Active voice and passive voice: what they are, examples of verbs and sentences

The voice is a grammatical category that establishes the relationship that exists between the verb and its participants (the subject and the object).

The active voice It is one in which the subject performs the verbal action (subject agent) and the object (if there is one) receives it. For example:

Sofia prepared the chestnuts.

The subject (Sofía) performs the action and the object (the chestnuts) receives it.

The passive voice It is one in which the subject receives the action (patient subject) and the object performs it (agent complement). For example:

The chestnuts were prepared by Sofia.

The patient subject (the chestnuts) receives the action executed by the agent complement (Sofía).

The active voice and the passive voice are the most common, but there is a third class called the reflexive or reflexive passive.

The reflex passive It is one in which the subject, at the same time, executes and receives the action. For example:

The chestnuts they are getting ready fast.

Active voice

The active voice is one that is used to express ideas where the

subject Act like agent, carries out the action of the verb. For example:

The players displayed the trophy.

The subject (the players) performed the action (exhibited) on the object (the trophy).

Sometimes the verb does not express an action itself, but the subject experiences what the verb dictates. For example:

The players rested the next day.

The subject (the players) do not carry out an action as such, but they did participate in the action of the verb (they rested).

All verbs, whether transitive, intransitive, copulative, or predicative, have an active voice. The subject fulfills the role of agent, performing, undergoing, or participating in the verbal action. For example:

• Peter buys bread
• the cow moos
• the child is distracted
• My sister listens to music

Examples of active sentences

1. Álvaro plays chess every Tuesday.
2. My dog ​​catches the ball on the fly.
3. I have read all your books.
4. The band will release an album this summer.
5. My friend makes aluminum jewelry.
6. The newspaper published the chronicle of the concert.
7. Your parents seem happy.
8. This year we will go to Yucatan.
9. The Mayor handed over the key to the city.
10. The gardener trimmed the rose bushes.

Passive voice

The passive voice is one that establishes that the subject (patient subject) receives the action of the verb and which is the object (agent plugin) who performs it. In other words, the subject is affected by what the complement does.

The novel was written by the author.

The patient subject (the novel) receives the action (it was written) from the agent complement (by the author).

Only they have passive voice Transitive verbs, that is, those verbs that need a direct object to complete their meaning.

For example, the verb approve should always carry a plugin (whatever is passed) to make sense:

The norm was approved by the assembly.

The norm (patient subject) receives the action (was approved) carried out by the agent complement (the assembly).

To express the passive voice, use verb periphrases, formed by the conjugated form of verb to be (auxiliary verb) and the participle of the main (transitive) verb in question. For example:

• Miguel Angel painted the Sistine Chapel.
• The Sistine Chapel It was painted by Michelangelo.

Passive voice sentences should not be confused with certain copulative sentences, formed with the verb to be and a participle functioning as an attribute, for example:

• The pants are tight (copulative sentence)
• The budgets will be adjusted by the shareholders (passive sentence)

The way to identify a passive sentence is to make it active, through the conjugation of the main verb, without losing meaning. For example:

• Passive: The actress was protected by the escort.
• Active: The escort protected the actress

When we try to make active a sentence that is not passive, but copulative, the statement does not make complete sense. For example:

The pants are tight / The pants fit (the sentence loses its meaning).

Examples of passive sentences

1. The meeting was called by the neighbors.
2. That film will be awarded by the Film Academy.
3. My city is considered safe by tourists.
4. The thief was convicted by the court.
5. The guitar was repaired by the luthier.
6. Absences will be penalized by the teachers.
7. The palace is protected by the royal guard.
8. The building was designed by the architect.
9. The trophy will be awarded by the current champion.
10. The conversation was recorded by an employee.

reflex passive

The reflex passive is the one that corresponds to the old middle voice of some languages ​​like Greek. In it, the subject executes the action and at the same time is affected by it, plays at the same time the role of agent and patient.

It is built using the pronoun HE and the conjugated form of a transitive verb, which must agree in number and person with the patient subject. The reflex passive does not usually have an agent complement.

• The sample will be analyzed. (Passive)
• The sample HE will analyze. (reflex passive)

The subject in a reflex passive sentence can appear after the verb. To differentiate the subject from the object we will attend to the agreement, since the subject and the verb coincide in person and number. For example:

• For sale second-hand items (second-hand items are sold).
• Is required experience (experience is required).

Sometimes the particle HE It can appear enclitic, that is, at the end of the verb, which is usually in the infinitive. For example:

These facts should not forgetHE.

Examples of reflex passive sentences

1. At Christmas they eat sweets and nougat.
2. The letters are opened by the flap.
3. Juan's case will be tried soon.
4. Promises must be kept.
5. Clothing arrangements are made.
6. The pencils are made of wood.
7. Puppies are adopted daily.
8. Nearby houses caught fire.
9. The rules must be respected.
10. Soon all the mysteries will be solved.

See also:

• Types of sentences
• Difference Between Hear and Listen

References:

• Spanish, R. TO. (2009). New grammar of the Spanish language. Madrid: Spain.
• Blanca, L. (2007). The passive voice in Spanish: grammatical diatribe. Writings Journal of the Center for Language Sciences, 35-36.
• Fernandez, S. S. (2002). The passive voice in Spanish: towards a discursive analysis. In Romansk Forum (Vol. 16, no. 2, p. 75-85).