I know there are umpteen million posts on passive voice, but it is constantly coming up in critiques, and I thought that maybe I could give a new take on it. VERB TENSE DOES NOT MAKE SOMETHING PASSIVE.
Here are the verb tenses (I will copy them from a source - Harbrace - and then give my own examples):
PRESENT - walk
PAST - walked
PRESENT PERFECT - have walked
PAST PERFECT - had walked
FUTURE - will walk
FUTURE PERFECT - will have walked
There is also a PROGRESSIVE form of these tenses that involve adding "-ing" and/or a form of "be" (such as walking, were walking, have been walking, had been walking, will be walking, will have been walking).
None of the above are passive in and of themselves.
PASSIVE VOICE is when the Direct or Indirect Object of a sentence is made the subject. That subject then becomes acted upon. One of the tell-tale signs is there will ALWAYS be a form of "be" with a past-participle of another verb (such as "have been written", or "were handed", or "are counted", etc.). If the "real" subject of the sentence is included, it will always follow a preposition (such as "by Stephen" or "from Mike")
In Active Voice, ANY word can be a Subject - it doesn't have to be a living thing:
"The sound of fireworks woke John" is a perfectly good sentence.
"John was awakened by the sound of fireworks", however, is passive, because the subject is receiving the action.
We use passive voice often without thinking about it:
"He was born on the Fourth of July" is passive.
"His mother gave birth to him on the Fourth of July", oddly enough, is active.
Passive Voice is NOT ALWAYS WRONG. Sometimes it makes more sense to use passive voice when the Direct object is more important that the subject. However, one should limit its use as much as possible.
PASSIVE VOICE HAS THE FOLLOWING:
1 - The "subject" is being acted upon - it is the receiver of the action.
2 - There will be a form of "be" followed by a past-participle of another verb.
3 - If the "real" subject is included, it will always follow a preposition.
[This message has been edited by philocinemas (edited March 23, 2011).]