Active and Passive Sentences

Paper Summary:

The term active or passive typically denotes what type of verb and emphasis is being placed on that verb within an individual sentence. A passive sentence is derived from an active sentence and does not stand alone as a basic sentence type. The paper shows that most people speak and comprehend words in the active form. The active form can be manipulated however, so that the performer of an action within the sentence is de-emphasized, and the main subject or actor noun is moved into an adverbial prepositional phrase. The paper explores how passive sentences and phrases challenge the student of English.

From the Paper:

"Passive sentences by nature are difficult to comprehend and interpret, because they don't follow the logical "thought process" most people incur when speaking. By changing the position of the subject and direct object, and the inclusion of "by" in passive sentences, an English student may not understand correctly what is being said initially. For example, one might say "Perry was beat by Jake" instead of "Jake beat Perry." The latter sentence, in the active form, is easy to understand. Jake is the doer in this sentence. The first sentence however, written in the passive, may confuse the reader into assuming that Perry did the beating, because Perry is assuming the position of the primary noun and "doer" of an action within the sentence. One would have to review the sentence carefully to make a proper assumption (245)."

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