Examples of Passive Voice in College-Level Writing

📚 Quick Study Guide

• 🔍 Active voice emphasizes the subject performing the action (e.g., "The dog chased the ball").
• 📝 Passive voice emphasizes the action or the object of the action (e.g., "The ball was chased by the dog").
• 💡 In passive voice, the subject receives the action rather than performing it.
• 🌍 The passive voice is formed using a form of the verb 'to be' + past participle.
• ✍️ Identify passive voice by looking for 'be' verbs (is, are, was, were, been, being) followed by a past participle.
• ⚠️ Overuse of passive voice can make writing sound weak and vague.
• ✅ Use passive voice when the actor is unknown, unimportant, or you want to emphasize the action itself.

🧪 Practice Quiz

1. Which of the following sentences is in the passive voice?
   1. The chef cooked the meal.
   2. The meal was cooked by the chef.
   3. The customers ate the meal.
   4. The restaurant served the meal.
2. Identify the passive verb phrase in the following sentence: "The report was submitted on Friday."
   1. submitted
   2. was submitted
   3. on Friday
   4. The report
3. Which sentence correctly uses the passive voice to describe the following action: "The students completed the assignment."
   1. The assignment completed the students.
   2. The assignment was completed by the students.
   3. The students were completed by the assignment.
   4. The assignment is completing the students.
4. In the sentence, "Mistakes were made," what is the subject?
   1. The subject is "we".
   2. The subject is "mistakes."
   3. The subject is implied but not explicitly stated.
   4. The sentence is in active voice.
5. Which of the following is NOT a common reason to use the passive voice?
   1. To emphasize the actor.
   2. When the actor is unknown.
   3. To be diplomatic.
   4. To emphasize the action.
6. Rewrite the following sentence in the passive voice: "The committee approved the proposal."
   1. The proposal approved the committee.
   2. The proposal was approved by the committee.
   3. The committee was approved by the proposal.
   4. Approving was done by the committee.
7. Which of these sentences uses passive voice most effectively?
   1. The scientist performed the experiment.
   2. The data was analyzed by the statistician.
   3. The results were published in a leading journal.
   4. The professor taught the class.