--Lesson 93.
* * * * *
LESSON 129.
MODIFICATIONS OF THE VERB.
VOICE.
+Introductory Hints+.--_He picked a rose. A rose was picked by him._ The
same thing is here told in two ways. The first verb, _picked_, shows that
the subject names the actor; the second verb, _was picked_, shows that the
subject names the thing acted upon. These different forms and uses of the
verb constitute the modification called +Voice+. The first form is in the
+Active Voice+; the second is in the +Passive Voice+.
The active voice is used when the agent, or actor, is to be made prominent;
the passive, when the thing acted upon is to be made prominent. The passive
voice may be used when the agent is unknown, or when, for any reason, we do
not care to name the agent; as, The _ship was wrecked; Money is coined_.
DEFINITIONS.
+_Voice_ is that modification of the transitive verb which shows whether
the subject names the _actor_ or the thing _acted upon_+.
+The _Active Voice_ shows that the subject names the actor+.
+The _Passive Voice_ shows that the subject names the thing acted upon.+
The passive form is compound, and may be resolved into an asserting word
(some form of the verb _be_) and an attribute complement (a past participle
of a transitive verb).
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