- from paper, something that has been impervious to traditional dusting. Experts discovered the benefits of "Super Glue" by accident. The fumes from the glue interact with the print in a way that raise and preserved it on just about any surface, including skin, plastic, coarse metal and leather.

More Information state.edu/~wilkins/writing/Handouts/active.html

Passive Voice: Quiz Please take the Passive Voice Quiz on WebCT now.