Grammar Rules Questions Long
Active voice and passive voice are two different ways of constructing sentences in English. The main difference between them lies in the way the subject and the object of a sentence are positioned.
In active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action, while the object receives the action. The structure of an active voice sentence is typically subject-verb-object. For example, "John (subject) ate (verb) an apple (object)." In this sentence, John is the doer of the action (eating) and the apple is the receiver of the action.
On the other hand, passive voice is used when the object of a sentence becomes the subject, and the subject becomes less important or is omitted altogether. The structure of a passive voice sentence is typically object-verb-subject. For example, "An apple (object) was eaten (verb) by John (subject)." In this sentence, the focus is on the apple being eaten, rather than on John as the doer of the action.
The passive voice is often used when the doer of the action is unknown, unimportant, or when the speaker wants to emphasize the object or the action itself. It is also commonly used in scientific or formal writing. However, active voice is generally preferred in most forms of writing as it is more direct, concise, and engaging.
It is important to note that converting a sentence from active voice to passive voice may require changing the verb tense and using the appropriate form of the auxiliary verb "to be" (e.g., is, was, has been) along with the past participle of the main verb.
In summary, the difference between active voice and passive voice lies in the positioning of the subject and object in a sentence. Active voice emphasizes the doer of the action, while passive voice focuses on the object or the action itself.