passive voice

passive voice
a) The form of a transitive verb in which its subject receives the action.

The passive voice is sometimes criticized for de-emphasizing the actor.

b) Any construction that obscures the agent of an action, or the agency of said agent.

Many languages, including English, use auxiliary verbs in constructing the passive voice.


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  • Passive voice — Voice Voice, n. [OE. vois, voys, OF. vois, voiz, F. voix, L. vox, vocis, akin to Gr. ? a word, ? a voice, Skr. vac to say, to speak, G. erw[ a]hnen to mention. Cf. {Advocate}, {Advowson}, {Avouch}, {Convoke}, {Epic}, {Vocal}, {Vouch}, {Vowel}.] 1 …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Passive voice — Passive Pas sive, a. [L. passivus: cf. F. passif. See {Passion}.] 1. Not active, but acted upon; suffering or receiving impressions or influences; as, they were passive spectators, not actors in the scene. [1913 Webster] The passive air Upbore… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • passive voice — passive .voice n [singular] the ↑passive 2 …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • passive voice — noun the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb The ball was thrown by the boy uses the passive voice The ball was thrown is an abbreviated passive • Syn …   Useful english dictionary

  • passive voice — voice which is not active in grammar, passive form of a transitive verb (Grammar) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • ˌpassive ˈvoice, the — see passive …   Dictionary for writing and speaking English

  • passive voice — noun (singular) the passive2 …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • passive voice —   Leo pili ia mai. See verb …   English-Hawaiian dictionary

  • English passive voice — This article is about the passive voice in English. For the passive voice generally, including its use in other languages, see Passive voice. English grammar series English grammar Contraction Disputes in English grammar English compound English… …   Wikipedia

  • Impersonal passive voice — The impersonal passive voice is a verb voice that decreases the valency of an intransitive verb (which has valency one) to zero.The impersonal passive deletes the subject of an intransitive verb. In place of the verb s subject, the construction… …   Wikipedia

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