• Home
  • Admission
    • Canada
    • United States
    • United Kingdom
  • Learning
    • Teachers
    • Courses
    • Student Journals
    • Testimonials
    • Testimonials in Chinese
    • Bill's English Clinic
  • Study Tours
    • US University Tour
    • US High School Tour
    • UK University Tour
    • CA University Tour
    • Australia Music Festival
    • Study Tour Testimonials
    • Photos
    • Q & A
  • Activities
    • Shaolin Kung Fu Club
    • Teach Seniors Tech!
    • BMO Marathon Run
    • Volunteering
  • Events
  • Contact
    • About IWE
    • Careers
  • 中文
IWE Study | College Planning & Learning Centre & Study Tours

Avoid the Passive Voice if Possible

11/13/2018

0 Comments

 

Bill Situ

English and ESL Instructor

We can express ideas suing either in the active voice of the passive voice:

     Active: William Golding wrote Lord of the Flies.

     Passive: Lord of the Flies was written by William Golding.

The meaning of the two sentences above are exactly the same, but the difference is in the format of the sentence. In the active construction, the sentence follows the conventional subject-verb-object format. In the passive construction, the sentence begins with the object, followed by was/were, the past participle, and then the subject.

In come cases, there is no identifiable subject in the passive voice:

     My house was broken into. (In this case, the subject is not known.)

In formal writing assignments, it is best to avoid using the passive voice if at all possible. Even in the example above, where the subject is unknown, we can still say, Somebody broke into my office.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Bill Situ

    Bill Situ is an instructor at IWE Study and Consulting Inc. He specializes in English and ESL.

    Archives

    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Home​
Admissions
CA Schools
US Schools
UK Schools
Learning
Teachers
Courses


Study Tours
US University Tour
US High School Tour
UK University Tour
CA University Tour
AUS Music Festival

Testimonials
Gallery

FAQ


Events
Free Tech Lessons for Seniors

BMO Vancouver Marathon 
Volunteering

News

Contact
About IWE
Careers



IWE Study & Consulting Inc. © 2013 |  Suite #130, 5611 Cooney Road, Richmond, BC, Canada  V6X 3J6  | Created by Rio Ye