Sentences can be classified according to different criteria. If we look at the type of action performed by the subject, they are divided into active and passive sentences. In syntactic analysis, the term active voice and passive voice are sometimes used.
When the subject performing the action is active, it will speak of the active voice and when the subject is in the background because more importance is given to the action performed, it will speak of the passive voice.
Active prayers
For a sentence to be considered active it must meet three characteristics:
1) the subject is the one who performs the action,
2) the verb used is presented in the active voice, so it is not constructed with being more a participle and
3) are predicative sentences.
Some examples of active sentences could be the following: "I'm cold", "I don't know what I want", "I need to buy fruit" or "Do you want to eat now?" If I say "The neighbors filed a protest letter", this Active sentence can be transformed into a passive sentence ("A protest letter was presented by the neighbors").
Passive sentences
They are those in which the subject does not act, that is, does not perform any action. Normally these sentences use the verb to be as an auxiliary plus a participle. The passive structure comes from Latin and in Spanish it is used only in formal language contexts.
Likewise, it is used in those circumstances in which you want to give importance to the subject who performs the action.
As an example, two passive sentences would be the following: "I have been defeated by the rival" and "The plate is eaten by me". In both cases, they could be transformed into active sentences: "The rival has beaten me" and "I eat the plate". As you can see, the active voice is much simpler and more direct than the passive voice.
There are two types of passive sentences: the proper ones and the improper or reflective ones.
Their own are those that are built with the following structure: patient subject + passive verb (verb to be plus the participle) + an agent complement (for example, "The tools were ordered by the bricklayer").
Inappropriate or reflex passive sentences are those that have a passive meaning but with an active structure (for example, in the sentences "flats are rented" or "hair is cut with scissors" the verbs used are in the active voice).
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the passive voice is very rare in Spanish but is commonly used in English.
Photo: Fotolia Olga Tik
