Passive voice

Passive = something is done to the noun.
Active = the noun is what's carrying out the action.

For instance:

Passive = the noise was heard by me. (The noun, 'me' had something done to it).
Active = I heard the noise. (The noun, 'me', is what's carrying out the action, that is, hearing).

You know, there are 1,578 threads on this already.

Please go look at the old ones--these threads are Emotionally Distressing to my Delicate Sensibilities.

Y'all don't wanna Distress, me, do ya?

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87838&highlight=Passive

Although it is not technically passive, "telling" often gets lumped into the same passive voice comments during critques. You can also look for told things that are descritions of emotions vs outward displays of an emotion.

He was angry vs He banged his fist on the table.

Doing a search for all "to be" verbs will help eliminate a lot of passive areas, but you have to look at each verb in context. Sometimes was and had are exactly the right word, and other times you can change them to stronger verbs. You can also look for phrases with "with X" or "in X" (as in, with anger or in anger) and "to X" where you're telling motive vs showing it (as in, he reached over to open the door).

"He was angry" isn't passive - it's telling not showing.

You know, there are 1,578 threads on this already.

Please go look at the old ones--these threads are Emotionally Distressing to my Delicate Sensibilities.

Y'all don't wanna Distress, me, do ya?

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mscelina said:

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Did Deek just take his shirt off again?

No no--I'm amused, not scared.

Oh dear.

It's started already.

http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/passivevoice.html

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_actpass.html

http://www.bartleby.com/68/5/6405.html

http://www.bartleby.com/64/C002/007.html

I'm feeling a little odd now . . .

Medi, you are killing me here!

The point is, giblet, that there are many and multiple sources online and within this forum where you can find this information if you do a search for it. If you had done a search, you would have discovered the 1,578 threads on passive voice. That's all.

Welcome to AW.

I'm copying/pasting a post I wrote on this awhile back. This is the original link.

I'm a peer writing tutor at my university, and I get this question a lot. I skimmed some of the other posts, but I'm just going to go ahead and explain it how I explain it to my students.

First of all, forget that "was" automatically means the sentence is passive. That's not the way it works. "Was" can be a marker of passive voice, but usually when linked with another verb.

I'll use simple sentences, not to patronize you, but because that's how I finally learned it.

The dog chased the ball. This sentence is active voice. The dog is actively doing something - chasing the ball.

The ball was chased by the dog. This sentence is passive voice. The ball is being passive; it's just sort of hanging around while something else, the dog, is doing the action.

"was (verb) by" is a good indicator that you've got a passive construction.

Still, you'll see a lot of sentences where some of your clues aren't available:

The ball was chased. This is still passive, because something is happening to the ball, rather than the ball (actively) doing something. But in this case, the "by the dog" part is missing. Many times, you'll have to fill the in the "by the dog" on your own to make it work.

Passive: Sam's hair was cut. (Trick: who cut his hair?)
Active: Susie cut Sam's hair. (Answers the question.)

"John's hair was black" is not passive. New addition for this thread: "He was angry" is not passive. There's no action, or "by the dog" portion of the sentence to turn around. I can't explain that any better, but hopefully the contrast between what is an active sentence and what's a passive one will help explain why this isn't.

I hope at least some of this makes sense. It took me awhile to get the hang of it myself, and it took a couple people to explain it before one day it just sunk in.

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Also, go to the Writing Novels forum and read my FAQ, which is stickied at the top of the page. There is a section on passive voice.

giblet said:

Right, I understand what was meant. I did a search, but still didn't understand (see reference to being a moron above), so I posted. For some people, it's easier to learn things when they can interact and ask questions in real time, which I guessed was more likely to happen in a new thread.

Thanks for the links and the warm welcome.

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You really are welcome. But.

There really are Many Very Long and Traumatic Threads on this:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92036

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11688

I think I need a lie-down.

Or a stiff drink.

Or three.

*hands Medi a cocktail* --active

*cocktail was handed by mscelina* -- passive

All you ever needed to know in one alcoholic step.

Okay, okay...everybody settle down. We were all new members at one time. I'm going to close this thread and post links to the other passive voice questions.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92036&highlight=passive+voice

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69703&highlight=passive+voice

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11688&highlight=passive+voice

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49750&highlight=passive+voice

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47124&highlight=passive+voice

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21510&highlight=passive+voice

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6957&highlight=passive+voice

Click on these, giblet, and see if any of them might answer your question.

If it helps, you might look at business writing to see if gives you an idea of what passive voice is. Passive voice is pretty common in business writing because some people use it to avoid responsibility. A lot of times, the sentence ends up being passive because the subject of the sentence is in the wrong place.

