A Smart Writing Tip

Test makers prefer active to passive voice verbs. Know the difference? Here's a quick review.

ACTIVE

Subject is doer. As in, The girl bites the dog.

OK, here's how to find the subject and then figure out if the subject is doing the action.

First, find the verb -- in this case, "bites." Then ask yourself, "Who or what bites?" The answer is the girl. Therefore "girl" is the subject of the sentence.
(The word that answers the question "Who or what [insert verb here]?" is ALWAYS the subject.)

Now, look at the sentence. We know that "girl" is the subject and that "bites" is the verb. So now, ask yourself if the subject of the sentence (girl) is actually doing the action in the sentence (bites)? Yes? Then the sentence is ACTIVE. When the subject does the action of the verb, the sentence is active.

PASSIVE

Action is done *to* the subject. As in, The dog is bitten by the girl.

OK, find the verb -- "is bitten." Now we know what the verb is.

Then ask who or what is bitten? The dog is bitten. Therefore "dog" is the subject.

We've got our subject and verb. The question is -- Is the subject doing the action? In this case, is the dog doing the biting? No? The sentence is PASSIVE. The action is being done to the subject.