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Name: ____________________________________ Date: ____________ English Teacher: ___________________________ English Class Period: ________Active vs. Passive VoiceAll action verbs occur in one of two voices: the active or the passive. In an active sentence, the subject performs the action and is therefore, the main focus of the sentence. In a passive sentence, however, the sentence is flipped around to focus on what happened to something or someone. In other words, the subject of a passive sentence receives the action. For example, compare the following sentences:Active:Arnold kicked the ballThe subject (Arnold) performs the action.Passive:The ball was kicked by Arnold.The subject (ball) receives the action.Using the passive voice is not a grammatical error. However, the passive voice can lead to a dull style because it does not stress action. Also, it can “hide” the person or thing doing an action. Sometimes people use the passive to be polite. (For example, compare “Mistakes were made.” with “You made mistakes.”) However, writers should avoid using the passive voice unless they have a good reason to do so.Directions - Change all passive voice verbs to active voice, writing the new sentence underneath.The book was written by an obscure author from the 14th century.The search team worked all night until one of the survivors was found.The rare bird had been spotted by three different men.Several mice were caught by the trap set by my father. It was determined that only six students would be allowed on the trip.There was found under the book an amount of money that hasn’t yet been claimed. ................
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