When the parents come home to a collection of broken shards on the floor, they turn to their oldest child and demand to know what happened. "The vase got broken," the teenager shrugs.

An official appears before a congressional committee after several million dollars disappeared out of a government account. One senator asks the official to explain, and the official offers, "The money was transferred. The account was then closed. The money was stolen."

Do you see a problem here? No one is telling WHO committed these misdeeds. The sentences are in passive voice, a reversed construction that allows the subject (the person doing the action) to be removed!! To recognize a sentence is passive voice, look for the verb to AFFECT the first noun instead of having the subject DO the noun, and look for a helping verb (usually am, are, is, was, or were) in front of the real verb.

Because passive voice is used to hide blame, many English speakers instinctively distrust people who use passive voice, even if they don't know why. Now, sometimes scientists will use passive voice to put the emphasis on the procedure and not the person who did it ("The heart surgery was performed just after three a.m.") You, however, are not a scientist, and passive voice should not appear in formal writing.

Passive voice is used to hide blame.

I was hit by the dodgeball.

The victim was attacked by three men.

I was told he wasn't coming.

The car was stolen by joyriders.

Ice cream was served after dinner.

Perdue OWL Active and Passive Voice
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