unacademy ‘Test Preparation > Management > GMAT > Verbal > Sentence Correction Active and Passive Voice LESSON 7 OF 17 Download the Unacademy Learning App to watch this and over 200k more lessons in UPSC, SSC CGL, GATE, Google Play ff @ App Sto CAT and many more categories.@ unacademy GRAMMAR BASICS FOR SENTENCE CORRECTION: Active & Passive Voice@ unacademy Definition: Active Voice O the subject performs the action denoted by the verb. The general template for active voice is [subject][verb] [object] Sujbect is doing the verb’s action. o The man is driving the car (the man (subject) is doing the action of driving (verb)) © The little boy is eating the ice cream. (the little boy (subject) is doing the eating (verb)) Verbs such as buy, sell, love, sense, know, imagine, give, receive, etc take a direct verb.@ unacademy Definition: Passive Voice One can change the normal word order of many active sentences (those with a direct object) so that the subject is no longer active, but is, instead, being acted upon by the verb - or passive. subject is being "acted upon" (or is passive) o The car is driven by the man. (the car (subject) is being driven (verb)) o The ice cream is being eaten by the little boy. (the ice cream (subject)is being eaten (verb)) Description verbs (be, seem, happen) and action verbs that don’t take direct objects (walk, run, fly, talk, wait, sleep) have only an active voice, no passive voice.unacademy GMAT GMAT Prefers Active Voice. Active voice is straight forward as it emphasises who or what performs the action. Passive Voice emphasises who or what receives the action. Hence, it is a little indirect and awkward. How to identify passive voice Typically, the passive voice is constructed using some form of “to be” (is, was, were...) along with a past participle. Diamonds are loved by most women. The books were delivered to the library. Anew version of the book has been printed.unacademy Things to remember When the verb is in the passive voice, the sentence tends to be wordy, aimlessly indirect, and pathetically weak. When you are describing an active event in the real world, it is natural to describe the message in active voice. If there are choices between active and passive voice, more often than not active voice will be correct. While attempting the AWA section, It is safer to write in active voice as it is less prone to errors. Typically passive voice is used when we want to neglect or de-emphasise the person performing the action and emphasise the action or the receiver of the impact. Sometimes the performer of the action is assumed.@ unacademy Example I- Use of Pronoun © The beaver gnawed at the tree for hours and it finally fell over. co The tree was gnawed at by the beaver for hours and it finally fell over. Read aloud and identify the correct sentence.@ unacademy Example | ©. The beaver gnawed at the tree for hours and it finally fell over. co The tree was gnawed at by the beaver for hours and it finally fell over. “it” could be either the beaver or the tree. In the first sentence, it is not certain what fell- the tree or the beaver. Logically, it is the tree that fell over. The passive voice version completely resolves that ambiguity. The core of the sentence is “The tree was gnawed and it fell over.” This makes complete sense. Hence, the pronoun decides whether active or passive voice should be used.unacademy Example II- use of Subject- verb o The teacher is criticized for being boring but is actually a brilliant mathematician. co People criticize the teacher for being boring but is actually a brilliant mathematician. Read aloud and identify the correct sentence.@ unacademy Example II ©. The teacher is criticized for being boring but is actually a brilliant mathematician. © People criticize the teacher for being boring but is actually a brilliant mathematician. “is a brilliant mathematician” could only be the verb for the subject “teacher.” The subject of the sentence must therefore be teacher and the modifier must be close to the noun it is modifying. Between these two sentences, only the passive voice sentence could be correct. Passive voice is completely acceptable, but depends on interactions with other parts of the sentence. If you notice an active versus passive voice split, watch for interactions with other issues including subject-verbs, modifiers, and pronouns.unacademy Example IIl- use of modifiers ©. The black hole was described as unimaginably large by scientists who had been working with black holes for decades and had won renown as experts in their field. o The scientists described the black hole as unimaginably large, who had been working with black holes for decades and had won renown as experts in their field. Read aloud and identify the correct sentence.@ unacademy Example III ©. The black hole was described as unimaginably large by scientists who had been working with black holes for decades and had won renown as experts in their field. o The scientists described the black hole as unimaginably large, who had been working with black holes for decades and had won renown as experts in their field. The noun modifier, the phrase that starts “who,” is modifying black hole. The second sentence means that black holes have been working with black holes for decades. Passive voice is completely acceptable, but depends on interactions with other parts of the sentence. If you notice an active versus passive voice split, watch for interactions with other issues including subject-verbs, modifiers, and pronouns.@ unacademy THANK YOU! a Please Rate/ Review/ Comment You can Follow me for updates regarding my next sessions. Go grab your dream job!! Coming Up: “Basics of Pronouns for sentence correction.”