LITERARY DISCOURSE: Active and Passive Voice [Part Two]

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this discourse, fellow learners and readers are expected to increase their knowledge of:

• Active Voice and Usage
• Passive Voice and Usage
• Forms of Passive Voice
• Retained Object in Passive Construction.

Change of sentence from Active to Passive
To change a sentence from Active to Passive Voice, one may consider the following guidelines:

• Move the active sentence's direct object into the sentence's subject slot.
• Place the active sentence's subject into a phrase beginning with the preposition “by.”
• Add a form of the auxiliary verb “be” to the main verb and change the main verb's form.

Observation
Because passive voice sentences necessarily add words and change the normal doer-action-receiver-of-action order, they may make the reader work harder to understand the intended meaning.

On the contrary, a sentence in Active Voice flows more smoothly and is easier to understand than the same sentence in Passive Voice. This is illustrated by the examples below:

• Azindoo teaches Academic Writing at University of Applied Management. [Active].
• Academic Writing is taught by Azindoo at University of Applied Management. [Passive].
• Wunpini is reading an interesting novel. [Active].
• An interesting novel is being read by Wunpini. [Passive].
• The colonial regime built Gbewaa Secondary School in 1950. [Active]
• Gbewaa Secondary School was built by the colonial regime in 1950. [Passive].

Change of sentence from Passive to Active
To change a Passive Voice sentence to an Active Voice sentence, one may simply reverse the steps shown above.

• Move the passive sentence's subject into the active sentence’s direct object slot.
• Remove the auxiliary verb “be” from the main verb and change main verb's form if the need arises.
• Place the passive sentence's object of the preposition “by” in the subject slot.

Usage
In the view of many writers, it is generally preferable to use Active Voice. This is because it is more direct and more comprehensible.

However, Passive Voice may be a better choice in the following situations:

• When the doer of the action is unknown, unwanted, or unneeded in the sentence.

• If the writer wishes to emphasize the action of the sentence rather than the doer of the action.

• In case the writer wants to use passive voice for sentence variety.

Examples:
University education in Ghana has become relatively expensive. At some universities FEES ARE CHARGED in dollars, and STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED to pay as early as possible. Besides, private hostels operating near the universities charge exorbitant fees...

Forms of Passive Voice
Passive Voice sentences are formed according to the tense of the Transitive Verbs involved. These include Present, Past, Future, Present Perfect, Past Perfect and Future Perfect tenses.

Below are examples:
Present

• Active: Luqman writes the note.
• Passive: The note is written by Luqman.

Past

• Active: Luqman wrote the note.
• Passive: The note was written by Luqman.

Future

• Active: Luqman will write the note.
• Passive: The note will be written by Luqman.

Present Perfect

• Active: Luqman has written the note.
• Passive: the note has been written by Luqman.

Past Perfect

• Active: Luqman had written the note.
• Passive: The note had been written by Luqman.

Future Perfect

• Active: Luqman will have written the note.
• Passive: The note will have been written by Luqman.

Retained Object
This is either a Direct Object or an Indirect Object (in an active sentence), which continues to function as a Complement in a passive construction. For example:

• Active: Ustaz gave the ARABIC STUDENTS AN ASSIGNMENT.
• Passive: The Arabic Students were given an ASSIGNMENT by Ustaz.
• Passive: An assignment was given the ARABIC STUDENTS by Ustaz.

In the first passive sentence, the Direct Object ASSIGNMENT continues to be a complement; so in the second example the Indirect Object ARABIC STUDENTS remains a complement. The two complements are therefore RETAINED OBJECTS.

Conclusion
Dear student/reader, let us summarise the discussion into the following points:

• In Active Voice the subject performs the action, and the object receives the action.
• In Passive Voice the object performs the action, while the subject receives the action.
• Active construction is generally preferred for its simplicity and comprehensibility. However, for sentence variety, emphasis, and diplomacy, Passive Voice is sometimes the best choice.
• Only Active Sentences of Transitive Verbs can have the Passive Forms. Transitive verbs are verbs that attract one or more objects. If the verb attracts one object, it is mono-transitive – direct, but it becomes di-transitive if it attracts two objects – direct and indirect. When the verb involves a retained object, it is a complex transitive.
• Retained Object is the only object found in Passive constructions.

By Abubakar Mohammed Marzuq Azindoo, Coordinator of Students and University Relations, University of Applied Management (UAM), Germany – Ghana Campus, McCarthy Hill, Accra and Tamale

• Email: azindoo200@gmail.com Tell: 0244755402