what is the need for Passive voice.

[Tskarthic]

Hello Tutors,

we can form the sentenses using active voice itself. Then why we need passive voice.

what is the purpose for passive voice.

For example)

I opened the door - Active voice.
The door was opened - Passive voice.

both are same. so we can use active voice always. then what is the need for passive voice.

1. where should we use passive voice.
2. when we use passive voice, whether we hav to use "by" always.ex) the door was opened by me.

3. what is the difference between using " by " and without using " by " in passive voice.

Thanking you.

rgds
tskarthikeyan

[Alan]

Hi,

You might like to look at some material I've written for the site on the passive voice:
http://www.english-test.net/lessons/3/index.html

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Mordant]

The passive voice helps shift the emphasis away from who committed the act to what actually happened.

The Senate and the House passed a health care overhaul.
The health care overhaul was passed.

Funds were withdrawn from the account on Saturday.
Alex withdrew funds from the account on Saturday.

"By" is not necessary. If you feel it is, that is probably an indicator that you should be using the active voice. The passive voice works well when we don't know who committed an act or when stating that is unnecessary. It also works when what happened is more important than who did it.

Economic plan is panned by Geithner.
Geithner pans economic plan.

I would choose the latter. Geithner is the U.S. Treasury secretary, so his opinion is of first importance. The name deserves special attention.