Passive voice is a type of sentence structure in which the subject of a sentence does not do or undergo the action of the verb. Passive voice is used to create a sense of distance or detachment from the subject matter.
In some cases, passive voice can be used to disguise the true author of a text. Passive voice can also be used to indicate politeness or deference. .
In most cases, passive voice is easiest to identify when it is used in conjunction with third person pronouns. For example, “The car was stolen” is in the active voice, but “The car was stolen by someone” is in the passive voice.
Passive voice can also be identified when it appears in compound tenses. For example, “He was fired yesterday” is in the active voice, but “He was fired by his manager yesterday” is in the passive voice.
There are a few exceptions to the rule that passive voice always requires third person pronouns. For example, “The car was washed” is in the active voice even though there are no third person pronouns involved.
When writing in any form, it is important to be conscious of how passive voice might be affecting the tone and feeling of your text. If you are unsure whether you are using passive voice, it is always best to err on the side of caution and use third person pronouns whenever possible.