passive voice

/ˌpæsɪv vɔɪs/

/ˈpæsɪv vɔɪs/

Other forms: passive voices

In grammar, the passive voice is what you use when a sentence's verb acts upon the subject. "The dog chased the cat" uses the active voice, but "The cat was chased by the dog" uses the passive voice.

When you use the active voice, your sentence's subject performs the action of the verb: "I threw the ball through your window." The passive voice is less direct and straightforward, with the subject being acted upon by the verb: "The ball was thrown through your window." There are many reasons to use the passive voice, but one of the most useful of these is when you don't want to be specific about who (or what) performed the action.

Definitions of passive voice

1. 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
   synonyms: passive

   antonyms:

   active voice

   the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is performing the action or causing the happening denoted by the verb

   type of:

   voice

   (linguistics) the grammatical relation (active or passive) of the grammatical subject of a verb to the action that the verb denotes