Eli5 How does passive/active voice work???
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Agree with most of the answers here in terms of *how* it works, but for a little more advanced explanation (let’s say explain like I’m 10+) as for *why* you might use one over the other, I’d talk about how it affects *agency*. Ultimately, you can make both an active and passive sentence say the same thing, but which mode you use often says a lot about your motivation.
The active voice (subject *does/is doing* the verb) usually implies that the subject has the ability to do the thing and intended to do the thing. When using the passive voice (something *is being done* to the subject), it often implies that the subject doesn’t have agency, that the action is out of the subject’s control.
So if you happen to see someone telling a story where they’re using the passive voice a lot, they *may* be trying to convey that they *aren’t at fault* for something that happened. You’ll see it in politics, in legal proceedings, in corporate-speak, and many other places where people are trying to pass the buck. Compare which would make you look worse as a company’s CEO: “The company lost a lot of money this year,” vs “The company was affected by a steep loss this year.” There’s only so much you can hide while telling the truth, but the passive voice makes it sound that you’re more removed from the cause.
That’s not the only reason for using the passive voice, of course, but it’s one reason why you still see it used, even though most students are taught early on that the active voice is usually preferred.
Edit: Altered the comparison a bit to make the connection between the two sentences more direct.
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