The passive voice — Foreign languages, 14–17 years
How a language can put the affected person or thing first, instead of the doer. Foreign languages, 14–17 years.
What the passive does
In an active sentence, the doer usually comes first: “The storm damaged the roof.” The passive changes the viewpoint: “The roof was damaged by the storm.” It is useful when the affected thing matters more, or when the doer is unknown, obvious or unimportant.
Why languages use it
Writers often need to discuss a result, object or victim without making the person who caused it the topic. A news report may say “Three people were arrested” because the arrests matter more than the officers. The passive solves this focus problem, but it can also hide responsibility when a writer leaves out “by whom”.
Changing one sentence
Start with “The committee approved the plan.” First, move the object, “the plan”, into the subject position. Next, use the matching form of “be”: “was”, because the sentence is in the past. Add the past participle, “approved”: “The plan was approved (by the committee).” The final phrase is optional if the doer is not the focus.
The missing doer
A common mistake is to treat every passive sentence as dishonest because it does not name the doer. That is a reasonable reaction: hiding “who did it” can make a claim sound less accountable. But the doer may truly be unknown, or the sentence may be about the result. Check the context before adding “by”.
In news and science
You meet the passive in lab reports, instructions and news: “The samples were heated to 80°C” or “The bridge was opened in 1998.” These texts focus on procedures, objects and events rather than on a storyteller. Still, good reporting names the responsible people when responsibility is important.
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