C5 P1 PASSIVE VOICE

 PASSIVE VOICE

Hello everyone! My name is Salma, and welcome or welcome back to my blog. How are you all? I hope you all are doing safe and healthy in the middle of this pandemic. Today, i am going to explain about passive voice.

What does passive voice mean? The passive writing voice occurs when something that is ordinarily “done by” the subject of a sentence is “done by” the object of a sentence. In the passive writing voice, whatever is doing the action of the sentence is not the grammatical subject of the sentence.

The passive voice is used when we want to emphasize the action (the verb) and the object of a sentence rather than subject. This means that the subject is either less important than the action itself or that we don’t know who or what the subject is.

Passive Voice Function

1. To describe process.

2. To convey a more objective tone in news reports.

3. More academic and other more formal settings - letters, reports, essays, and lectures.

When and Why Do We Use Passive Voice

There are several times when the passive voice is useful, and usually the decision has to do with the "doer" (agent) or the "receiver" of the action. For example, we use the passive when:

1. We want to emphasize the receiver of the action:

• President Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald.
  cf: Lee Harvey Oswald killed President Kennedy.

2. We don't know who did the action (the agent):

• My wallet has been stolen.
  cf: Somebody has stolen my wallet.

3. We think the agent is not important or interesting:

• Our house is being painted.
  cf: XYZ Company is painting our house.

4. The agent is obvious:

• I am paid weekly.
  cf: My company pays me weekly.

5. We are making general statements or announcements:

• Passengers are reminded to fasten their seatbelts.
  cf: The Captain reminds passengers to fasten their seatbelts.

6. The agent is everyone:

• The emergency services can be called by dialling 999.
  cf: The public can call the emergency services by dialling 999.

7. We are writing formal or scientific texts:

• Potassium was added and mixed in. The solution was heated to 80°C and then allowed to cool.
  cf: The technician added potassium and mixed it in. The technician heated the solution to 80°C and then allowed it to cool.

8. We want to avoid responsibility for our own actions (typically found in government reports):

• Mistakes were made and unfortunately never rectified.
  cf: The Prime Minister made mistakes and unfortunately never rectified them.

Formula of Passive Voice

That is my explanation for passive voice, i hope my explanations can help you understand more about the topic. Thank you and see you later!.