This site has a couple of example sentences of business passive voice that you might have run across.

I think my problem is that due to lack of formal education in the area (can you believe that we never covered grammar?!!), I'm not comfortable with a lot of the terminology on some of the pages/threads explaining passive voice.

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I had the same problem exactly ( and Katiemac's post above was to try and get it into my brain what the hell was going on with passive). Thanks to this place ( and that thread) I now know what a participle is. Only took me 35 years...

Hope you figure it out.

giblet said:

]

Linda and katiemac, your responses were really helpful. I can definitely see the difference in how I write at work (shirking responsibility) and in my personal writing. Katiemac, your examples were really clear and to the point. Thanks again for posting them.

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Glad I could be helpful. Linda mentioned business writing, and along those lines passive voice is also largely used in scientific writing since they like to remove human influences in research (the instrument was calibrated to .25 something-or-others instead of the scientist calibrated the instrument).

And don't worry about the formal training--I never had it, either. I have to give myself a crash course in gerunds, transitive verbs and all that other hoopla every now and again, but there are still terms I have to look up if I want to get gritty about it. Like I said upthread, I encountered the passive/active dilemma for a couple years until one day I was reading and, not even thinking about the difference, just went "oh! Lightbulb!" ::headsmack::

scarletpeaches and katiemac, I tend to put passive voice and telling into the same category. Usually when someone is getting dinged for one they're getting dinged for the other. It might not be "correct" but I assume if someone is asking something, it's because they've been getting comments from critiquers about it. I try to be helpful and answer the intent of the question, not just the letter or the law so to speak I shall refrain from doing that (or at least try), as every time I do someone smacks me for it.

I'd like to make my opinion known (I know, everyone has one, etc).
First, the search function in the forum leaves a lot to be desired. I have yet to find what I'm looking for using it. My usual results are 0 threads or it returns so many threads or posts that I may as well not have used the search function in the first place. I've used the advanced search and that has never helped. Perhaps the problem is with the user, but, if so, it will be the first time. I've never had a problem with other database searches. I used to design them.

Secondly, I hesitate to say this, for fear of hurting anyone's feelings, but some of the folks in this forum have been treating new members with, what I would consider less than courtesy. This is not pointed at anyone in particular in this thread, but this seems to be becoming a trend, and it is disturbing. Again, I apologize in advance if I've ruffled anyone's feathers.

To get back on the subject, There are times when passive writing is and should be used. In the politically correct world of business writing where you don't want to point the finger at anyone in particular (either to blame or give credit), passive writing is often used. If you've spent too many years in that world, it will take some time to get out of the habit.
In my background, writing police reports, where the suspect was not known. My sentences were often written in pasive voice (at the time I didn't know that was what I was doing). I would write "$1,000 was taken from the cash register."
There is a popular TV program where the FBI agents refer to the bad guy as the 'Unsub' (in fact, in one program, the 'Unsub' was sitting in the interrogation room in handcuffs, and they still called him the 'Unsub'). This allows them to use active voice in thier dialog. Watching that program is the first time I've heard that term.

RJK said:

In my background, writing police reports, where the suspect was not known. My sentences were often written in pasive voice (at the time I didn't know that was what I was doing). I would write "$1,000 was taken from the cash register."

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This is a good point, and another one I was thinking about this morning. You'll often hear passive voice on the news, when the reporters don't have all the information. ("Overnight, the shelter was broken into.") It's very similar to crime and police writing. But like RJK says, there are opportunities to turn it into active voice ("overnight, someone broke into the shelter") but that suggests "blame" again. Oftentimes, passive voice crops up in these situations without the writer even thinking about it.

When it comes to passive voice and fiction writing, it's usually best to be writing in active voice unless you have a good reason to use passive. To build suspense, for example, or when your characters don't have all the information.

"She was murdered," is a passive construction, but if you don't know who or what murdered her, there's not much you can do to make it active. Or maybe you DO know what murdered her, but for suspense's sake you keep it unknown.

Other instances in fiction where I've seen passive voice used are again, during times when the character doesn't know what's happening.

"Jane was peering over the edge when suddenly she was pushed off the cliff." The first "was" in that sentence is not passive. And it's probably okay for the second half of the sentence to remain in passive voice since she doesn't know who pushed her, but there are ways to rewrite it. It all comes down to which version sounds better.

"Jane was peering [or peered] over the edge when suddenly, a pair of strong hands grabbed her by the shoulders and then shoved her off the cliff." Ignoring my poor example, that's one way you could rewrite. Or you can use the stand-by "someone" pushed her over. Or another million rewrites.

In the end, unless you're in business, scientific or police writing, active voice is often the way to go. But passive voice has it's place, too. It's just not as common.