Syntax

Question 1

Active Voice

Answer 1

a form or set of forms of a verb in which the subject is typically the person or thing performing the action and which can take a direct object e.g. Gary loved him as opposed to the passive form he was loved (by Gary).

Question 2

Passive Voice

Answer 2

a form or set of forms of a verb in which the subject undergoes the action of the verb e.g. they were fired (by Maisie) as opposed to the active form Maisie fired them.

Question 3

Agentless Passives

Answer 3

these constructions are used when, for various reasons, the speaker or writer does not want to include a reference to an agent (person who is acting the verb). Some of these reasons are:

a) The agent is unknown to the speakerlwriter.
b) The agent is irrelevant to the topic being discussed.
c) The speaker or writer does not want you to know who the agent is or was.