ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

Active voice
In most English sentences with an action verb, the subject performs the action denoted by the verb.
    These examples show that the subject is  doing the verb's action.
            
Because the subject does or "acts upon" the verb in such sentences, the sentences are said to be in the active voice.

Passive voice
One can change the normal word order of many active sentences (those with a direct object) so that the subject is no longer active, but is, instead, being acted upon by the verb - or passive.
    Note in these examples how the subject-verb relationship has changed.
            
Because the subject is being "acted upon" (or is passive), such sentences are said to be in the passive voice.
NOTE:   Colorful parrots live in the rainforests cannot be changed to passive voice because the sentence does not have a direct object.
To change a sentence from active to passive voice, do the following:
    1.  Move  the active sentence's direct object into the sentence's subject  slot
             
    2. Place the active sentence's subject into a  phrase beginning with the preposition by
              
    3.  Add a form of the auxiliary verb be to the main verb and change the  main verb's form
              
Because passive voice sentences necessarily add words and change the normal doer-action-receiver of action direction, they may make the reader work harder to understand the intended meaning.
As the examples below illustrate, a sentence in  active voice  flows more smoothly and is easier to understand than the same sentence in  passive voice.
             
            
It is generally preferable to use the ACTIVE voice.

To change a passive voice sentence into an active voice sentence, simply reverse the steps shown above.
    1.  Move  the passive sentence's subject into the active  sentence's  direct object slot
             
    2.  Remove  the auxiliary verb be from the main verb and change main verb's form if needed
            
    3. Place the passive sentence's object of the preposition by into the subject slot.
           
Because it is more direct, most writers prefer to use the active voice whenever possible.
The passive voice may be a better choice, however, when

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

             Examples
             

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

            Examples
               

• the writer wishes to use passive voice for sentence variety.

active and passive voice

Transitive verbs have both active and passive forms:

active		passive
The hunter killed the lion.	>>	The lion was killed by the hunter.
Someone has cleaned the windows	>>	The windows have been cleaned

The passive forms are made up of the verb be with a past participle:

	be	past participle
English	is	spoken	all over the world
The windows	have been	cleaned
Lunch	was being	served
The work	will be	finished	soon
They	might have been	invited	to the party

We sometimes use the verb get to form the passive:

Be careful with the glass. It might get broken.
Peter got hurt in a crash.

If we want to show the person or thing doing the action we use by:

She was attacked by a dangerous dog.
The money was stolen by her husband.

We can use the indirect object as the subject of a passive verb:

active		passive
I gave him a book for his birthday	>>	He was given a book for his birthday.
Someone sent her a cheque for a thousand euros	>>	She was sent a cheque for a thousand euros.

We can use phrasal verbs in the passive:

active		passive
They called off the meeting.	>>	The meeting was called off.
His grandmother looked after him.	>>	He was looked after by his grandmother.
They will send him away to school.	>>	He will be sent away to school.

Some verbs very frequently used in the passive are followed by the to-infinitive:

be supposed to	be expected to	be asked to
be scheduled to	be allowed to	be told to

John has been asked to make a speech at the meeting.
You are supposed to wear a uniform.
The meeting is scheduled to start at seven.