Verbal voices, or verb voices, are the way in which verbs are presented in a sentence in order to determine whether the subject practices or receives the action. They can be of three types: active, passive or reflective.
| Active voice | Subject is the agent of action. | Example: I saw the teacher. |
|---|---|---|
| passive voice | Subject suffers the action. | Example: The teacher was seen. |
| reflective voice | Subject practices and suffers the action. | Example: I saw myself in the mirror. |
Active voice
In active voice the subject is agent, that is, practice the action.
Examples:
- Bia had breakfast first thing in the morning.
- We vacuum the whole house.
- I've already done the job.
passive voice
In passive voice the subject is patient and so does not practice, but receives action.
Examples:
- The victim was seen last night.
- Surveillance has been increased since yesterday.
The passive voice can be analytical or synthetic.
Analytical passive voice training
The analytical passive voice is formed by:
Patient subject + auxiliary verb (to be, to be, to stay, among others) + main verb of the action conjugated in the participle + agent of the passive.
Examples:
- Breakfast was taken by Bia early in the morning.
- The whole house was vacuumed by us.
- The work was done by me.
Synthetic passive voice training
The synthetic passive voice, also called pronominal passive voice (due to the use of the pronoun if), is formed by:
Conjugated verb in 3rd person (singular or plural) + passive pronoun "if" + patient subject.
Examples:
- Breakfast was taken early.
- The whole house was vacuumed.
- The work has already been done.
We are sure that these texts can help you even more:
- Passive voice: everything you need to know!
- Passive particle
reflective voice
In the reflective voice the subject is agent and patient at the same time as he practices and receives action.
Examples:
- The old lady always combs her hair before going out.
- I cut myself today when I was cooking.
reflective voice training
The reflective voice is formed by:
Verb in active voice + oblique pronoun (me, te, se, nos, vos), which serves as a direct object or, sometimes, as an indirect object, and represents the same person as the subject.
Examples:
- He ran over his own words.
- He got all hurt in that football game.
- I looked in the mirror.
reciprocal reflective voice
The reflective voice can also be reciprocal. This happens when the reflective verb indicates reciprocity, that is, when two or more subjects practice the action, while also are patient.
Examples:
- Me, my brothers and my cousins get along pretty well.
- Here, the days go by with many new things.
- Sofia and Lucas love each other.
Verbal Voices and Their Conversion
Generally, as a matter of style, we can switch from active verbal to passive verbal.
When transposing, the subject of the active voice becomes the agent of the passive it's the direct object of the active voice becomes the subject of the passive voice.
Active voice example: We vacuum the whole house.
Active Subject: Us (hidden)
Verb: We aspire (direct transitive)
Direct object: the whole house.
Example in passive voice: The whole house was vacuumed by us.
Subject: The whole house
Auxiliary verb: was
Main verb: aspirated
Passive agent: for us.
Note that the auxiliary verb "was" is in the same tense as the verb "aspired" was in the prayer whose voice is active. The verb "we aspire" in a prayer whose voice is passive is in the participle.
Thus, the prayer transposed to the passive voice is formed as follows:
Subject + auxiliary verb (to be, to be, to stay, among others) conjugated in the same verb tense as the verb main of prayer in active voice + main verb of action conjugated in participle + agent of passive.
It is important to remember that only transitive verbs support voice transposition. This is because, since intransitive verbs do not need a complement, they do not have an object that can be transposed into a subject.
Verbal voice exercises
1. Indicate the verbal voices of the prayers below:
a) At last the visas were obtained!
b) I cut myself when I was making dinner.
c) Several employees were dismissed by the company.
d) He broke into the house looking for the hostage.
e) They beat us...
f) The boss didn't call me to the meeting.
a) Passive analytical voice, after all the subject is patient. The sentence is formed by patient subject (vises) + auxiliary verb (were) + main verb of the action conjugated in the participle (obtained).
b) Reflective voice, after all, the subject is agent and patient. The sentence is formed by the active voice verb (Cut) + oblique pronoun (me).
c) Passive voice, after all, the subject is patient. The sentence is formed by patient subject (various employees) + auxiliary verb (were) + main verb of the action conjugated in the participle (dismissed) + passive agent (by the company).
d) Active voice, after all, the subject is an agent, that is, he practices the action (Invaded the house).
e) Active voice, after all, the subject is an agent, that is, he practices the action (They (us) beat us).
f) Active voice, after all, the subject is an agent, that is, he practices the action (The boss did not call (me).
2. Now make the possible transpositions of the verbal voices of the same prayers above.
a) At last the visas were obtained! > At last we managed to get visas! or We were able to obtain visas. At last!
The verbal voice of the prayer was transposed to the active voice. So the patient subject (the visas) became the direct object, while the subject became "we"—(We) We managed to get the visas.
b) As in "I cut myself when I was making dinner." the subject is agent and patient, it is not possible to convert the verbal voice, after all it makes no sense to say "I was cut by myself when I was making dinner".
c) Several employees were dismissed by the company. > The company laid off several employees.
The verbal voice of the prayer was transposed to the active voice. Thus, the patient subject (several employees) became the direct object, while the subject became "the company".
d) He broke into the house looking for the hostage. > Looking for the hostage, the house was broken into. or The house was invaded looking for the hostage.
The verbal voice of the prayer was transposed to the passive voice. Thus, the subject of the active voice—"(He/she) has invaded" has become the agent of the passive, while the direct object of the active voice (the house) has become the subject of the passive voice.
e) They defeated us… > We were defeated by them.
The verbal voice of the prayer was transposed to the passive voice. Thus, the active voice subject (They) became the agent of the passive, while the direct object of the active voice (us) became the passive voice subject—(We) We were defeated.
f) The boss didn't call me to the meeting. > I wasn't called to the meeting by the boss.
The verbal voice of the prayer was transposed to the passive voice. Thus, the active voice subject (The boss) became the agent of the passive, while the direct object of the active voice (me) became the passive voice subject—(I) I was not called.