Difference between active and passive voice?

Answer 1

The simplest sentences are in the active voice: they follow the pattern subject-verb-object, such as "Jack kissed Jill". Jack, the actor in the sentence, is the one doing the kissing, and he is the subject of the sentence.

But in the sentence "Jill was kissed by Jack", Jack is still the actor doing the kissing but it is now Jill, the passive person, the person receiving the kiss, who is the subject of the sentence, and Jack is relegated to a prepositional phrase.

If the actor is the subject, it is active voice, if the passive person is the subject, it is passive voice.

But English speakers recognize the passive form by the verb combination--the verb "to be" is inserted before the past participle and the tense of the verb "to be" governs the tense of the passive verb.

Answer 2

In active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action, while in passive voice, the subject receives the action. For example, "The cat chased the mouse" is in active voice, while "The mouse was chased by the cat" is in passive voice. Active voice is generally more direct and engaging, while passive voice can be useful when the focus is on the receiver of the action.