Identify if a sentence is in active or passive voice.
Check the final answer first, then review the worked steps.
Problem
Identify if a sentence is in active or passive voice.
Answer
passive voice
Step-by-step solution
- Identify the subject and verb: In the sentence "Pride and Prejudice was written by English author Jane Austen in the late 1700s.", the subject is "Pride and Prejudice" and the verb phrase is "was written".
- Check for the "to be" verb and past participle: The verb phrase "was written" consists of the "to be" verb "was" and the past participle of the verb "write", which is "written".
- Determine if the subject performs the action: The subject, "Pride and Prejudice", is a book and cannot perform the action of writing. The action of writing is performed by "English author Jane Austen".
- Conclude the voice: Since the subject is receiving the action of the verb (the book was written), and the sentence includes a form of "to be" followed by a past participle, the sentence is in the passive voice.