The Path to Effective Writing

Verbs and Voice

 Voice is the form of a verb to

indicate whether the subject of
the verb performs or receives
the action.

 There are two types of voice:

active voice and passive voice.
Active Voice
 Active Voice – indicates that the
subject of the verb is acting
 Because the subject does or "acts
upon" the verb in such sentences,
the sentences are said to be in the
active voice
 The verbs ‘aktif’ jika subyeknya (‘the
doer’ =pelaku) menunjukkan suatu
aksi
 Active Voice
 These examples show that the subject is  doing
the verb's action.
 The dog jumped onto the boy.
 The dog (subject) is doing the jumping (verb).
 Kristy will give a book report to the class.
 Kristy (subject) is doing the giving (verb).
 The computer ate my paper.
 The computer (subject) is doing the eating
(verb).
 Passive Voice
 In a passive voice sentence, the subject and
object flip-flop. The subject becomes the passive
recipient of the action (penerima yg pasif dari
suatu aksi).
 Because the subject is being "acted upon" (or is
passive), such sentences are said to be in the
passive voice.
 The ‘doer’ “(pelaku) dari suatu aksi tidak terlalu
penting (pada) kalimat passive, Subjek umumnya
telah jelas! Karena itu, subject pada kalimat
passive umumnya tidak ditulis (dihilangkan).
Passive Voice
 These examples show the subject being
acted upon by the verb.
 The boy was jumped on by the dog.
 Boy (subject) was being jumped on (verb)
 A book report will be given by Kristy to the
class.
 Report (subject) will be given (verb).
 My paper was eaten by the computer.
 Paper (subject) was being eaten (verb).
Reasons to Use the Active
Voice
 Most writers prefer to use active voice
because it is more direct.
 Compare (bandingkan dua kalimat berikut)
 Active: The waiter dropped the tray of
food.
 Passive: The tray of food was dropped
by the waiter.
 Reasons to Use the Active
 Voice
The active voice is less awkward (kecanggungan
kurang) and clearly states relationship between
subject and action.
 Compare
 Passive: Your request for funding has been
denied by the review committee.
 Active: The review committee denied your
request for funding.
 The active voice sentence pattern propels
(mendorong) the reader forward through your
writing thus avoiding weak prose.
 When to Use Passive Voice
 In general, the passive voice is less direct, less
forceful, and less concise (kurang ringkas) than
the active voice.
 Use the passive voice in the following
situations:
 Use passive voice when you do not know or
do not want to reveal the performer of an
action.
 Use passive voice when you want to
emphasize the receiver of an action.
Examples

 Awkward Passive:
 My bicycle was repainted by John.

 Deliberate Passive:
 My bicycle was repainted. (The
performer is not mentioned and the
emphasis is on the bicycle.)
 Form of Passive Voice Verbs
 The passive voice requires a "double verb" and
will always consist of a form of the verb "to be"
and the past participle (usually the "en/ed/t"
form) of another verb.
 Example:
Active: John baked the bread.
Passive: The bread was baked by John. (Was
is a form of the verb “be”.)
Form of Passive Voice Verbs

 Writers should be familiar with the forms of

"to be" , often called linking verbs, so that
they can easily identify the passive voice in
their work.

 Review the forms of "to be":

 am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been
Some active and passive forms are:
 moves --------------- - is moved
 moved --------------- was moved
 has moved --------- has been moved
 had moved ---------- had been moved
 will moved ----------- will be moved
 will have moved ----- will have been moved
 is moving ------------ is being moving
 was moving ---------- was being moving
 to move --------------- to be moved
 moving ---------------- being moving
Form of Passive Voice Verbs
 Note the forms of "to be" in the examples of
the verb "to kick" in various forms of the
passive voice:

 is kicked had been kicked

was kicked is going to be kicked
is being kicked will be kicked
has been kicked can be kicked
was being kicked should be kicked
 Form of Passive Voice Verbs
 Sering kalimat passive mengandung satu phrase
"by" , yg menunjukkan who or what yang
mengerjakan ‘the action’.
 Kalimat Passive dapat segera ditransformasi
menjadi kalimat active dengan cara
menghilangkan the preposition "by"
 (sentences can be easily transformed into
active sentences when the object of the
preposition "by" is moved to the subject
position in the sentence).
Form of Passive Voice Verbs
 Examples:
 Passive: The cookies were eaten by the
children.
 Active: The children ate the cookies.

