Active and Passive

Last week I touched upon showing your readers what you have to say rather than just telling them the information as though they are just spectators. Several people made some interesting comments about this topic. One reader said that it was “much more fun for the other party [readers] to “feel” and “see” what you’re telling, instead of just hearing it.” (Klaus @ TechPatio) I love this idea that the readers can be apart of your blog just as you experienced the event. By showing your readers what happened as though they are in the thick of the action, it gives them a different perspective on the situation rather than if they are just seeing all of the action from the sidelines.

Showing your readers what has happened is a way to mix up the monotony of your posts. Another way to use variations in your blog is to change between an active voice in one post, then using a passive voice in another. Active and passive voices are similar to showing rather than telling in the way that they can give you different ways to say the same thing.

Active voice means that the subject in the sentence performs the action of the verb. Using an active voice in your posts means that the object is the recipient or the goal.

Patty cleaned the car.

The mayor gives the speech.

The formula for active voice is this: [subject] + [verb] + [object] or [doing action] + [action] + [receiving action].

Patty                 cleaned                  the car.
Subject                verb                      object
doing action       action            receiving action

The mayor            gives               the speech.
Subject                  verb                    object
doing action         action          receiving action

Passive voice changes the sentences above around thus changing the subject of the sentence. With passive sentences the receiving action becomes the subject and the thing doing the action is placed near or at the end of the sentence.

The car was cleaned by Patty.

The speech is given by the mayor.

The formula for passive sentences is this: [person or thing receiving action] + [be] + [ action or past participle of verb] + [by] + [person or thing doing action]. The verb “be” must be added in passive sentences as well as the word “by” to create the correct voice. [Please see note for further explanation on the verb “be”]

The car                           was cleaned                    by Patty.
Receiving action             [be] action               [by] doing action

The speech                        is given                      by the mayor.
Receiving action             [be] action                [by] doing action

Active and passive voice can allow you to change your writing style easily without having to read extensive sites on how to use variations on your writing. Most of us bloggers don’t think about changing out sentence structures because it doesn’t seem to matter in the grand scheme of things, but it’s just a little something you can try if you desire change.

Note: the verb “be” includes many forms. The various forms are: am, is, are, was, were, be, been, and contractions [I'm, He's, She's, It's, You're, They're, We're].

Written by Patricia Vennes from Writer's Rants
Posted on October 26th, 2009 and filed under Writing
Do not forget to subscribe to our RSS feed for updates

4