Language skills are not just about knowing many words. You also need to combine them correctly into sentences and sometimes change the style of syntactic constructions depending on the situation, as studied in Cambridge.ua. At the same time, the ability to change sentences from passive voice to active is especially useful in communication, as it helps the speaker to better adapt to the situation and context. Let’s have a closer look at how you can change passive voice to active voice.
What is the importance of understanding sentence structure?
Syntactic constructions with passive and active voice differ not only in the speaker’s attention vector but also in their structure. So, when you change the states in a sentence, it’s important to keep in mind what its structure looks like. Compare the two options.
- Doer of the action – the action – the addressee, meaning the object to which the action is directed.
- Recipient of the action – the action itself – its performer.
In the first case, we see the structure of a sentence with the active voice. Usually, in such syntactic constructions, the subject comes before the verb. In the second case, the voice is passive. In such sentences, the subject most often comes after the verb. To change one voice to another, you simply need to change the order of the elements in the sentence structure.
Why is it worth changing the passive voice to the active voice?
Sometimes, without realizing it, we create sentences using the passive voice. However, if there are no appropriate conditions and context for this, it is better not to create such constructions. After all, in passive-voice sentences, the subject is essentially hidden. This can confuse the reader.
At the same time, in active voice sentences, the focus is always on the performer of the action. Such syntactic constructions are much shorter, simpler, and more concise. They are easier to understand and remember, which is especially important for successful communication. So, there are many reasons to learn how to change one voice to another.
The algorithm for changing the passive voice in a sentence to the active voice
The following steps should be taken to quickly and, most importantly, correctly change the voice in a syntactic construction.
- Read the sentence very attentively and find the action.
- Pay special attention to the subject and the predicate. If you find it difficult, you can underline them. It is quite easy to identify these parts of a sentence. The subject is always the one who acts. In most cases, it is expressed by a noun or pronoun and answers the questions of who or what. It is important to remember that in passive voice clauses, the subject may be absent or come at the end of the syntactic construction.
- Determine the structure of the sentence, meaning the performer of the action, the action itself, and the object to which it is directed. For convenience, they can also be underlined.
- Place the doer of the action, which is essentially the subject, before the verb that indicates the action itself.
- Make edits. Often, when changing from passive to active voice, you need to correct the tense and get rid of unnecessary words. In the passive voice, they were necessary to place the subject after the verb. However, in active voice sentences, words such as “is,” “was,” and “will” are superfluous. For better memorization, it will be useful to analyze many such cases.
- Make sure that the object being acted upon comes after the verb.
That’s all you need to do. Now, the sentence is built using the active voice. At first, this algorithm will take some time. However, with practice, you will learn to identify the subject, predicate, and sentence structure without any underlining.
Create a few sentences using the passive voice and then change it to the active one. This will allow you to quickly swap voices in a sentence. And over time, you will be able to use them correctly, intuitively understanding in which style and context each voice is more appropriate.
The ability to change the passive voice in a sentence to the active voice is an important element of language quality, as it directly affects the readability of the text and its stylistic perfection. The algorithm itself is quite simple and requires only your attention and, of course, practice.
