Framingham State College The Writing Guide by CASA Plagiarism Revising and Editing Drafting Researching Prewriting

 

Drafting

Writing paragraphs, explaining ideas, structuring points.

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Verb Voice

In grammar, the voice of the verb describes the relationship between the action that the verb expresses and the participants identified by their functions (subject, object, etc.). There are two types of voice in English: active voice and passive voice. Weak passive voice and inconsistent voice are the two most common voice errors that writers make.

Not all English verbs can be both active and passive. Some can only be active, and others can only be passive. Transitive verbs (verbs which require a direct object), such as take, bring, eat, read and so forth, could be used in active and passive voice. However, intransitive verbs (verbs which do not require a direct object), such as be, seem, appear, sleep and so forth, as well as the verb to have can only be active. The verb to be born can only be used in the passive.

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Source

Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.