 Passive: The tunnels are dug by the gophers.

 Active: The gophers dug the tunnels.
 Gopher = penggali
 Let’s Practice
 Directions: Change the sentences below to
the active voice.
1. The statue is being visited by hundreds of
tourists every year.
2. My books were stolen by someone yesterday.
3. These books had been left in the classroom by
a careless student.
4. Coffee is raised in many parts of Hawaii by
plantation workers.
5. The house had been broken into by someone
while the owners were on vacation.
 Let’s Practice
 Directions: Change the sentences below to the
passive voice.
1. Children cannot open these bottles easily.
2. The government built a road right outside her
front door.
3. Mr. Ross broke the antique vase as he walked
through the store.
4. When she arrived, the changes amazed her.
5. The construction workers are making street
repairs all month long.
Passive voice in the Present
Tense:
 Active: Somebody cleans this room every day.
 Passive: This room is cleaned everyday (by
somebody).
 Active: Fish farmers feed their fish with rice and
plant leaves.
 Passive: The fish are fed with rice and plant
leaves (by farmers)
 Pattern : am / is / are + past participle
 Passive voice in the past
 Tense:
Active : Somebody cleaned this room yesterday.
 Passive : This room was cleaned yesterday (by
somebody).

 Active : The Research Institute for Inland

Fisheries introduced the ‘sangkar’ fish culture to
fish farmers.
 Passive : The ‘sangkar’ fish culture was
introduced to fish farmers (by The RIIF).

 Pattern : was / were + past participle

Passive voice in the Future
Tense:
Active: Sinar Mas Company will build a new
Hypermarket in Mataram next year.
 Passive: A new Hypermarket will be built in
Mataram next year (by Sinar Mas Company).

 Active: Mr. Nyoman Kantun is going to buy the

excellent paddy seeds from IRRI Philippine.
 Passive: The excellent paddy seeds are going to
be bought from IRRI Philippine (by Mr. Nyoman
Kantun)

 Pattern : will be / shall be / is going to be + past

participle
 Passive voice in the
Present Perfect Tense
 Active: My bicycle has disappeared. Somebody
has stolen it.
 Passive: My bicycle has disappeared. It has been
stolen (BY SOMEBODY).

 Active: Indonesia has exported coffee and tea to

Singapore for many years.
 Passive: Coffee and tea have been exported to
Singapore for many years.

 Pattern : Have / has + been + past

participle
 Passive voice in the
Past Perfect Tense:

 Active: Dody had raised chicken for meat

production before he started to raise cow.
 Passive: Chicken had been raised for meat
production before Dody started to raise cow.

 Pattern : had + been + past participle

Passive voice in the
Present Continuous Tense:

 Active: The expert is examining the soil

fertility now.
 Passive: The soil fertility is being examined
now (by the experts).

 Pattern :am / is / are / + being + past

participle
 Passive voice using Modals:

 Modal Auxiliaries: Can, must, may, should,

would, might, etc .

 Active: They can harvest rice twice a year.

 Passive: Rice can be harvested twice a year
(by them).

 Pattern : modal auxiliaries + be + past

participle
 Application of Crop Protection Dusts
The problem of applying crop chemicals is considerably
greater than that of distributing plant nutrients (fertilizers).
This is because a very small amount of active ingredient has to
be applied to a large crop area, frequently to a particular part
of the crop where it can be most effective. These active
materials are formulated for application in a variety of ways.
However, dusting is the method which will be discussed in this
passage. In dusting, the active ingredients blended
(dicampur) down with local filler such as talc or clay to give a
dusty form, usually containing 2 to 4% of active ingredient.
This chemical can be applied to the crop by using hand duster,
tractor drawn dusters which blow the dust out through a
boom, aircraft, or by drift dusting. The characteristics of the
finished blended dust should be determined by the method of
application, but often in the tropics there is a limited choice of
fillers.