Why we passive sentences

[engr.yasir ali bhatti]

Why active voice convert into passive voice
I play cricket
Cricket is played by me
both have same meaning....

 

[SoothingDave]

Somethings just lend themselves to being described in a passive voice. Other times it is a choice the author makes.

Politicians especially like the passive voice because it helps them escape blame. They say "mistakes were made" instead of "I made a mistake."

 

[Barb_D]

There are three situation when the passive may be superior to the active voice.

1. When you just don't know who did something. My house was broken into! The phone lines have been opened and are ready to take your calls.

2. When you know who did it, but you don't want to identify them. Joe was the idiot who left the samples out in the sunlight. vs. The samples were not properly refrigerated and we have to re-test.

3. When the person/thing something happened to is more important than who did it. Peter was struck by a car while he was on his bicycle! He's in the hospital.

Otherwise, use the active voice.

Note that your example of "cricket is played by me" is something no native would ever say.

 

[Leandro-Z]

There are times and times. Sometimes it's better to use the active and sometimes the passive. For example, your sentence "Cricket is played by me" sounds weird. You will never find an English speaker uttering that phrase.

However, you can use the passive voice, as SoothingDave and Barb_D said, to avoid accusation or to hide your taking part in a situation (Mum, the vase has been broken! = I did it, but I don`t want to be told off).

Passive voice is also used for formal writing. It's more common to find passive constructions in a letter of complaint than in an e-mail to your penfriend.

Well, hope this will be of help.

Cheers,
Leandro

 

[Tdol]

If you want a passive with cricket, you can say that cricket is played in many countries, etc.

 

[TheParser]

Why active voice convert into passive voice
I play cricket
Cricket is played by me
both have same meaning....

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Engr. Yasir Ali Bhatti:


(1) All the other posters have already given you excellent answers.

(2) I just wanted to point out that sometimes the passive can

save space.

(3) Here in the United States, there are signs in the windows of

some stores that say: Spanish spoken here.

That is a short way to say: Spanish (is) spoken here (by the

clerks in this store).

(a) As you know, the active would be:

The clerks in this store speak Spanish.

As you can see, it would be very difficult to make the active

shorter for a sign in a store window.


James

 

[Mannysteps]

Not a teacher

Look at these:

"People say that where there's smoke there's fire."
"Someone has seen him in Paris."

In both case the subject is inconclusive, so:

"It is said that where there's smoke there's fire."
"He has been seen in Paris."

Look at these:

"In Germany they make the best cars."
"People in Cadiz produce some of the best wines."

Which, in general terms, would be better put as:

"The best cars are made in Germany."
"Some of the best wines are produced in Cadiz."

 

[emsr2d2]

Why is the active voice sometimes converted into the passive voice?

I play cricket.
Cricket is played by me.

Both have the same meaning....

You have received some excellent answers to please allow me to bring your attention to some areas of your original post which require work. See annotations above in red.

Please remember that punctuation and capitalisation are very important. This is not only because they are "correct" but because they are necessary in order for your posts to make sense.

Your title would have been better had it read "Why do we use the passive voice?"