passive

The passive voice in English is a grammatical voice whose syntax is marked by a subject followed by a stative verb complemented by a past participle. For example:

The enemy was defeated.
Caesar was stabbed.In each instance of a passive voice construction, the subject denotes the recipient of the action (the patient) rather than the performer (the agent). The agent may be omitted as evinced in the examples above, or it may be included adjunctively as follows:

The enemy was defeated by our troops.
Caesar was stabbed by Brutus.Conversely, an active voice construction of the foregoing examples yields the following analogues:

Our troops defeated the enemy.
Brutus stabbed Caesar.A form of the verbs be or get typically comprises the stative aspect of the English passive voice construction, and the pertinent passive participle is sometimes called a passive verb.English allows a number of passive constructions that are not possible in many of the other languages with similar passive formation. These include promotion of an indirect object to subject (as in Tom was given a bag) and promotion of the complement of a preposition (as in Sue was operated on, leaving a stranded preposition).Use of the passive in English varies with writing style and field. It is generally much less used than the active voice but is more prevalent in scientific writing than in other prose. Contemporary style guides discourage excessive use of the passive but appropriate use is generally accepted, for instance where the patient is the topic, the agent is unimportant (and therefore omitted), or the agent is to be highlighted (and therefore placed toward the end).

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