We've all heard varying ways to identify active voice from passive voice. And at one point or another you might have been exposed to a clip art similar to this one:
Okay the last picture probably wasn't necessary but I thought it was funny. But the rule goes that if a zombie can do it, it's in the passive voice.
"All the strawberries were picked last night (by zombies)." - This is a passive voice.
"I picked all the strawberries last night (by zombies)." This doesn't make sense, and because there is a subject at the beginning it is active.
Active voice seems to be the most commonly encouraged voice. It has a specific subject and is often more engaging for the reader. So passive voice can get pushed to the back and forgotten about. Passive sentences just don't seem as exciting as active ones. Likewise passive voice can seem boring and usually reads like an instruction manual or a legal contract. But this might actually be on purpose.
Passive voice is used more when you want to focus on the object of the sentence rather than those who are doing the action.
Another example for the purpose of passive voice that my professor shared with me is that you should:
Use passive voice when you want to be ambiguous and avoid being rude or sued!
When you use the passive it takes the attention away from the people performing and puts the attention on the act itself.
Ponder that, now that the post is written. (By zombies...)
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