Fill in the blank: The following sentence is an example of ____________ voice? “The grocery shopping was done by your father.”
- Active
- Passive
- Reactive
- Subtle
Explanation: The correct answer is Passive. In the given sentence, ‘The grocery shopping was done by your father,’ the action (grocery shopping) is the focus of the sentence, but the subject (your father) is not the doer of the action. Instead, the subject is receiving the action, making it a passive construction. Passive voice is characterized by sentences where the subject of the sentence is the recipient of the action rather than the doer, often resulting in a less direct and concise sentence structure. While passive voice can sometimes be appropriate, such as when the focus is on the action rather than the doer or when the doer is unknown or irrelevant, it is generally considered weaker and less engaging than active voice. Active voice, on the other hand, features a sentence structure where the subject performs the action, leading to clearer, more direct, and more dynamic writing. Therefore, in the given sentence, ‘The grocery shopping was done by your father,’ the use of passive voice is evident, as the subject (your father) receives the action rather than performs it.