Question about grammar...

[Alex]

Disapproval of the passive voice is a relativley recent phenemenon (frequently, and mistakenly, attributed to George Orwell and a political tract of his) and the appropriate response to anybody who tries to enforce it is: go suck an egg.


But essentially if you want active voice that means the subject of the sentence is doing the action. In passive, the subject of the sentence has the action done unto them.

The cat ate me. Active. The cat (subject) performs the verb phrase (ate).

I was eaten by the cat. Passive. I (subject) am the recipient of the verb phrase (was eaten).

Generally, if your verb has an associated conjugation of "to be" then you are probably using passive voice.

I am being killed ...
I was killed ...
I will be killed ...
They were killed ...
We have been killed ...

All passive as the actor is not the subject. The solution is to generally turn the sentence around.

... killed me.
... killed us.
... killed them.