The voice

Definition:-

Voice is that property of verb which shows the work of subject or the work for the subject ( performing or experiencing the action).

आवाज वह क्रिया की संपत्ति है जो विषय के काम या विषय के लिए काम (क्रिया का प्रदर्शन या अनुभव) को दर्शाती है।

Example:-

* Radha hates shyam.

* राधा श्याम से नफरत करती हैं।

* meena is hated by meera.

* मीना को मीरा से नफरत है।

What Is the Active Voice?

If the subject is performing the action, then the verb is said to be in the active voice. Look at this:

Easy Examples of Voice

Here are some more examples of verbs (shown in bold) in the active voice.

• Lee ate the pies.
(Lee is the subject of the verb. The subject is doing the action of the verb.)
• We play hopscotch.
(We is the subject of the verb. The subject is doing the action of the verb.)
• The sharks will attack the cage.
(The sharks is the subject of the verb. The subject is doing the action of the verb.)

Here are some more examples of verbs in the passive voice.

• The pies were eaten by Lee.
(The pies is the subject of the verb. The subject is being acted upon.)
• Hopscotch is played by us.
(Hopscotch is the subject of the verb. The subject is being acted upon.)
• The cage will be attacked by the sharks.
(The cage is the subject of the verb. The subject is being acted upon.)

Real-Life Examples of Voice

In the examples above, the actions of the verbs (to eat, to play, to attack) are obvious physical activities. Remember though that not all verbs describe such obvious activities. This is particularly true for verbs in the active voice. The verbs in these four examples are all in the active voice.

• Dogs sniff good smells with their left nostril.
• I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too. (Queen Elizabeth I)
• The voice of Mickey Mouse and the voice of Minnie Mouse became husband and wife in real life.
• Only a quarter of the Sahara Desert is sandy.

Here are some verbs in the passive voice with less obvious actions.

• At one time, Melbourne was known as Batmania.
• Philosophy was considered science once. (Satirist PJ O'Rourke)

Only a verb that acts on something else (called a transitive verb) can be written in the passive voice.

• More people are killed taking selfies than in shark attacks.
(To kill is a transitive verb; i.e., you kill something.)
• That tiny pocket in jeans was designed to store pocket watches.
(To design is a transitive verb; i.e., you design something.)
• Avocados were named after the Nahuatl word for testicles.
(To name is a transitive verb; i.e., you name something.)

If a verb is intransitive (i.e., it does not act on something else), it will always be in the active voice.

• Being English, I always laugh at anything about the lavatory or bottoms. (Actress Elizabeth Hurley)
(To laugh is an intransitive verb. You can't laugh a dog, for example.)
• Anybody who smiles automatically looks better. (Actress Diane Lane)
(To smile and to look are intransitive verbs. You can't smile a dog or look a dog, for example.)
• Our noses and ears grow throughout our lives.
(Here, to grow is an intransitive verb.)

Other common intransitive verbs are to cry, to die, to disappear, and to wait. Remember that these cannot be used in the passive voice. As intransitive verbs don't act on something (i.e., have no objects), there is nothing to become the subject of a verb in the passive voice.

It gets a little bit more complicated because some verbs, like to grow, can be intransitive or transitive.

• I grew tomatoes.
(Here, to grow is transitive. That means we can make it passive.)
• Tomatoes were grown by me.
(This is the passive version.)
• The beanstalk grew quickly.
(Here, to grow means to get bigger. In this meaning, it is intransitive. That means we can't make it passive. The beanstalk was got bigger quickly. That's nonsense.)

Read more about transitive verbs and intransitive verbs.

Here's something else to look out for. It is extremely common for verbs in the active voice and the passive voice to be used after words like can, cannot, may, might, must, and should (called modal auxiliary verbs).

• He who is to be a good ruler must have been ruled. (Philosopher Aristotle)
(Is is in the active voice. Have been ruled, which follows the modal must, is in the passive voice.)
• Canadians say "sorry" so much that The Apology Act was passed in 2009, declaring that an apology cannot be used as evidence of admission of guilt.
(Was passed is in the passive voice. Be used, which follows the modal cannot, is also in the passive voice.)

It is common for verbs in the active voice and passive voice to appear in the same sentence.

• Theodore Roosevelt owned a pet hyena, which was given to him by an Ethiopian emperor.
(Owned is in the active voice. Was given is in the passive voice.)
• My music was considered uncool, but I always felt a connection with the audience. (Singer David Cassidy)
(Was considered is in the passive voice. Felt is in the active voice.)
• The scary thing is that in my lifetime, 95 per cent of the world's rhinos have been killed.
(Is is in the active voice. Have been killed is in the passive voice.)