LESSON 129.
MODIFICATIONS OF THE VERB.
VOICE.
+Introductory Hints+.—He picked a rose. A rose was picked by him. The same thing is here told in two ways. The first verb, picked, shows that the subject names the actor; the second verb, was picked, shows that the subject names the thing acted upon. These different forms and uses of the verb constitute the modification called +Voice+. The first form is in the +Active Voice+; the second is in the +Passive Voice+.
The active voice is used when the agent, or actor, is to be made prominent; the passive, when the thing acted upon is to be made prominent. The passive voice may be used when the agent is unknown, or when, for any reason, we do not care to name the agent; as, The ship was wrecked; Money is coined.
DEFINITIONS.
+Voice is that modification of the transitive verb which shows whether the subject names the actor or the thing acted upon+.
+The Active Voice shows that the subject names the actor+.
+The Passive Voice shows that the subject names the thing acted upon.+
The passive form is compound, and may be resolved into an asserting word (some form of the verb be) and an attribute complement (a past participle of a transitive verb). An expression consisting of an asserting word followed by an adjective complement or by a participle used adjectively may be mistaken for a verb in the passive voice.