(aktiv): used about a verb phrase not marked for the passive voice Typically (but not necessarily), the subject of an active verb phrase is the 'doer of an action' Examples of sentences with verbs in the active voice: Sheila wrote a letter Peter saw a reindeer They have left There is no morphological marker of the active voice
The subject of the sentence performs the action This is a more direct and preferred style of writing in most cases, but not all (example: The boy grabbed his books and went to school) See also, Passive Voice
Active voice means the subject in the sentence does what the verb describes For example, the following sentence has the subject "Kyle" performing the action of the verb: Kyle hit the ball over the fence
the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is performing the action or causing the happening denoted by the verb; "`The boy threw the ball' uses the active voice
Sentences in English may be in active or passive form The active form makes the one who is performing the action in the sentence (termed the agent in semantics) the grammatical subject This serves to focus attention on the agent Example: "John ate the pizza" The alternative, the passive voice, makes the thing acted on into the grammatical subject, thus focussing attention on that thing, rather than on the agent Example: "The pizza was eaten by John " Many writers appear to believe that use of the passive seems more formal and dignified, and consequently it is over-used in technical writing For example, they might write "The following experiments were performed" when it would be clearer to say "We [i e the authors] performed the following experiments " Contrast mood, tense, and aspect
A sentence style in which the subject performs the action Usually preferable to passive voice unless the passive is specifically called for Active Voice example: The lightning struck the tree Passive Voice example: The tree was struck by lightning See for more information: 11 Rules of Writing Rule 10 Guide to Grammar and Style Passive vs Active Voice