A scientist writes: 'The samples were heated to 200°C.' An editor marks this passive construction as a grammar error and insists on: 'We heated the samples to 200°C.' Which statement best evaluates the editor's suggestion?
AThe editor is correct — passive voice is grammatically inferior and should always be converted to active
BThe editor is wrong — the passive is appropriate here because scientific writing conventionally suppresses individual agents to foreground the procedure
CThe editor is correct — the passive creates ambiguity about who performed the heating
DThe editor is wrong — the original isn't passive because it omits a 'by' phrase
Passive voice is not a grammatical error; it is a rhetorical choice. Scientific writing routinely uses passive to depersonalize procedures and focus attention on what was done rather than who did it. 'The samples were heated' is appropriate here. Option D is also incorrect: a 'by' phrase is optional in passive constructions, not required.
Question 2 Multiple Choice
Which of the following is a passive voice sentence?
AShe was exhausted after the marathon.
BThe trophy was awarded to the champion by the committee.
CHe became interested in photography.
DThe storm was fierce and unexpected.
Option B uses 'be' + past participle ('was awarded') with an identifiable agent-patient relationship — the committee performed the action on the champion. Options A and D use 'was' as a linking verb with adjectives (exhausted, fierce), not past participles. Option C uses 'became' as a linking verb. The key test: is there an agent acting on a patient, with the patient in the subject position?
Question 3 True / False
The sentence 'She was nervous before the speech' is in passive voice because it contains the word 'was.'
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
'Was' here is a linking verb connecting the subject to an adjective ('nervous'). Passive voice requires a form of 'be' plus a *past participle*, with an underlying agent-patient relationship. 'Nervous' is an adjective, not a past participle, and no one performed an action on her. The reliable test is structural, not just the presence of 'was.'
Question 4 True / False
Passive voice can be the better stylistic choice when the agent of an action is unknown or irrelevant to the point being made.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: True
This is one of passive voice's core legitimate uses. 'The window was broken' efficiently reports a fact without speculating about who broke it. Forcing active voice ('Someone broke the window') would introduce an unknown and irrelevant agent. Passive is the right tool whenever the receiver of the action, or the action itself, matters more than the doer.
Question 5 Short Answer
Explain why 'was' alone is not a reliable test for passive voice. What is the actual test?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: 'Was' can appear as a linking verb (with adjectives) or in progressive constructions — neither of which is passive. The actual test is structural: passive voice requires (1) a form of 'be' plus a past participle, AND (2) an underlying agent-patient relationship where the grammatical subject is the thing acted upon. A useful check: can you add a meaningful 'by [agent]' phrase? 'The report was written by the intern' — yes. 'She was happy by the end' — no (no one performed an action on her).
Conflating 'was' with passive voice leads to mis-identifying linking-verb sentences as passive and to false corrections. The two-part test (be + past participle + agent-patient relationship) correctly identifies passive constructions and excludes false positives.