Lexic.us

Definition 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. "`The ball was thrown' is an abbreviated passive"

Definition of Passive voice

1. Noun. (grammar) The form of a transitive verb in which its subject receives the action. ¹

2. Noun. (proscribed) Any construction that obscures the agent of an action, or the agency of said agent. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Literary usage of Passive voice

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges by George Martin Lane (1903)
"The active of one verb sometimes serves as the passive of another: thus, THE passive voice. 1472. In the passive voice, the subject is represented as acted ..."

2. An Analytical and Practical Grammar of the English Language by Peter Bullions (1859)
"It is manifest from these examples, that whether we use the active, or the passive voice, the meaning is the same, except in some coses in the present tense ..."

3. The Mother Tongue by Sarah Louise Arnold, George Lyman Kittredge, John Hays Gardiner (1901)
"passive voice. 458. We have already studied the difference between the active and the passive voice of verbs (pp. 95, 96). 459. ..."

4. The Mother Tongue by Sarah Louise Arnold, George Lyman Kittredge, John Hays Gardiner (1901)
"passive voice. 458. We have already studied the difference between the active and the passive voice of verbs (pp. 95, 96). 459. ..."

5. A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Or South-Indian Family of Languages by Robert Caldwell (1875)
"THE passive voice. Each of the primitive Indo-European languages has a regular passive voice, regularly conjugated. The Sanskrit passive is formed by ..."

6. From Latin to Spanish by Paul M. Lloyd (1987)
"... -ET -EMUS -ETIS -ENT -I- SENT- The passive voice In the present system, the passive voice was distinguished from the active by a special set of personal ..."

7. From Latin to Spanish by Paul M. Lloyd (1987)
"... the overlap of III-B and IV was complete: PON- CAP- -AM ES -ET -EMUS -ETIS -ENT -I- SENT- The passive voice In the present system, the passive voice was ..."

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