Passive Voice: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know what passive voice is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on a passive voice, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!

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What is passive voice?

According to EF, passive voice, or a passive sentence, is a sentence in which the subject of the sentence is acted upon by the verb. While the appropriate form of the verb may be used such as the past conditional or present conditional, a great deal of meaning can be lost when not using active voice. English verb tenses work in a variety of ways, but the infinitive passive voice can be difficult to decipher as compared to something like the simple past, simple present, or future tense. In most cases, use a verb’s active equivalents. Active verbs make a sentence easier to decipher. You may choose to use passive voice or a passive form of the auxiliary verb then you do not know the doer of the action of the sentence. The passive voice might more commonly be used by a business writer in business writing or legal documents rather than by writing instructors or academics.

What are examples of passive voice?

Passive voice can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or grammatical technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of passive voices that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use.  Take a look at these passive voice examples from Your Dictionary, EF and Ginger and see how many you can identify the passive voice in!

  •  The treaty is being signed by the two kings.
  •  He was pulled over and given a ticket by a police officer.
  •  At dinner, six shrimp were eaten by Harry.
  •  The repairs of the waste materials were performed by Shelley.
  •  The poodles are being groomed by the stylist.
  •  The mass of gases was studied by the visitors.
  •  The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci.
  •  The people in politics are to be elected next week.
  •  We are to be going to the zoo for my birthday tomorrow.
  •  The lab reports were completed in alternative ways.
  •  The film stars were spoken to by Spielberg.
  •  A Hard Day’s Night was written by The Beatles.
  •  Money was generously donated to the homeless shelter by Larry.
  •  The baby was carried by the kangaroo in her pouch.
  •  Instructions will be given to you by the director.
  •  The entire house was painted by Tom.
  •  I noticed that a window had been left open.
  •   The novel was read by Mom in one day.
  •  The metal beams were corroded by the saltwater.
  •  That piece is really enjoyed by the choir.
  •  Every year thousands of people are killed on our roads.
  •  All the reservations are being made by the wedding planner.
  •  Two dozen cookies will be baked by Susan for the bake sale.
  •  All the cookies have been eaten.
  •  My car has been stolen!
  •  The flat tire was changed by Sue.
  •  The comet was viewed by the science class.
  •  The savannah is roamed by beautiful giraffes.
  •  The students’ questions are always answered by the teacher.
  •  The entire stretch of highway was paved by the crew.
  •  Every night, the office is vacuumed and dusted by the cleaning crew.
  •  The obstacle course was run by me in record time.
  •  The whole suburb was destroyed by a forest fire.
  •  The house will be cleaned by me every Saturday.
  •  The Grand Canyon is visited by thousands of tourists every year.
  •  The staff are required by the company to watch a safety video every year.
  •  A movie is going to be watched by us tonight.
  •  The house was remodeled by the homeowners to help it sell.

What are other literary techniques and devices?

There are many different literary and grammatical techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these terms because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of grammatical devices from OED and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you. 

  • accusative
  •  personal pronoun
  •  copular verb | copula
  •  indirect question
  •  bare infinitive
  •  zero
  •  phrase (phr.)
  •  ellipsis | elliptical
  •  indirect speech
  •  third-person
  •  pronoun (pron.)
  •  genitive
  •  subordinate clause
  •  inflection | inflected | inflectional
  •  declarative
  •  predicative
  •  possessive
  •  modify | modifier
  •  interjection
  •  object | direct object | indirect object
  •  preposition (prep.)
  •  definite article
  •  direct speech
  •  postmodify | postmodifier
  •  transitive
  •  nominative
  •  indirect object
  •  construction
  •  positive
  •  common noun
  •  adverbial | adverbially
  •  possessive adjective
  •  complement
  •  complementary
  •  gerund
  •  subject
  •  prefix
  •  first person
  •  instrumental
  •  direct object
  •  count noun
  •  simple
  •  possessive pronoun
  •  exclamation mark
  •  appositive
  •  impersonal (impers.)
  •  agree | agreement
  •  double object
  •  parasynthetic
  •  masculine
  •  participial adjective
  •  nominal relative | nominal relative clause
  •  main clause
  •  non-referential
  •  participle | past participle | present participle
  •  objective
  •  attributive
  •  infinitive
  •  optative
  •  indicative
  •  cataphoric
  •  unmarked genitive
  •  adverb (adv.)
  •  filler
  •  special use
  •  number
  •  article
  •  perfect
  •  premodify | premodifier
  •  dual
  •  part of speech
  •  construed (const., constr.)
  •  intransitive
  •  demonstrative
  •  periphrasis | periphrastic
  •  antecedent
  •  cognate object
  •  agent noun
  •  prepositional passive
  •  vocative
  •  proper noun | proper name
  •  prepositional phrase
  •  adjective
  •  gender
  •  interrogative
  •  combination
  •  morpheme
  •  apposition
  •  passive
  •  past tense
  •  stem
  •  present participle
  •  verb (v.)
  •  auxiliary verb | auxiliary
  •  passive infinitive
  •  singular
  •  determiner
  •  finite
  •  tense
  •  pleonasm | pleonastic
  •  non-finite
  •  to-infinitive
  •  noun phrase
  •  indirect passive
  •  past participle
  •  parenthetical | parenthetically
  •  locative
  •  clause
  •  case
  •  element
  •  phrasal verb
  •  main verb
  •  abstract
  •  person
  •  apodosis and protasis
  •  second person
  •  subjunctive
  •  plural
  •  prepositional object
  •  sentence adverb |sentence adverbial
  •  neuter
  •  feminine
  •  modal verb | modal auxiliary verb | modal auxiliary
  •  collocation | collocate
  •  verbal noun
  •  mass noun
  •  anaphoric
  •  active
  •  concrete
  •  intensifier
  •  dative
  •  present tense
  •  that-clause
  •  relative
  •  comparative
  •  conditional
  •  protasis
  •  indefinite
  •  subjective
  •  similative
  •  head
  •  base form
  •  anticipatory
  •  pro-form
  •  quasi-
  •  combining form (comb. form)
  •  compound | compounding
  •  collective noun
  •  conjunction (conj.)
  •  absolute (absol.)
  •  reflexive
  •  imperative (imper.)
  •  noun (n.)
  •  causative
  •  progressive
  •  mood
  •  direct question
  •  superlative

Overall, passive voice is a sentence in which the subject of the sentence is acted upon by the verb.

Sources:

  1. Glossary of grammatical terms | OED 
  2. Passive Voice – Definition, Examples & Exercises | Ginger
  3. Passive voice | EF   
  4. Examples of Active and Passive Voice | Your Dictionary 
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Kevin Miller is a growth marketer with an extensive background in Search Engine Optimization, paid acquisition and email marketing. He is also an online editor and writer based out of Los Angeles, CA. He studied at Georgetown University, worked at Google and became infatuated with English Grammar and for years has been diving into the language, demystifying the do's and don'ts for all who share the same passion! He can be found online here.

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