Definition of Active and Passive Prayer

Sentences can be classified according to different criteria. If we look at the type of action carried out by the subject, 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, the active voice will be spoken and when the subject is in a second flat because more importance is given to the action carried out, we will speak of the passive voice.

Active prayers

For a sentence to be considered active it must meet three features:

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 presented a written of protest ", 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 contexts of the language.

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) + a complement agent (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 voice active).

Finally, it is worth the pain mention that the passive voice is very rare in Spanish but is commonly used in English.

Photo: Fotolia Olga Tik

Topics in Active and Passive Prayer