Passive or Active?
Our relationship ended.
Passive!
Why? Maybe to avoid saying "who" was responsible or to blame.
The STAR testing was organzied by Ms. Henson.
Ms. Henson organized the STAR testing.
True or false:
A sentence has a passive voice when the agent, or doer of an action, and the recipient of that action are reversed, or when the agent or doer is unkown.
E.g. The coffee was drunk by the teachers.
TRUE!
She broke up with me!
Active
Why: It makes it clear "who" is responsible
The carnival was canceled by Mr. Harris.
Mr. Harris canceled the carnival.
Why do you think we use passive voice?
- To emphasize the subject (write from their point of view).
-When the agent/doer is not important
-To be neutral or not blame:
E.g. The glass was broken. VS. Alan broke the glass! :(
The Valentines were thrown out by the janitor.
Passive
Why do you think?
The archery target was hit!
Haziel hit the archery target.
Why do we avoid passive voice sometimes?
-It can be confusing
-It can be unclear
-It can be wordy